Philo L. Dibble, Acting Assistant Secretary of the US State Department, has called on the UN to do more in the fight to end sexual abuse by UN peace keepers. In his testimony this week to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee he acknowledged that since the discovery of serious sexual abuse happening in the Democratic Republic of Congo in 2004 where UN soldiers were involved in continuing the abuse of girls who had been raped during the civil war, the UN had done much to attempt to put in place a zero tolerance policy with regard to sexual abuse which was found to be widespread in countries where the UN had deployed peacekeepers. Since then a code of conduct has been implemented and in the DRC there is a ban on fraternisation with local people and a nightly curfew. The US, however would like to see more done to prevent the exploitation of children and has proposed the following measures to the UN.

* Individuals who would be in a position to commit abuse must be made to know that sexual abuse and exploitation will be swiftly investigated and swiftly dealt with, and this information must also be reinforced by advance training.

* The U.N. must require would-be troop-contributing countries to commit, in writing, to provide U.N.-specific training on sexual abuse and exploitation before their troops deploy.

* The U.N. must require would-be troop-contributing countries to commit, in writing, to swiftly deal with allegations of sexual abuse or exploitation by their own national disciplinary and administrative means, and to report to the U.N. the final disposition of each case.

* The U.N. must require individual unit commanders to be held accountable for the behaviour of the troops under their commands.

* The U.N. must maintain a roster of persons who have committed sexual abuse or exploitation while serving with the U.N. Those persons must be permanently barred from service with the U.N. in any capacity.

* We will ask the U.N. to provide regular updates on the status of sexual exploitation and abuse cases.

Togo is at last planning to pass legislation which will make child trafficking illegal. Every year hundreds of children are trafficked from this West African country, mainly to Nigeria, and Gabon. Togo is one of the least developed countries in the world, with average earnings per head of only $300 a year. Traffickers are able to prey on the poverty of families, offering to give children well paid jobs abroad. In fact they labour for little pay in slave like conditions. In the past traffickers have been arrested but then released because there has been no clear law to prosecute them with. Togo government figures state that 200 children have been repatriated in the first half of 2005 from countries such as Benin, Nigeria, Ivory Coast, Gabon and even Lebanon. Once the law is passed, it is important that police officers are trained and the finance is made available for its implementation.

Not only are at least 2000 women being trafficked out of Lithuania every year, but those who do find their way home find they have a problem with social exclusion. In a survey reported in the Baltic Times today, only 50% of those asked said that they would consider employing a woman who had been trafficked, while 23% said they would employ a former victim if they were offered tax inducements. In response to this problem, the Lithuanian government has launched an initiative with EU funding to try to help women reintegrate into society. Worldwide 50% of victims who have escaped will be re-trafficked. This is due to lack of acceptance at home, depression and the power of criminal gangs in their home locations.
Many of the women who have been trafficked have no support in the local community. In Lithuania around 30% of women who are being trafficked grew up in orphanages.
“Most [victims] have never had a proper job, and few have a decent education,” said Ona Gustiene, head of a support centre that works with trafficking victims. “Also, negative attitudes in society diminish their motivation to look for alternatives to prostitution. They don’t have a sense of self-support and find it difficult to rely on their own skills.”
This reality also points to one of the main causes of women becoming vulnerable to human trafficking – the lack of access to a good education and decent jobs. Governments must address this for those vulnerable to trafficking as well as for victims.

A Kenyan woman was allegedly held a virtual prisoner and forced to work 15 hour days by a Seattle (USA) doctor and his wife, according to papers filed with the FBI recently. The woman from Kenya worked for the couple in Africa and was offered a job with them looking after their son in the US. In return she would be paid $500 per month and her children would be put through school. When she arrived she found that she was confined to the house except on Sundays when she could go to church with the couple. She was also allegedly given far less than her agreed wage. The couple told the woman that if she complained then they would turn her over to the police and she would be deported to Kenya with no money and no job. Eventually an immigration consultant at the church she visited with the couple contacted the police. A lawyer for the couple denied all wrong doing, claiming instead that the woman was attempting to exploit human trafficking legislation to remain in the US. The case is ongoing, but if it does prove well founded it will not be uncommon, with thousands of women being exploited in domestic service in the US every year.

The Yugoslavian daily newspaper Danas is reporting an investigation into a human trafficking ring whose operations spanned Albania, Kosovo, Serbia and Croatia. The newspaper claims that the trafficking is being organised by an unnamed former UNPROFOR official, along with several Belgrade taxi drivers and allegedly Scorpion paramilitary unit members Aleksandar Medic and Miroslav Micic. The newspaper also claims that some of the victims have been trafficked from as far away as Bangladesh and Sri Lanka, with the price for each individual being $7,500. It claims that several hundred people have been trafficked in this way. It is unclear from the reports so far whether this operation is focused on the smuggling of immigrants or true human trafficking with people ending in slavery. It is certain that the main destination country is the UK.