An Introduction to Human
Trafficking in Central Asia, and the Global Slavery Index
A definition of human trafficking from the United Nations Office on
Drugs and Crime (UNODC):
“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.”
In 2012, the International Organization on Migration
provided statistics in their annual report on human trafficking globally (IOM, 2013):
“IOM has globally provided assistance
to individual trafficked persons on 6,394 occasions in
2012. Most of these persons (77%)
are adults aged 18 and over, whereas the rest (23%) were minors. Over half
(55%) of these individuals are female, and less than half are males (45%). Over
two fifths of Individuals have been assisted by IOM after having been
trafficked for the purpose of forced labor (43%), over a fifth for domestic
servitude (22%), under a fifth after sexual exploitation (19%), a tenth for
other or unknown reasons (10%), and less than 3% each for begging (2.6%),
combined labor and sexual exploitation (2.3%), and low level criminal activity
(.9%). In 2012, individuals were mostly trafficked across borders (73%), but
over a fourth also experienced internal trafficking (27%).”
Contemporary numbers on trafficking victims can vary widely
due to the underground nature of the phenomena, a lack of cooperation from many
source and destination states, and difficulties in locating and contacting
victims. The International Labor Organization estimates that 20.9 million
people worldwide are victims of trafficking as of 2012,[1]
with the State Department citing up to 27 million per year (USD 2013) .
Other governmental organizations such as the UNODC rarely state worldwide
numbers. Specific to Central Asia, number estimates are even harder to come by.
The Regional Central Asia Conference in 2006, organized jointly by the OSCE and
Republic of Kazakhstan, cited estimates “that about 5,000 victims are trafficked
annually from Kazakhstan, between 3,000 and 4,000 victims are trafficked from
the Kyrgyz Republic, and between 1,000 and 2,000 women are trafficked annually
from Tajikistan to foreign countries” (OSCE 2006) .
Sulaimanova and Jackson discuss the lack of data in Central
Asia concerning sex trafficking. There
are several likely causes: “in Central Asia, the
trafficking of women is a new phenomenon”
(Sulaimanova, 2004), “prior to 1991, there were virtually no reported
cases of trafficking in women from the former Soviet republics to the West” (Sulaimanova, 2006) and “until recently, both governments and societies in Central
Asia preferred to ignore the issue. In the predominantly Muslim societies of
the region, it is almost taboo to openly discuss the trafficking of women for
prostitution” (Jackson 2006).
The Walk Free Foundation has taken a significant step in
rectifying the dearth of data on human trafficking with their recently released Global Slavery Index.[2] Beyond simply human
trafficking, the foundation broadly includes slavery, as referring “to the
condition of treating another person as if they were property – something to be
bought, sold, traded or even destroyed.” The index provides a view of ‘modern
slavery’ across the globe by ranking 162 countries based on three primary
factors: the estimated portion of the population victimized by modern slavery within
a country, the number of child marriages, and the level of human trafficking in
and out of a country. These rankings are designed to indicate the estimated prevalence of modern slavery in each country, a
snapshot of the estimated population currently enslaved. Data for the index was
obtained from various sources. To generate the slavery estimate by country,
both secondary sources were used, such as governmental and NGO reports, or
media reporting, and representative random sample surveys conducted in a small
number of countries. Data from these limited surveys was then extrapolated to
neighboring countries without survey data. How appropriate this methodology was
is questionable, additional information should be provided on the guidelines
used to gauge the level of accuracy such extrapolation would likely achieve.
Finally, child marriage numbers were obtained from UNICEF, and the level of
human trafficking in and out of the country from the US State Department’s
‘Trafficking in Persons’ report.
Sources:
IOM. 2013. IOM 2012 Case Data on Human Trafficking:
Global Figures and Trends. Geneva: International Organization for
Migration.
Jackson, Nicole J. 2006. "The Trafficking of Narcotics,
Arms and Humans in Post-Soviet Central Asia: (Mis)perceptions, Policies and Realities."
Central Asian Survey 39-52.
OSCE. 2006. "Trafficking in Persons in Central Asia:
The Scope of the Problem and the Appropriate Responses." Regional
Central Asia Conference “Combating Trafficking in Human Beings – Regional
Response”. Astana: Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe.
Sulaimanova, Saltanat. 2004. "Migration Trends in
Central Asia and the Case of Trafficking of Women." In In the Tracks of
Tamerlane: Central Asia's Path to the 21st Century, by eds. Dan Burghart
and Theresa Sabonis-Helf, 377-400. Washington, DC: National Defense University.
Sulaimanova, Saltanat. 2006. "Trafficking in Women from
the Former Soviet Union for the Purposes of Sexual Exploitation." In Trafficking
and the Global Sex Industry, by eds. Karen Beeks and Delila Amir, 61-76.
Oxford: Lexington Books.
UNODC. 2012. Global Report on Trafficking in Persons.
Vienna: United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime.
USD. 2013. Trafficking in Persons Report. Washington,
DC: US State Department.
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