South Caucasus Forum session focuses on combating human trafficking
Baku, May 8 (AZERTAC). An extraordinary session has today been held in Baku as part of the first South Caucasus Forum to find ways of combating human trafficking.
Moderator of the session, chief of Cole Productions Inc. Steven Cole, praised Azerbaijan`s ramping up efforts in preventing trafficking in human beings.
He said trafficking in human beings is now the third largest source of profits for international organized crime, behind only drugs and guns. He noted that human trafficking has been hard to combat due to the underground, extremely protective nature of those who engage in it.
Aleya El Bindari Hammad, Executive Vice-President of the Board “End Human Trafficking Now” (EHTN) said private sector plays huge role to tackle this problem. Hammad said her organization together with business circles undertook measures which yielded concrete results in this regard.
First vice-president of Exxon-Mobile, EHTN`s new President Jean Baderschneider said forced labor plays a key role in expanding of human trafficking.
He said about 200 million children are victims of forced labor globally, trapped in jobs into which they were coerced or deceived and which they cannot leave.
Director and producer of Moonbeam Films Anne Reevell also stressed that forced labor are broadly used by some countries, “even parents sell kids like slaves.” “In fact, many parents sell their children to pay off existing debts or improve their financial condition”.
Reevell called on the session participants to ramp up efforts in tackling these problems. She said video clips, documentary films, as well as exhibitions have effectively impacts on this problem.
Nafis Sadik, Special Adviser to the UN Secretary General called poverty and unemployment as “main factors leading to human trafficking”. “As we fight against trafficking in persons, we must tackle these social disasters. Unfortunately, less attention is paid to human trafficking than other international organized crimes like drugs. And this fact harms effectiveness of struggling against this trouble”.
Academy Award-winning actress, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime`s (UNODC) Goodwill Ambassador to Combat Human Trafficking Mira Sorvino spoke of measures, which can make contribution to fighting human trafficking. She said books and documentaries could play an effective role hereby.
Sorvino stressed the significance of using social media`s opportunities for this purpose. “The United Nations estimates nearly 2.5 million people from 127 different countries are trafficked each year. Every country can face this social misfortune at any time”.
Human trafficking has long been a tremendous issue in terms of human rights. One thing to remember about human trafficking is that it does not affect only one demographic and there are multiple forms of trafficking. While women and children are the most visible and openly exploited victims of trafficking in the labor and sex trades, men and workers from third world and developing countries can also fall victim to false promises, extortion, and threats from criminal elements.
Human trafficking is the trade in humans, most commonly for the purpose of sexual slavery, forced labor or for the extraction of organs or tissues, including surrogacy and ova removal. Trafficking is a lucrative industry, representing an estimated $32 billion per year in international trade, compared to the estimated annual $650 billion for all illegal international trade circa 2010.
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