Women Towards Freedom

 

 

 

International Women’s Day (March 8) is a major day of celebration for the economic, political and social achievements of women around the world. Vietnam has much to celebrate in its efforts to tackle domestic violence and sexual discrimination. Commemorative days are crucial to raising awareness of situations that affect women and children, like human trafficking.

 

Yet, myths in Vietnam persist.

 

Myth 1: Trafficking victims are poor and from the countryside.

​Fact: Poverty is too often prevalent in victims’ backgrounds, but poverty doesn’t cause trafficking and those who are trafficked come from all socioeconomic walks of life.

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Myth 2: People are only trafficked for sex.

Fact: Exploitation in the form of involuntary servitude through force, fraud or coercion affects women, men, girls and boys who are used for yes, for sexual exploitation, but also criminal activity, forced labour, debt bondage, and early or forced marriage domestically and internationally. Those who are trafficked are found in legitimate and illegitimate industries (PDF), including sweatshops, massage parlours, nail salons, agriculture, restaurants, hotels and domestic service.

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Myth 3: If the trafficked person agreed to the labour or the sex then they ‘know better’ and therefore gave consent.

Fact: A victim cannot give consent because trafficking is defined by the use of force or deception.

 

Put another way, UNICEF says two million kids are sexually exploited around the world every year. I’m fairly sure those children didn’t give consent.

 

On the upside the Vietnamese government has passed new anti-trafficking legislation and a five-year national action plan on trafficking, but this is not just a developing world issue. According to the Human Trafficking Foundation, globally there are more people in slavery now than during the entire four centuries of the transatlantic slave trade.

 

Take Action

 

Want to do something? Know that human trafficking is modern day slavery. Be a conscientious consumer by encouraging companies to investigate their supply chains to eliminate slavery and debt bondage. Don’t buy things from kids on the street—you don’t know why they’re really there. Donate funds, needed items or hold a fundraiser for an anti-trafficking organization. Make anti-trafficking messages part of your professional associations, conferences and training. Be a media activist by joining Twitter conversations such as #humantrafficking or #modernslavery.

 

Above all, educate yourself. Understand that many overseas trafficked persons are typically not identified as victims, but rather as criminals if they don’t have legal identification papers or immigration status. Anti-Slavery International says this results in trafficked persons being more likely to be detained and removed from the country they were arrested in, rather than being legally protected.

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If the victims are not recognized, then the crime is not recognized and the true criminals go unpunished.

 

Let us continue to (daily) celebrate the significant contributions of women and their inalienable right to freedom from violence and coercion. We just must also remember that women, men, boys and girls everywhere—possibly right in your neighbourhood—are being forced against their will to work illegally in dangerous and exploitative environments. Like drugs and arms trafficking, human trafficking is a market-driven criminal industry based on supply and demand.

 

Those little girls selling gum don’t seem so cute any more, do they?

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Photo: Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh, India / Walk Free

 

This article originally appeared in Word Vietnam magazine and has been adapted. To view the magazine’s online version click here.