Governments, Organizations Slowly Addressing Issue of Human Trafficking by Heather Nalbone All Katya wanted was a good waitressing job. Following the advice of a friend, the young mother left her failing marriage in the Czech Republic for what she was told would be a lucrative job market in the Netherlands. She figured she could make enough money waiting tables there to support her 2-year-old daughter back home. The whole setup turned out to be a hoax. Katya never set foot in a restaurant. The man who was supposed to transport her and four other women took them instead to a brothel in Amsterdam, where she was told she would never see her daughter again if she refused to work as a prostitute. Katya (the name is a pseudonym given to protect privacy) is among the thousands of women and children whom the U.S. State Department is working to rescue from the throws of modern-day slavery. As awareness of the issue is slowly creeping into the consciousness of law enforcement and government agencies throughout the world, Katyaís story is one of many being told in an effort to unite affected nations and help destroy the practice of sexual exploitation. The issue, which is especially timely as countries commemorate International Womenís Day on Mar ch 8, is one of most underreported human rights issues plaguing the worldóone that consistently flies under the political radar. The U.S. Justice Department estimates that as many as 800,000 people worldwide are transported illegally each year across international borders for the purpose of modern-day slavery. Included in this number are some 14,500 to 17,500 people who are taken to the United States from Europe, Eurasia, Latin America and East Asia. The total more than doubles when taking into account those who are trafficked within their home countries. Although some victims must submit to unpaid manual labor, the majority are women and children who are forced into prostitution. Some succumb to border officialsí demands for sex so they may cross, and then are passed on to pimps and brothels. Others are sucked in by false advertisements promising well-paid job opportunities in foreign markets. Most lose their passports and money in the process. Many are beaten. Among the few who escape, a large number are penalized by authorities, and some are even sent to prison, becoming victims all over again once released. ìMany law enforcement officers are not aware of what trafficking is and do not properly assess cases,î said Derek Ellerman, co-executive director of the Polaris Project, a Washington, D.C.-based organization that helps victims and survivors. ìMany police still today will come across a 13-year-old girl who has been forced into prostitution and then arrest and prosecute her, but let off the pimp.î The perpetrators prey on vulnerable people living in war-torn regions and nations suffering from natural disasters, where despair and poverty reign. Often, as is the case with many former Soviet countries, sex traffickers are thought to be helped by ìmail-order brideî agencies via the Internet, which make it easy to lure women into what they think will be a marriage but in fact turns out to be prostitution. Among the most recent victims of human trafficking are refugees and orphaned children in countries devastated by the Indian Ocean tsunami. ìThere are really some terrible cases out there,î Ellerman said. ìItís very violent, and there are some incredibly horrible conditions. ìThis is a very serious problem thatís not just in Thailand and South Korea, as many people understand,î she added. ìItís right here in our own backyard.î Ellerman talked of residential Latino brothels in the Washington area where 15 minutes of sexual intercourse can be bought for just $30, an accessible price that forces women to ìperformî all day long. In recent years, the work of the U.S. State Department, the United Nations and nongovernmental organizations, or NGOs, has raised public awareness and concern among policymakers. The U.S. Labor Department claims it has helped rescue more than 88,000 children since 1995 through its funding for various programs. Still, the movement to fight human trafficking, now the worldís third-largest crime, is relatively new. In Russia, where the number of victims is extremely high, the first piece of legislation to outlaw human trafficking was signed in December 2003. Japanese officials just began to crack down on the crime last year after a critical review in the U.S. State Departmentís ìTrafficking in Persons Report.î Sweden passed a law in 1999. Closer to home, in 2005 the U.S. Government Printing Office added to its long list of records documents that examine efforts to combat illegal drug imports, but the same is not true when it comes to human trafficking, and the agencyís basic search engine brings up no such reports on the subject. There is some systematic research available, all of it relatively new. The United Nations first began collecting data in 1999 through a program dubbed ìGPAT,î or the Global Program Against Trafficking in Human Beings. The program tracks smuggling routes and gathers ìbest practicesî to help policymakers and law enforcement officials combat the organized crime behind trafficking. The U.S. government first delved into the issue in 2000, when the Victims of Trafficking and Violence Protection Act was pushed through Congress to create a new office within the State Department. Other bills are now being pushed through to increase assistance for victims transported to the United States and to help protect children orphaned by the tsunami. ìCongress has been doing a really good job at this point with the protection act and its reauthorization in 2003,î said Donna M. Hughes, a professor at the University of Rhode Islandís Womenís Studies Program. ìNew laws and new activism through the [State Departmentís Trafficking in Persons] office are really having a big impact around the world.î Some say the greatest combative efforts are at the grassroots level, where nonprofit and publicly funded organizations are fighting to rescue victims andóhowever surprisinglyóeducate members of the public that the practice is not acceptable. The Polaris Project, founded just three years ago by Ellerman and Katherine Chon, is one of the NGOs on the new District of Columbia Task Force on Trafficking in Persons. The taskforceóone of the nationís first to address human traffickingóplans to spend $500,000 over three years to train law enforcement officials and local nonprofit employees on how to identify victims. Last year, the project also opened its first international branch office in Tokyo, where high demand and a lack of punitive measures has attracted traffickers of victims from poorer Asian nations. During interviews with The Washington Diplomat, this spreading human rights movement was likened to the booming wave against domestic violence within the past decade. ìItís interesting,î Hughes said. ìThe fight against trafficking started small with the second feminist movement in the late 1980s and early í90s, and now has spread to faith-based groups and nonprofits who really worked hard to motivate elected officials to act.î Japan is an excellent example of just how quickly awareness is spreading. Just last year, said Hughes, the country had no laws or stated policies on the crime despite the high demand there for brothels. Then in December, the Japanese government issued an ìaction planî of measures to combat trafficking following meetings with officials in the Philippines and Thailand. Back in Amsterdam, it wasnít the law or a task force that saved Katya from her misery. After years of threats and forced prostitution, she was rescued by a friendly cab driver. She is now working at a hospital and studying for a degree in social work. Heather Nalbone is a contributing writer for The Washington Diplomat.