[URBANTH-L]CFP: Agenda journal on Human Trafficking

[Angela Jancius]

Call for Writers to send contributions for the upcoming Agenda journal on 
Trafficking

Deadline:  1 July 2006

At the forefront of feminist publishing in South Africa for almost 20 years, 
the Agenda journal raises debate, questions, challenges around women's 
rights and gender issues.  The journal provides its readers with a fresh, 
challenging, and thought-provoking read.

Virtually every country in the world is affected by the crime of human 
trafficking for sexual exploitation, forced labor, and many other reasons. 
More than 700,000 people are trafficked across international borders every 
year.  Its main victims are women and children.

Agenda intends to publish a journal in December 2006 focusing on the topic 
of human trafficking.  While we, as a feminist media project, will mainly 
focus on the trafficking of women and girl-children, the content of the 
journal should portray that also men and boys are affected by this crime.

Although many women and girl-children are trafficked for purposes of sexual 
exploitation (prostitution, mail order brides, pornography, etc.), this 
issue should work against the common misconception that people are only 
trafficked for sexual reasons.  Common motives for trafficking people 
include sales of organs for transplants and traditional medicines, drug 
dealing, child labor, sweatshops/forced labor, adoptions, begging, etc.

We are particularly seeking writers from the African continent, but also 
from other parts of the South.  The journal wants to give a voice in 
particular to writers of color.

Contributions should cover one or more of the following key areas:
- Sexual exploitation
- Illegal sweatshops
- Child labor
- Sales of body parts for transplants or traditional medicines
- Trafficking of babies for adoption
- Abduction of children for begging and drug-dealing
- Trafficking of girl-children and young women as brides
- Debt bondage
- International/national law and law enforcement
- Relationship between human trafficking and poverty
- What NGOs do to stop trafficking, e.g. the global coalition of NGOs called 
the War Against Trafficking Alliance or The Coalition Against Trafficking in 
Women (CATW)
- How patriarchal values and socialization foster trafficking 
(commodification of sex)
- National and international legislation and its implementation
- (Barriers to) reintegration of human trafficking victims
- Case studies

Contributions need to be written in English language, and in a style 
accessible to a wider audience.  Please submit show of interest, overviews, 
or abstracts to editor at agenda.org.za

All submissions must contain the following:
* Specify the specific key area (as identified above) you would like to 
write on
* Provide a 200-300 word overview/abstract
* Provide full contact details: your name, institution/organization, 
telephone, e-mail, and the country in which you reside/country of origin

Deadline:  Please submit by 1 July 2006.

Background on Trafficking
Many factors have contributed to the drastic increase of human trafficking 
in the past decade, including rapid and varying economic and political 
developments, globalisation, gender relations, improvements of transport 
infrastructures across borders and widening economic disparities.

The UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNDOC) has researched countries affected 
by trafficking and identified 127 countries of origin, 98 transit countries, 
and 137 destination countries.  Yet, there remains an absence of reliable 
and accurate global data, which hampers global efforts to combat 
trafficking.  Many governments remain unwilling to acknowledge the level of 
trafficking happening in their countries, which leads to a lack of 
systematic reporting by authorities.

Efforts to counter trafficking on a global scale have so far been 
uncoordinated and inefficient.  Traffickers capitalize on weak law 
enforcement and poor international cooperation.  To make matters worse, 
victims are often treated as criminals who may face charges for violating 
immigration or anti-prostitution laws.

Human trafficking is a US$7 billion trade a year, which involves 143 (74.4%) 
of the world's 192 nations.  Just 45 of Africa's 54 countries account for 
31.4% of the global sex business.  These impoverished African nations, 
overburdened by large populations, external debt, civil strife, and heavy 
military spending, which account for only 2% of the World Foreign Direct 
Investment (FDI), account for the supply of about 300,000 women a year.

Global trafficking hot spots
According to a report by the International Organization for Migration (IOM), 
trafficking in women and children for sexual exploitation is a significant 
problem in Southern Africa.  Angola, Botswana, DRC, Lesotho, Mozambique, 
Malawi, South Africa, Swaziland, Tanzania, Zimbabwe, and Zambia are source 
countries for trafficking activities in Southern Africa.  Thailand, China, 
and Eastern Europe are the extra-regional sources for victims trafficked to 
South Africa.  Many other victims are trafficked to Europe, the UK, and 
Canada.

Botswana, Malawi, Mozambique, South Africa, Tanzania, Zambia, and Zimbabwe 
are transit countries for trafficking activities, while South Africa is the 
destination country for regional and extra-regional trafficking.

Human trafficking is the fastest growing profit source for organized crime 
worldwide, second only to guns and drugs.  The advantage of human cargo was 
that it could be 'reused', unlike drugs, a crime expert explained.  In many 
parts of the world, human trafficking is considered to be dominated by 
organized crime.  Essentially, the presence of organized crime depends on 
there being illegal markets, the existence of which directly relates to the 
actions and policies of governments (law enforcement).

Legislation
Although the UN Protocol to Prevent, Suppress, and Punish Trafficking in 
Persons (2000) specifically calls upon nations to address protection of the 
human rights of victims and to provide measures for the physical, 
psychological, and social recovery of victims of trafficking, some 
countries, such as South Africa, have no specific legislation prohibiting 
trafficking as a crime in its own rights, but rely on arresting traffickers 
on other, related criminal offences, e.g. relating to drugs, prostitution, 
violence, immigration, theft, etc.  The South African Law Reform Commission 
is working on legislation, however.

Although many countries have adopted the Convention Against Transnational 
Organized Crime and subsequent protocols with regards to trafficking and 
migration, many southern African countries still have to ratify the 
protocol.

Globalization
Globalization has encouraged new routes and new methods to exploit women and 
children for profit.

Globalization is characterized by a move to more competitive markets and the 
more or less unfettered movement of capital, technology, and information. 
The move to more competitive markets is likely to increase disparity between 
and within nations, providing the stimulus for rapidly increased migration. 
Much of this migration is illegal or irregular, placing migrants in a highly 
vulnerable position and leading to exploitation and trafficking.  Rather 
than alleviating the situation, moves to minimize migration can add to this 
vulnerability by pushing migrants into more and more dangerous methods of 
migration, characterized by the involvement of trans-national, organized 
crime.

The International Labor Organization (ILO) described human trafficking for 
forced labor as being the 'underside of globalization'.  Women and children 
are the worst victims of this.  In forced economic exploitation of labor, 
56% of the victims are women and girls, while 44% are men and boys.  In 
forced commercial sexual exploitation, 98% of the victims are women.  But 
the most shocking fact is that children account for 40% to 50% of all 
victims.