There are certain economic, political and social/cultural factors in origin states (from where the trafficking of women and children starts) and destination states (the end points of a person who is sold or enslaved), which cause the problem of trafficking particularly of women and children.

Risk factors

Economic risk factors include poverty in origin states and prosperity and strong demand in destination states. Political risk factors include instability and civil wars in origin states. Social and cultural risk factors include inequalities and vulnerabilities in the population, generated by traditionalism and tribalism.

Criminal gangs operating in origin, destination and transit States facilitate travel of trafficked persons in miserable conditions.

Human rights dimension

Trafficking can be countered by adopting an approach that integrates labor, migration, criminal and human rights dimensions of this problem. The most important dimension of this problem is its human rights dimension.  Global emphasis on a human rights dialogue would help address issues of exploitation, slavery, violence, arbitrary detention and protection from further abuse.

Integration of human rights in anti-trafficking strategies:

1. Domestic laws should comply with human rights instruments that states have already ratified.
2. Implementation of laws should be monitored through an inter-agency, or multiple government agencies mechanism involving Ministries of Interior (Law Enforcement Agencies), Foreign Affairs, Social Welfare and Human Rights and also the Civil Society.
3. [State] Border policy should be improved.
4. A regional database of criminal gangs involved in trafficking should be prepared. Bilateral and multilateral cooperative mechanisms are critical for proper information exchange. Convention on Transnational Organized Crimes (TOC) and its protocols provide an important mechanism to establish a global alliance against criminal elements involved in trafficking.

Administrative steps apart, international economic, political and social policies will need to be reconsidered between the rich and poor countries while developing an effective international strategy to address this issue.

This is a response to the blog-post, “Help stop trafficking now.”

• Domestic violence is one of the severest forms of violence against women
• Most of the cases of abuse go unnoticed or unreported
• Society and traditions, in some cases, sanction abuse by creating conditions for the victims to accept violence as a norm
• Countries where domestic violence is most prevalent either lack proper legal frameworks to proscribe abuse or mechanisms to implement laws against abuse
• Male population is generally apathetic to the consequences of this abuse even when many among them would not like to indulge in such a practice
• There is no proper education of sexual relations as well as of responsibilities of adults who decide to live in a permanent relationship. Any such education would inevitably include the education of the rights of women and children as individuals
  

I would suggest the following inter-related areas to address this problem:

• Empowerment: Although this includes political, economic and social empowerment of women, the most important point is to empower young girls to reject violence psychologically. This can be done through education and training of girls and boys, not merely in formal institutions, but also through domestic training by their mothers, aunts, elder sisters and other older members of family seeking to inculcate the respect of women as a fundamental family value.
• Awareness: This should be coupled with mass awareness targeting male members of society. In my country, media has played a great role in deepening an aversion for violence particularly domestic abuse against women. In addition, religious scholars may also play a great role in strengthening the understanding against abuse.
• Establishment of legal framework and implementation: Good legal framework, sanctioning penalties and providing protection, need to be evolved where there is none. The implementation of such framework will enhance the number of reported cases and highlight the gravity of the issue
• Human rights education: Human Rights education must be made a compulsory part of curriculum through secondary school.

This is a response to the blog-post “A call to action: Your views on domestic violence”.