Download Protocol to Prevent, Suppress, and Punish Trafficking in Persons

Challenge in the Americas:
Trafficking in Persons
A Presentation to the Special Committee
on Fighting Transnational Organized
Cime in the Americas
February 15, 2006
Protocol to Prevent, Suppress, and
Punish Trafficking in Persons
“Trafficking in persons” shall mean the recruitment,
transportation, transfer, harboring, or receipt of
persons, by means of the threat or use of force, or other
forms of coercion, of abduction, of fraud, of deception,
of the abuse of power, or of a position of vulnerability
or of the giving or receiving of payments or benefits to
achieve the consent of a person having control over
another person, for the purpose of exploitation.
Exploitation shall include, at a minimum, the
exploitation of the prostitution of others or other forms
of sexual exploitation, forced labor or services, slavery
or practices similar to slavery, servitude or the removal
of organs.
Identifying Crime is linked to finding
Victims

Victims are generally difficult for officials to
identify
 Most victims do no self-identify
 Victims are usually linked to clandestine
activities:
Prostitution
Migrant Smuggling
Sweatshop and Agricultural labor
Internal and International Human
Trafficking

Victims of internal human trafficking or
trafficking within the same country

Victims of cross-border or international human
trafficking
Mission of the OAS Anti-Trafficking
in Persons Section:
 Increase
 Help
awareness and understanding
build a Hemispheric consensus
 Provide
training opportunities
 Provide
better information on trafficking
Anti-Trafficking Training Seminars
Argentina November 2004
Belize April 2005
Bolivia 2004-05
Caribbean Countries 2004-05
Mexico 2004-05
Peru April 2005
Ecuador August 2005
Venezuela January 2005
Guatemala September, December 2005
Special OAS Projects
HAITI: Fielding of an OAS advisor with the
Haitian Police
JAPAN: Report on trafficking of Latin women
from the region to Japan for the commercial sex
trade
EUROPE: Coordination with Latin American
source countries and Western European
destination countries
Countries with Specific AntiTrafficking Laws in Force
Belize
Bolivia
Colombia
Dominican Republic
Guyana
Panama
United States
Countries with a Combination of
Effective Criminal Laws
Brazil
Canada
Costa Rica
Ecuador
El Salvador
Jamaica
Countries with Significant AntiTrafficking Legislation Pending
Argentina
Mexico
Countries with Advanced Police
Capacity on Human Trafficking
Brazil
Canada
Chile
Colombia
El Salvador
Guatemala
Panama
Bilateral Agreements in the OAS
Region
Guatemala -- Mexico
Venezuela -- Brazil
Estimates of Victims Annually
16,000 – 22,000 victims transported across
borders within the Western Hemisphere
 9,000 – 12,000 victims transported from the
Western Hemisphere to Europe
 5,000 – 8,000 victims transported from
Europe to the Western Hemisphere
 12,500 – 16,500 victims transported from
Asia to the Western Hemisphere

Recommendations
Political Leadership:

Place fighting human trafficking on the
national agenda
 Appoint a senior policy figure to act as a
“czar” to coordinate policy
 Create a modern legal framework
Recommendations
Law Enforcement:
 Develop dedicated police, immigration and
prosecutorial units
 Focus on the “easy” cases first
 Pubilicize high profile prosecutions
 Work with NGOs to develop cases
 Find a strategy to deal with corruption
Recommendations
Social Services and Crime Prevention:

Work with NGOs and encourage their
activities
 Develop the capacity to identify victims and
treat them humanely
 Develop the capacity to collect information
on human trafficking
Recommendations
Foreign Relations:
 Develop expertise in foreign affairs ministries
 Develop ability to exchange information
 Train consular and diplomatic officials before
sending them abroad
 Implement transparency in foreign labor,
residency and visa documents
 Eliminate so-called “Entertainer Visas”
Thank you for your attention.
OAS Website on Human Trafficking
oas.org/atip