Structural Learning Week 5 - Human Trafficking

Human Trafficking by Rachel Garner

I chose to do my structural learning on Human Trafficking because I feel that this is a really important development issue. Human Trafficking takes place across all corners of the globe and there isn't one continent that is not affected by it. It permeates all aspects of people lives whether they know it or not, a person may not know that they are condoning trafficking purely because they are unaware of how widespread the effects are. For example did you know that Human Trafficking could have been involved in the making of the chocolate bar you ate yesterday? Or the cotton t-shirt you are wearing right now?

So what is Human Trafficking?

The google definition of Human Trafficking is - “the illegal movement of people, typically for the purposes of forced labour or commercial sexual exploitation” – and I suppose this is the crux of what Human Trafficking is.

 However I feel that Human Trafficking was better described by the Arch Bishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby when he said…

            “Human trafficking is a grave crime against humanity. It is a form of modern day slavery and a profound violation of the intrinsic dignity of human beings. It is intolerable that millions of fellow human beings should be violated in this way, subjected to inhuman exploitation and deprived of their dignity and rights. This outrage should concern each one of us, because what affects one part of humanity affects us all. Virtually every part of this world is touched in some way by the cruelty and violence associated with this criminal activity. If we are to combat this evil then we must work together to prevent the crime, support the survivors and prosecute the criminals.”

This definition and explanation highlights how heinous a crime Human Trafficking is, but also how it can often fall under our radars and how that is not acceptable.

Some Facts and Statistics:

How many children are trafficked every year?

1.2 Million (UNICEF)

How many men, women and children are trafficked across INTERNATIONAL borders each year?

600,000 to 800,000 (US Department of State Trafficking in Persons Report 2007)

Of that, what percentage are minors?

50% (US Department of State Trafficking in Persons Report 2007)

At least 20.9 million people are victims of forced labour worldwide. While it is difficult to establish a precise amount, conservative 2012 research estimated trafficking victims as comprising some 44 per cent of this figure. (ILO 2012 Global Estimate of Forced Labour)

Human Trafficking is the second largest source of illegal income worldwide exceed only by drug trafficking. (Belser 2005)

Relevance of Human Trafficking Today:

There are so many examples of human trafficking going on every day. Even in the past couple of weeks since I have been researching this project there have been numerous examples of crimes involving trafficking. Some of which are incredibly close to home. 

Suspected human trafficker and Thai 'baby factory' under investigation - Thai police hunt Japanese man who fathered 15 babies to 11 surrogate mothers in possible trafficking inquiry - Guardian Article

Tilbury Containter Stoways included 13 children. “The group arrived on Saturday on a ship from Belgium and were said by police to be victims of "people trafficking" -  BBC Article

What can be done?

Human Trafficking happens for many different reasons, some people see it as their only way out of poverty and this is not acceptable. A person should not be able to be driven to such desperation that they feel their only answer is to sell a loved one or themselves, on the promise or false hope of a Human Trafficker. Something has to be done to stop this...

STOP THE TRAFFIK

There are so many different ways for people to get involved, but one of the biggest things that you can do is just to be aware – next time you buy chocolate or cotton, look out for the fair trade sign, without that mark you cannot guarantee that what you are buying doesn't involve the trafficking of people.

Especially in industries where it is none that there is trafficking, it is really important to be alert and proactive so as to not accidentally condone it, through purchasing that product.

If you want to get involved in a more physical way then stopthetraffik have a number of different schemes and ideas to help raise awareness and fundraise. A big campaign that they have going on in October is called “The Big Auction”. Here you auction of a skill or talent that you have, even just your time, and the money that is raised goes to stopthetraffik. To find out more about this go to - Big Auction

What Progress Has Been Made So Far?

Through campaigning organisation such as stopthetraffik so much progress has already been made in order to get the breakthrough that is needed...

Just recently Nestle announced that they are on track to have 100% of their cocoa in the UK & I certified by the end of 2015. They are the first major confectionery brand to reach this milestone. Nestle

Hundreds of people have been rescued from human trafficking, and or been prevented from being trafficked in the first place thanks to charities like stopthetraffik and the campaigns that they are running. 176 Saved.

If you want to find out more about human trafficking then there are lots of different documentaries that focus on particular types of traffiking, for example a couple of years ago Stacey Dooley looked into sex trafficking in Cambodia.

Structural Learning Week 3 - Female Genital Mutilation (FGM)

Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) by Chinwe Soares-Feyisitan:

I chose to do my structural learning on FGM because I find it to be an extremely important subject that many people are too afraid to discuss, and the longer we remain quiet about it the worse and more extreme it will become.

I started of my structural learning by giving some facts and figures about FGM around the world so that the team would understand that this is a really important topic and that it isn't just an isolated occurrence - that it even happens in our home countries; the UK and Rwanda.

How many girls and women alive today have been affected by FMG?

- More than 125 million in 29 countries in Africa and the Middle East

How many girls everyday are put through this process?

- 8,000

How many times has this procedure been carried out in the UK?

- 66,000

These numbers are really difficult for people to get their head around as FGM can often seem as a relatively small practice as not many people are willing to talk about it, and the negative impacts that it has not only on the girls and women but on society as a whole.

FGM is a non-medical procedure that has no health benefits for women or girls. It is typically carried out on girls aged between 4 - 15, but there have been known cases outside this age range. FGM actually has nothing to do with culture, tradition or religion - many people believe that this procedure is done for religious reasons; however it is not mentioned in any religious book.

I then went on to show the group the different types of FGM as there are three main ones:

A handout that I gave to the group.

Type 1 - Clitoridectomy:

• This is the partial or total removal of the clitoris.
• This is done by cutting or poking the area.

Type 2 - Excision:

• The partial or total removal of the clitoris and labia.

Type 3 - Infibulation:

• All parts are cut off, and the remaining skin is pulled together and sewn up.
• This has been carried out on 90% of girls in Somalia.

What does the Law have to say about this?

I then went on to explain to the group the take that UK law has on this scenario. It is particularly difficult to find out the different legal stances on this matter and this is why I focused on the UK.

In 1985 the Prohibition of Female Circumcision Act made the procedure illegal in the UK. This was then amended in 2003 to make it illegal to carry out the procedure on a UK citizen whilst they are outside the UK - as many people were taking their children abroad to have the procedure carried out.

If convicted, a person in the UK faces 14 years imprisonment and a fine; however no one in the UK has been convicted, but in May 2014 a 38 year old women was arrested for conspiracy to commit FGM however the charges were dropped.

In France they regularly check their girls to make sure that they haven't had the procedure done - more than 100 people have been arrested in France.

But it's not all bad news:

The Netherlands are investing millions into finding a way to stop FGM and there is a campaign right here in the UK that you can join - Stop FGM Campaign

Further more the UK has introduced a form whereby if a young girl is feeling threatened or she believes that FGM is going to happen to her she can place it in her passport and the staff at the airport will be notified of this fear and check out the problem.

If you want to find out more about FGM then watch a documentary called The Cruel Cut.

Structural Learning Week 1 - Global Inequality and Trade Injustice

Global Inequality and Trade Injustice by Beth Milburn:

Structural learning sessions are a feature of the ICS programme whereby one member of the team shares with the rest of the team about an issue to do with development that they are interested in.

I chose to do my session about global inequality and trade injustice because it is an issue I’m really passionate about and feel that it is not often spoken about, let alone explained.

I began the session by asking the team to play a game of higher and lower where they had to guess the answers the questions:

1. How much is international trade worth every minute?

- £5.9 million

2. The world’s poorest 3 billion people have the same amount of wealth as how many of the world’s richest people?

- 300

3.If African countries increased their share of world trade by 1% how much more money would they gain every year?

- £40 billion. (5 times the amount they receive in aid)

I chose these statistics because they illustrate the fact that: "Well-managed trade has the potential to lift millions of people out of poverty.”

BUT

There are many obstacles preventing this.

This short video clearly explains the issue of inequality and why disparities between countries continue to widen rather than decrease despite vast amounts of foreign aid being transferred.

(If you don’t have time to watch the video then this diagram shows the main point, which is what I love about the video.)

This is a clear illustration of the inbalance of the transfer of money across the nations.

There are three issues that rob developing countries of approximately £1170 billion every year: debt, tax avoidance and unjust trade rules. Although this diagrams differentiation into ‘developed’ and ‘developing’ country is rather crude – the diagram makes me angry and passionate, because if these issues could be resolved then developing countries would see massive development without the help of foreign aid. It’s not all about aid; these issues need to be tackled in order for millions of people to be lifted out of poverty.

For example, £3000 is lost from Africa every second due to corruption. We discussed to what extent governments vs Western companies can be blamed for this. Tearfund’s Unearth the Truth campaign contributed towards the European Union passing new transparency laws in June 2013 which means that European extractive companies have to publish what they pay. “This will make corruption harder, so poor communities have more chance of sharing in the wealth” (Tearfund, 2013).

We discussed Tearfund’s current campaign called ‘Secrets Out’ which is calling on world leaders to push for an end to corruption and increased transparency at the G20 this November. You can sign the campaign and find out more at: http://secretsout.tearfund.org/

We then discussed issues to do with trade. It was hard to fit this massive topic into a short space of time but I tried to give a brief overview of the main issues through looking at global value chains, tariffs, subsidies and dumping.

Firstly we looked at some of the reasons why those producers at the bottom of global value chains get such a small amount of money for their produce compared to those at the top such as retailers.

Secondly we looked at tariffs and subsidies: Tariffs are a form of tax paid on imports and exports. Subsidies are grants given by governments to help industries keep their prices low. This means that developed countries where governments can afford to give high subsidies can then export their farm crops at prices a third lower than the cost of production.

Tariffs and subsidies cost developing countries approximately £70 billion a year – which is twice as much as they receive in aid (Oxfam).

High subsidies lead to dumping which is when the subsidised products are exported to developing countries and sold at a lower price which out-competes the local industries and therefore is harmful to the development of that local economy.

Trade liberalisation and free trade are forcing the removal of protective tariffs which has led to an increase of dumping and damage to local economies. This is a current issue that needs addressing.

To end with we read some of Isiah 58 which is a biblical call to fight for justice to emphasise that we have a role to play in these issues too. We explored what we can do in response to this and these are:

1. Campaign

2. Pray

3. Shop ethically

This video then demonstrated to us that justice really is worth it...

So although this seemed like a really heavy topic from the outset, it was really good to break it down and explain  it briefly. I am passionate about these topics because trade has a huge potential to lift millions of people out of poverty, as does improvement in economic issues such as debt and tax avoidance. Although these are huge structural issues and inequalities in the world system, there is also hope. 

We all have a role to play in fighting for change, justice and  a fairer world.