HUMAN TRAFFICKING A MODERN DAY PLAGUE PADMINI MURTHY MD, MPH, MS, CHES ASST PROF NEW YORK MEDICAL COLLEGE MWIA NGO REP TO THE UNITED NATIONS CHAIR COWR APHA

 PADMINI MURTHY The following personal financial relationships with commercial interests relevant to this presentation existed during the past 12 months: NO RELATIONSHIPS TO DISCLOSE

 1. Define human trafficking.  2. Describe public health challenges related to human trafficking.

 Human trafficking is similar to arms and drug trafficking and is a heinous crime which poses a major threat to the international community.  It presents a special threat to women and adolescents, both girls and boys, especially those who have a low socioeconomic status.  Trafficking in persons can be separated into two distinct categories: 1.forced labor and 2.prostitution, also known as sex trafficking

 The United Nations definition of human trafficking is “The recruitment, transportation, transfer, harboring 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”

 According to the U.S. Department of State’s 2007 Trafficking in Persons Report (TIP Report), estimates vary from 4 to 27 million.  80% – Percent of transnational victims who are women and girls. 70% – Percent of female victims who are trafficked into the commercial sex industry. This means that 30% of female victims are victims of forced labor.  Source: U.S. Department of State, Trafficking in Persons Report: 2007.

 32 billion – Total yearly profits generated by the human trafficking industry.  $15.5 billion is made in industrialized countries. -$9.7 billion in Asia -$13,000 per year generated on average by each "forced laborer." This number can be as high as $67,200 per victim per year.  Source: ILO, A global alliance against forced labor: 2005.

 Lack of health care access  Post traumatic stress  Increased risk of contracting STIs / HIV  Increased drug use among young girls in Asia and former Soviet Union  Increased incidence of depression  Increased risk of suicide and cognitive impairment  Lack of rehabilitation mechanisms for survivors

 1. The Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, especially Women and Children (also referred to as the Trafficking Protocol) adopted by the United Nations in Palermo Italy in  2. Victims of Trafficking and Violence Protection Act ( TVPA) in the USA in October  3. The Council of Europe Convention on Action Against Trafficking in Human Beings was endorsed by the Committee of Ministers in 2005.

 Increase Awareness  Training of health care personnel including social workers to identify and address the special needs of trafficked victims  Stringent punishment for traffickers  Increased cooperation among national and international agencies dealing with trafficking

  www. us state department.org  Murthy P., Persaud, R., Toda M ( 2009) Human trafficking: A Modern Plague.In Murthy P, Smith L(Eds). Women's Global Health and Human Rights. (59-72). Boston, MA :Jones and Bartlett