Women are moving away from their homes every day for work, education, better opportunities, marriage, love, or the excitement of seeing a new place in the world.
In some cases, these journeys go wrong. Women find themselves forced into doing cheap and exploited labour for factories, farms, families, brothels and restaurants. Violence, threats and manipulation are used to prevent escape. Trafficking, as this situation is called, is the movement of a person, with deception or coercion, into a situation of forced labour, servitude or slavery-like practices. It is a devastating human rights violation against people
Governments around the world have passed legislation to prosecute traffickers and to protect trafficked persons. However, these efforts are not working. Trafficked persons are routinely:
At the same time, governments are failing to address the root causes of trafficking – restrictions on women’s right to migrate and immigrate thus forcing women to use expensive brokers, a lack of protection of informal industries such as domestic work, and denial of the rights of migrants to organise and seek protection of their rights.
Governments must do better than this! It is time to protect and recognise the rights for trafficked and migrant women.
Recognise Rights calls on Governments to take up 11 recommendations identified in GAATW’s research and report [Collateral Damage, 2007] on the human rights impact of anti-trafficking initiatives as solutions to stopping these devastating realities and protecting trafficked persons.
Support the Recognise Rights campaign and call on Governments to act now to increase safe opportunities to migrate, access to justice and compensation for trafficked persons, allow migrant workers to join and form trade unions. Recognise the rights of trafficked persons!
