Tackling trafficking
1 Sep 2008
Exploitation, sexual servitude, forced labour. Human trafficking is a lucrative global industry. Jennifer Burn is calling on the Australian Government to make real changes to the way we treat trafficked people.
For many Australians the slave trade is something that belongs in history books. But in the 21st century human trafficking – often called the modern-day slave trade – is one of the world's most profitable crimes. In the last decade, traffickers have raked in an estimated $42.5 billion a year. While attempts to document this illicit trade are difficult, the US State Department estimates in 2008, up to 800 000 people were trafficked across international borders; the majority were female.
As the Director of the UTS Anti-Slavery Project, an organisation which provides legal assistance to trafficked persons, I have spent many hundreds of hours talking to people who have experienced trafficking. I have seen women who travel to Australia voluntarily expecting to work or study, but on arrival find themselves in a debt bondage arrangement, sexual servitude or slavery. I have seen women and men who have experienced labour exploitation.
In Australia, we don't know precisely how many people are trafficked into the country each year. What we do know is that trafficking and slavery are human rights abuses that are happening here. Since 2004, 107 people have been through the government's Victim Support Program for trafficked persons. Out of these, 106 were women. There have been a small, but significant, number of prosecutions.
It would be naïve to think that these figures reflect the extent or nature of trafficking in Australia. Detecting and prosecuting trafficking is notoriously difficult. The challenge of successfully prosecuting traffickers becomes even harder if we fail to adequately support and protect trafficking victims. Since 2005, the UTS Anti-Slavery Project has been pushing the Australian Government to reform Australia's response to trafficking so that it provides more effective protection and pays more attention to the key areas of victim support and prevention.
In 2008, it seems the Australian Government is finally listening. Since the election of federal Labor in October 2007, we have seen a more inclusive and consultative approach to developing law and policy on people trafficking. In June 2008, the Commonwealth Government formally brought government and non-government organisations (NGOs) together at the first inaugural National Roundtable on People Trafficking.
After receiving an invitation from the Minister for Home Affairs Bob Debus I drove to Canberra to represent the UTS Anti-Slavery Project at the National Roundtable with a sense of optimism. My expectations were exceeded.
For NGO sectors used to being left in the cold, it was inspirational to sit around a table with academics, lawyers, sex-workers, religious groups, women's groups, domestic violence agencies, immigrant rights organisations, service providers, the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission (HREOC) and key government stakeholders to talk about how we can best protect trafficking victims and, equally importantly, prevent trafficking from occurring in the first place.
An important outcome of the roundtable was the establishment of a Working Group to develop guidelines for NGOs working with trafficked people. The Working Group is chaired by HREOC's Sex Discrimination Commissioner Elizabeth Broderick and its membership draws on the expertise of key NGOs and government departments.
Another outcome was a joint statement from NGOs and HREOC calling on the government to reform the People Trafficking Visa Framework. This proposal for reform is underpinned by a simple principle: visas and victim support should be available on the basis of need; not contingent on victims being willing and able to assist police. Another key recommendation is for visa protection to extend to children and partners of trafficked people. Without protection for their family, trafficking victims are unlikely to want to remain in Australia to testify against their traffickers, and additionally, children in the country of origin could themselves be vulnerable to trafficking.
For the UTS Anti-Slavery Project, the National Roundtable reinforced the need for further work in the critical areas of victim support and labour exploitation.
For instance, we need to pay more attention to the problem of trafficking for labour exploitation. To date Australia's response to trafficking has focused on trafficking for sexual exploitation. What we need to do now is work out the best way to identify incidents of labour trafficking outside the sex industry.
Judges and lawyers need to receive cultural awareness training so that they can effectively deal with the realities of trafficking and experiences of trafficked persons.
NGOs need to develop best-practice guidelines for working with trafficked persons to ensure they can provide effective advocacy and support for those who most need help. The purpose of the guidelines will be to provide practical assistance to NGOs on issues like responding to subpoenas and providing evidence, protecting the safety, confidentiality and privacy of trafficked people, and identifying appropriate referral pathways. In consultation with others, the UTS Anti-Slavery Project has taken on the task of preparing the first draft of the guidelines.
Finally, NGOs need better funding so they can effectively contribute to policy development in this area and provide high quality services to those who need it – victims of trafficking.
I am optimistic this new consultative relationship between NGOs and government is a two-way street. One month after NGOs travelled to Canberra to participate in the roundtable, government representatives came to UTS to attend the first Inaugural National Trafficking Forum on 24 July 2008.
The forum, which was hosted by the UTS Anti-Slavery Project, featured key note speeches from Chief Executive of World Vision Australia Reverend Tim Costello, Minister for the Status of Women Tanya Plibersek and Sex Discrimination Commissioner Elizabeth Broderick. It was a day that brought together NGOs, advocates, government representatives and students in a packed lecture hall. My personal high point was when UTS graduate Tanya Plibersek announced the Office for Women would investigate how the existing framework for the provision of visas and victim support could be reformed to ensure access to support programs is not reliant on a victim's ability to assist police investigations and prosecutions.
As an advocate for trafficked people and an immigration lawyer, I am delighted to see the UTS Anti-Slavery Projects repeated calls for reform to the People Trafficking Visa Framework are finally gaining traction. This month a report by the Australian Institute of Criminology also recommended the government consider making visas available to victims of trafficking that need assistance but do not want to participate in a criminal justice process. The report makes other important recommendations such as funding culturally-appropriate outreach services for trafficked women and developing a service standard for victim support. These should be implemented if Australia is serious about developing a human rights approach to trafficking.
These recommendations reflect a human rights approach to trafficking. Trafficking is, first and foremost, a human rights issue. Recognising this places the human rights of trafficked persons at the centre of all efforts to prevent and combat trafficking and enables us to protect and provide redress to victims. This principle underpins our daily work at the UTS Anti-Slavery Project.
The UTS Anti-Slavery Project is part of the Faculty of Law and is supported by members of the community, lawyers and many volunteer law academics, including the faculty's Dean Professor Jill McKeough who is an advocate of human rights and has a personal commitment to eradicating trafficking in Australia.
Jennifer Burn
Director, UTS Anti-Slavery Project and Senior Lecturer, Faculty of Law
Photographer (J Burn): Joanne Saad
Tell us your news
RSS feed