China: Women Leaders

http://youtu.be/D3jX3jVFVak

Breastfeeding in China: Still a Long Way to Go

http://www.womenofchina.cn/html/womenofchina/report/174762-1.htm?pos=0

A Fair Climate: Gender Equity in Forestry & REDD+

This training video targets community forestry practitioners to improve gender equity on the ground. The video explains the concept of gender equity in the context of forest communities and highlights best practices for achieving gender equity.

Shot in Vientiane in Lao PDR a

http://youtu.be/z7wsl_AP4Qs

New handbook published by the EC on protection and guardanship of trafficked children 
ЕС опубликовал новое руководстве о защите детей жертв торговли лишенных родительской опеки
http://fra.europa.eu/sites/default/files/fra-2014-guardianship-children_en_0.pdf
 

The many perils of Sex Trafficking in Kyrgyzstan Written by Saadia Haq

According to the International Organization for Migration (IOM), the problem of human trafficking has become more profound in Kyrgyzstan. The Republic continues to be an increasingly attractive prospect for traffickers luring women into towards the position industry, locally and abroad.

Human trafficking is a serious crime just like terrorism, smuggling of weapons or narcotics. Many women and men can be forced to provide sexual services for someone else’s profit. The central Asian region, in particular Kyrgyzstan is a hot bed for sex trafficking. More then often, the traffickers use force or threats to keep trafficked women and girls under control and exploit them.

While poverty pushes some women and girls to voluntarily join the commercial sex trade, there are others who end up becoming commercial sex workers without their will. Either ways, they are held captive; some try but fail to escape.

Coming from a family of five siblings, drunk father and struggling mother, eighteen year old Olga* decided she would support her mother and saw an advertisement for a job in the capital city. “Young waitress needed. Good salary.” She called the number on the advertisement and went to meet her new employers. But when Olga* arrived at the address her employers gave her, she was locked in the apartment and kept there by force. She and four other girls were raped, sexually enslaved and exploited. If they refused to work, they were beaten. In average, 20 000 $ was monthly profit traffickers made by exploiting them.

Finally one fine day Olga* was able to escape with another girl and seek help from the local office of IOM.

Contrary to this, many Kyrgyzi women get trafficked out of the country for the purpose of sex exploitation. The “migrants in sex market” phenomenon exists with the prevalent dynamics of the demand and supply. Consequently, migrants women are more vulnerable and at high risk of exploitation.

Non-governmental groups research in central Asia shows alarming evidences of the numbers of Kyrgyzi women getting trafficked abroad illegally, many a times in places where they are vulnerable due to foreign language and culture.  These women are often controlled through established networks in Middle East and Europe where they are sold into the sex industry at cheaper prices admits appalling human conditions.

Aika* (a female central asian trafficker) was a recruiter of village girls who used to work in saunas. When they would arrive to these foreign locations, her team would lock them into apartments and force them to become prostitutes. None of the girls would have any choice in choosing customers and for refusing to work. Those who rebelled were quickly shown brutal physical force to give in. However, twenty-one year old Gulya* ran away with the help of a customer. Later she contacted an aid agency to report the crime. This led to Aika* arrest and sentence of prison.

Meanwhile Gulya* moved to another location in order to escape the community disproval and punishment for her former sex worker status. This is a common trend in the society; most Kyrgyzstani sex slaves who are juvenile girl, upon returning to Kyrgyzstan, are sometimes prosecuted for crossing borders illegally and shunned away by families.

The IOM says that it handles all expenses relevant to the release of Kyrgyzstanis from slavery abroad, ranging from transportation of former slaves to Kyrgyzstan and subsequent psychological rehabilitation and employment. Further more, its efficient programme continue to tackle the problems of sex trafficking. But ultimately, human groups argue, responsibility for tackling the problem lies primarily with the state. 

While the laws and programs are promulgated in the country, there implementation is debatable. The government of to Kyrgyzstan in its fight against trafficking must focus on efficient implementation of laws as well as strengthen effective cooperation with agencies rendering assistance to victim which have very important role to protect victims and to assist in victims’ recovery and reintegration in the society.

Sources:

1. IOM informational campaigns Series of leaflets on counter-trafficking
2. IOM Handbook on Direct Assistance for Victims of Trafficking 2007

Act Now for Women and Girls

http://vimeo.com/98657740

Providing Assistance to Victims of Human Trafficking, in Central Asia

Providing Assistance to Victims of Human Trafficking, in Central Asia

Written by Saadia Haq

Central Asia has a track record of trafficking in persons; here the phenomenon can take many forms, however according to IOM field research, trafficking for labor exploitation is the most common. And underage girls and boys are also becoming VOTs (victims of trafficking) and engaged in prostitution in Central Asia. For instance, in Tajikistan, for instance, the average age of a prostitute has reportedly fallen to eleven or twelve years, and many of these child prostitutes are sold to exploiters by their families.

On a larger scale, the returnee victims find hostile climate within the deeply conservative regional society as trafficking and prostitution are still considered a huge taboo.  To tackle these issues, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) Regional Office for Central Asia, UNFPA in partnership with regional NGOs and civil society activists is implementing a special project “Strengthening the capacity of the Central Asian Republics to protect and assist victims of human trafficking and smuggled migrants, especially women and children.”

Globally, the fight against trafficking in human beings is high on the agenda of policy makers, but in practice however, the protection and promotion of the rights of trafficked persons are often placed below the concerns of immigration control and prosecutions. This leaves most trafficked victims highly vulnerable and basically no future beyond the nightmare.

More ever in Central Asia, there is an absence of well-functioning identification systems and referral mechanisms that hinders the assistance and provision of to the victims of human trafficking and smuggled migrants. 

Therefore, this project is aiming to improve the quality and accessibility of social services for victims of human trafficking and smuggled migrants. It is focusing on capacity buildings through conducting workshops across the Central Asian countries. Last month, the first such two-day workshop was held in Dushanbe. It is specifically designed to strengthen the capacity and increase the knowledge of social workers and other professionals working with victims of human trafficking and smuggled migrants.

Through the workshop the participants acquired concise information on existing international standards and practical tools on psychosocial consultation and effective referral mechanisms for social services, including sexual and reproductive health services.

Moreover, the participants were able to strengthen their network on a national base and build common understanding on principles for the adequate assistance and protection measures in assisting trafficking cases.

An additional value of this project is the partnership with UNFPA, adds the focus on the rights of child and female who are victims of human trafficking or smuggled migrants and ensuring that all trainings and services take into consideration the unique needs of these groups.

UNFPA’s Sub-regional Office for Central Asia says, “Trafficked women and girls face high sexual and reproductive health risks, hence it is essential to provide service providers with information for ensuring quality counseling and services.”

This landmark regional initiative is catering to representatives from key government structures, shelter staff and grassroots NGOs that are involved in providing identification, assistance and protection services to these vulnerable groups.

The project is funded by the European Union and the United States of America.

References:

1. Central Asia report on trafficking in persons, UNFPA
2. UNODC, http://www.unodc.org/centralasia/en/xacx44.html