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Survivors of Trafficking Speak Up¹

December 03, 2005

Ms. Bandana Pattanaik, president of Global Alliance Against Traffic in Women who helped organise the recent Association for Women's Rights in Development (AWID) International Forum in Bangkok, stressed the need for survivors to speak out and talk about their plights, as there is traditionally little participation of victims in anti-trafficking initiatives.

Many do not talk about the discrimination they face, the rejection by their families, and the failure of the legal system to protect them and prosecute their captors. In some cases even the countries where the victims come from reject them.

Observers say that even though human trafficking has garnered much international attention, the problem is still very widespread. Some reports have quoted that there are up to a million victims of human trafficking a year.

But the debate over how to quantify the figures is further complicated by legal definitions of "trafficking", which some anti-trafficking advocates believe are too narrow.

Ms. Siriporn Skrobanek, president of Thailand's Foundation for Women who has been working on anti-trafficking issues for two decades, says that the definition needs to be expanded to include forms of exploitation other than prostitution. Efforts to battle trafficking also need to consider the economic, social and cultural rights of people.

But the survivors themselves have not given up. Many are now using their experience to reach out to help other victims and educate younger women on how to avoid similar experiences. Trafficked survivors not only need support but more importantly want respect and their views to be listened to.

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¹ Adapted from Newstoday.com, 3 December 2005.