TRAFFICKING ALERT

Case of Iran

Trafficking is largely the work of organised crime networks, often conducted by the same people involved in the smuggling of drugs and weapons. There are two major issues, basic rights of human beings, of women and children, in addition to the issue of security.

Women are categorized as victims in various crimes: physical abuse, divorce and murder. In a research conducted by the OECD in 2001, the social integration of mothers lessened the dangers of child abuse and social problems of children and
teenagers.

Fukuyama's example is the family's role and the impact of high divorce rates. He believes that there are different strategies involved in the pro-creation from
the two genders. For females, the strategy is to secure the necessary economic resouces for themselves and their off spring until the child is fully independent. The male strategy, on the other hand,is to produce scores of children and therefore, releasing the spread of their genes. He believes men may spread their genes through polygamous marriages, and men with higher status tend tohave more than one wife or sex partner. In his explanation of the different strategies, he categorizes men as more immoral and the level of jealousy varies among the sexes. He attributes all of these findings to the fact that women are more vulnerable than men. He believes the insecurity of women is the cause of the declining social capital and the spread of social problems. These include lower wages and the possibility of being fired even in developed countries such as Japan (Fukuyama 2000:39).

The violence theory argues that the basis of all misbehaviors including wife, child and elderly abuse is the acceptance of violence in and by the society, it is hidden in most cases. In other words women tend not to speak out about the abuse they suffer. The same is true for Iranian women,who often do not wish to talk about their abusive situations. Those few women who speak up make all the difference in how the situation unfolds when it finally penetrates the collective consciousness. Men childhood experience of domestic misbehavior proves that through such experiences the child learns that the practice of violence and abuse is natural in family.

A report in the Italian weekly newsletter Espresso narrates the life story of a 16 year old girl who is among one of 130 female convicts in the Kermanshah Women's Prison. She claims that her husband placed drugs in her personal belongings so he would be able to remarry. Rena Tatizo reports that more than 80 percent of the female convicts were apprehended for drug dealing or abuse. In many cases, these women were minors under 18. They were the silent and vulnerable accomplices of fathers, husbands or brothers. When addicted men are unable to earn income, often force their wives into addiction and into prostitution in order to provide the income; and women who are divorced, addicts, and unlawfully wedded may use
prostitution to finance their addictions.

Studies indicate that the age of marriage in Iran has risen to 30 (CWS, 2003) In addition, 60 percent of the divorce appeals are filed because of husband's drug
addiction or unpaid 'alimony' (Hamshahri paper, 2 Jan, 2002). In cities such as Tehran, there is a 30 percent rise in divorce rates, Iran has the fourth highest
divorce rate in the world. The increase in number of trafficking in women and girls in the boarder provinces along with lower age of prostitution are alarming issues of social deviations. Findings of research conducted by the Center for Defending Victims
of Violence funded by CPW in 2003 is evidence to elevation of trafficking in women to Persian Gulf Countries, Pakistan, Afghanistan and in lesser degree to European as well as other Asian countries.

The ignorance of officials involved and the society at large has serious consequences in the future. UNICEF has announced due to lack of data and responding
official institutes to deal with the issue, it is not possible to initiate any project, therefore the issue is not in the agenda. Although according to UNICEF
trafficking is the third top profitable trade in the world. The report elaborates on the prevalence from CIS countries toward West Europe, from Romania to Italy, Israel and Middle East, from Turkey and Cyprus and South Africa to ME, Burma, Vietmnam and Thailand, from Nepal and Bangladesh to India, from india to Pakistan and ME.

Following the sentencing Ismailaj, an illegal immigrant, An Albanian gangmaster who made a fortune trafficking young women into Britain, the Judge referred to a UN report on people smuggling which revealed it to be worth $7bn (£3.66bn) a year - on a par with the global market in illegal drugs. Ismailaj's vice trade was run by fear and exploitation, the court heard. The bravery of one of his victims led vice-squad detectives to the heart of Ismailaj's empire, the court heard. Sandra Kazlauskaite, 25, had never worked as a prostitute when she was smuggled from Lithuania into Britain. "She said he was a man from Albania and he had said - 'You are dead - you no go back to Lithuania.'" Undercover officers later identified a string of brothels in Soho, London, and Ashbourne Road, Birmingham. European Union expansion has made it easy to bring the women to the UK. They can arrive at any port or airport with passports in their own names.

Pakistan is a country of source, transit and transmission of women and children trafficked for sexual exploitation and bonded labour. While there are no exact figures regarding the trafficked people, the issue remains a source of concern for both governmental and nongovernmental bodies.

"Nepalese, Bangladeshi, Burmese and Afghan women are brought into Pakistan through different borders and then trafficked to Gulf and other states," Rakhshanda
Naz, resident director of women’s rights organisation Aurat Foundation, told IRIN.

The government has taken several legislative and administrative measures recently to deal with the problem. In 2002, the federal government introduced the Human Trafficking Law, proposing imprisonment for human traffickers and compensation to victims.

In Iran, there has been no official research on the issue which leaves relief organisations to work on unrealistic estimation. Lack of research, liable State
institution or relief agency has negative effects on assisting the runaway girls not to fall into the hands of systematic trafficking. Recent statistics from Welfare Org indicatein 2003 more than 4600 escaping girls were registered in safety home after being sexualy abuse. There is definite need to identify runaway girls soon after escape from home when they are most vulnerable emotionaly to provide necessary
assistance. According to one unofficial report about 200.000 prostitutes are living only in the capital Tehran (other reports show much higher figure) out of which 61 percent had first fallen into the vicious circle by escaping home and oppressive or abusive parents. Other unofficial research elaborates on 31 percent of girls age 14 to 18 have serious problems within their family whereas 22.5 percent are in the
verge of leaving their home which leaves them in the hand of traffickers.

Professor Donna Hughes, The Head of Women's studies in Rhode Island Univ has conducted thorough research on this issue and has revealed the increasing number of
the trafficking in women to Arabian countries. He has quoted the Head of Iran INTERPOL Police that in Iran some high authorities are involved in this profitable
trade. Prof Hughes pointed out the documents and crime cases that was revealed following the conviction of few Iranian officials. Prof Hughes made remarks on the
young age of girls to 13, where families with addicted breadwinner tend to make money out of their girl children. She pointed out some local estimates that 28
percent of girls were 15 to 29, 43 percent between 15 to 20. A woman captured right after Bam earthquake with two stolen children was dangerous alarm that the natural disaster would aggravate the vulnerability of girl children.

The Head of Police statement in the Iranian official paper Sharq point out to the number of 90.000 active prostitutes in Tehran while unofficial sources estimate the number upto 600.000. Amnesty Intl announced the names of 8 traffickers who were captured in 2003, Dariush H, Mehdi t., Javad D., Moh Davood, Alireza, Hossein and Hamid were members of one of the 3 groups who were captured by police force for trafficking women and girls. Some managed to travel to Germany and were convicted of other crimes before such as taking immoral pictures from ordinary women followed by black mailing their families. Only in last December, there was report of 13 women committing suicide (Iranian Feminin Tribune Website)following their black mail by men who have been filming their victims of rapes to shut them down from filing complains (Sharq newspaper 15 Jan 2005).

The serious issue is that young girls living under extreme poverty, not being aware of the what is waiting for them take the services of traffickers in search of better employment. Development projects should target these people, who are sometimes deprived of their fundamental human rights, left in jails to face miserable conditions. Protective measures should be advocated by welfare organisations to amend relationships within the families in favour of youngsters.In Islamic countries where relations between the sexes are governed by Islamic norms, religious can be used to condemn acts of violence against women. A campaign condemning violence against women that appeals to religious sentiment can have a huge impact. International law is intertwined with a gendered subjectivity that reinforces male symbols. Women’s subordination is much deeper than the conceptualization offered by international law. That is why we need activism and theorizing with law in the context of accountability for violating women’s rights. Ensuring equal participation of women in international criminal courts and law would be an important step-just as in parliaments.


Nasrin Azadeh


References:

- Guardian, 23 Feb 2005, Sex trade gangmaster jailed for 11 years
- Vanessa von Struensee, JD, MPH, vvonstruen@post.harvard.edu
- Madani Saiid, Declining Social Capital in Iran, (2000), Chief editor of
Social Welfare Quarterly, Iran
- National Research Center of Medical Sciences (NRCMS)(2000), unpublished report
- IRIN, www.irinnews.org, (2005, Feb)
- Report, trafficking in Women, www.peykiran.com,(2004)
- Fukuyama, (2000), End of Order, Iranian Society Publishers