Blackwell Reference Online

Extract

Traffic in women denotes the practice of transporting women away from their home to a distant location where they are coerced or forced into work or prostitution in slave-like conditions to the profit of their traffickers. Some 2–4 million women are trafficked annually. Women typically are lured into initial cooperation through the deceitful promise of employment at better wages than available in their home area. Traffickers target impoverished regions with few employment opportunities and transfer women to more affluent areas with a market for their labor or sexual services. Some victims are sold into trafficking by relatives or fellow villagers. Most fall prey to criminal organizations with extensive international networks which profit greatly from this lucrative trade. In many regions, legal businesses participate in trafficking under the guise of tourism or entertainment. States profit through taxes on these businesses, and corrupt officials benefit from bribes to protect the industry. In some areas, military installations and peacekeeping operations provide a customer base for trafficking. The international community has responded to trafficking with a Protocol calling on states to enact laws to criminalize all involvement in traffic in women. Heads of state have labeled this growing practice a new slave trade requiring concerted international action. In a typical trafficking ... log in or subscribe to read full text