Overview
Human trafficking is “Modern Day Slavery” and it is a crime. It is 1 of the 3 most profitable illicit activities, along with Drugs and Weapons (to include ammunition). It is estimated to generate upwards of 150 Billion EUR annually. The following numeric and statistical reporting is as reported by EURSTAT and published in 2015 reflecting reports of 2014.
The UN’s definition is:
Trafficking in Persons as the recruitment, transportation, transfer, harboring or receipt of persons, by means of the threat or use of force or other forms of coercion, of abduction, of fraud, of deception, of the abuse of power or of a position of vulnerability or of the giving or receiving of payments or benefits to achieve the consent of a person having control over another person, for the purpose of exploitation. Exploitation shall include, at a minimum, the exploitation of the prostitution of others or other forms of sexual exploitation, forced labor or services, slavery or practices similar to slavery, servitude or the removal of organs.
UN estimates that 2.4 million people are victims of human trafficking at any given time. Although it is not possible to be precise on this reporting – the number are in all reality higher.
The International Labor Organization estimates that there are 20.9 million victims of human trafficking globally, including 5.5 million children. 55% are women and girls.
- 80% are trafficked as sex slaves
- 17% are trafficked for forced labor
- A certain percentage are trafficked for organs - often children
Registered victims
- 30 146 victims were registered in the 28 EU Member States over the three years 2010-2012.
- 80 % of registered victims were female.
- Over 1 000 child victims were trafficked for sexual exploitation.
- 69 % of registered victims were trafficked for sexual exploitation.
- 95 % of registered victims of sexual exploitation were female.
- 71 % of registered victims of labour exploitation were male.
- 65 % of registered victims were EU citizens.
No discernible trends in the variation of victim data at EU level over the three reference years.
“Citizens of Hungary, Slovakia, Lithuania and the Netherlands also had a relatively high registered victim prevalence rate as trafficking victims. However, for the first three, the rate was much higher Trafficking in human beings outside their own country…” (EUROSTAT REPORT 2015, page 11)
Traffickers
- 8 805 prosecutions for trafficking in human beings were reported by Member States over the three years 2010-2012.
- Over 70 % of traffickers were male. This is the case for suspects, prosecutions and convicted traffickers.
- 3 855 convictions for trafficking in human beings were reported by Member States over the three years.
- There are no discernible trends in the number of prosecutions or convictions at EU level.
Lietuvos situacija
Summary Facts:
Lithuania is a source, transit, and destination country for women and children trafficked for the purpose of commercial sexual exploitation. It is estimated that 40 percent of identified Lithuanian trafficking victims are women and girls (under the age of 16) subjected to sex trafficking within the country. Approximately 21 percent of Lithuanian trafficking victims are underage girls. Lithuanian women are also trafficking victims in France, Germany, Italy, Ireland, the Netherlands, Spain, Sweden, and the UK. Lithuanian women and girls from orphanages and state-run foster homes, as well as women with mental or psychological disabilities, are especially vulnerable. A small number of women from Russia and Belarus are transported through Lithuania enroute to Western Europe, where they are forced into prostitution. Some Lithuanian men are subjected to forced labor in the Netherlands, the UK, and the United States, including in agriculture.
Factors of Human Trafficking Infrastructure:
There is a high level of unemployment and a lack of education among Lithuanian women and minors in prostitution and those who are trafficked in Lithuania. Poverty causes trafficking victims to look for any form of income and can leave them vulnerable to promises of high-paying jobs in Western Europe. Even those with jobs are paid very little, and women earn less than men.
Primary Destination Location:
United Kingdom was the No. 1 destination for human trafficking from Lithuania, with girls as young as 14 being brought to the U.K. to work in brothels.
Recent Human-Trafficking of Lithuanians working in the farm industry has also been brought to light in the United Kingdom.
Palermo Protocol
UN Palermo Protocol definition of “Trafficking in persons” shall mean the recruitment, transportation, transfer, harbouring or receipt of persons, by means of the threat or use of force or other forms of coercion, of abduction, of fraud, of deception, of the abuse of power or of a position of vulnerability or of the giving or receiving of payments or benefits to achieve the consent of a person having control over another person, for the purpose of exploitation. Exploitation shall include, at a minimum, the exploitation of the prostitution of others or other forms of sexual exploitation, forced labour or services, slavery or practices similar to slavery, servitude or the removal of organs.
KATI recognizes the broad and penetrating impact particularly to women and children as the majority of the victimized in the trafficked population. Overwhelming activity of the human trafficked population is in the areas of prostitution, sex (tourism / pornography). This includes the use of children in the illicit sex trade and for organs. Other trafficked population includes men that are hoodwinked into non-indigenous labor markets at great sacrifice to their families and themselves. The emotional, psychological and the brutal disregard to human dignity are the unseen scares to each human being victimized not to mention the lives connected to the targeted victim.
KATI Position Statement
Actionability:
- Enforceable Migratory policy implementation with government to constrict the ease of movement by the perpetrators of human trafficking
- Encourage Law Enforcement Agencies to aggressively action case files and investigations of Human Trafficking and the prosecution of the perpetrators
- Encourage Law Enforcement to prosecute the benefactors of Human Trafficked services
- Engage with communities that are impacted as victims to increase advocacy, awareness and capacity to reject the “bait and hook” approach of the perpetrator
- Undertake Education programs to provide alternatives skillsets for economic relief where the attraction of the promises made by Human Trafficking Perpetrators is no longer luring
Outreach and Advocacy:
- Develop campaigns at schools and media tools, and to reach out with particularity to women and children in less developed, rural and isolated areas, who are prone to higher levels of recruitment by Traffickers
- Interact with local community, civil society and religious leaders to foster a network within community to combat Human Trafficking
- Work with government to strengthen national legal systems through appropriate capacity and resources
Education and Health
- Provide the adequate medical, psycho-social and reintegration programmes
- Provide full and detail attentive care to the suffering of children who have been victims of violations, particularly girls, so as to provide adequate support to help them overcome the trauma and experience