OXFAM: Violence against women and trafficking

Violence against women is probably the most serious barrier to women’s participation in public life and to a livelihood.

It affects both rich and poor women, from any race, in any country in the world. Whether we are talking about violence or the threat of violence in the home, in the community or in the streets, actual violence or the threat of violence prevents women from participating in society. Living a life governed by fear means women are often unable to hold down a job, move about freely, and make choices about their lives. Every week two women are killed as a result of domestic violence in the UK.

Violence against women is the campaigning issue for women in any country in the world, and Oxfam has an international programme aimed at ending this violence. This consists of a variety of interventions – from providing safe houses for women fleeing violence, to lobbying government for better legislation to prevent it, and to ensure resources for implementation. It has also launched a campaign in South Asia which focuses on the ideas and beliefs which perpetuate violence against women as well as improving practice in addressing the problem.

Work on these ideas and beliefs is essential in the UK too – opinion surveys still tell us that many people, both men and women, believe that there are circumstances when women “deserve” violence as punishment. We need to explore what people would need to hear, see, and feel to change their views. This will help to identify campaign positioning and messages.

This is not to say, of course, that men do not suffer violence, but the extent of violence against women is such a serious barrier to a safe and productive life that Oxfam is focusing on this area particularly.

Trafficking of human beings has become a global criminal phenomenon and millions of people are being caught up in this destructive web of fear and violence. According to UN statistics, the vast majority of victims are women and children who are lured, abducted, sold or coerced into forced prostitution and bonded labour.

UN figures suggest that 200,000 to 300,000 women are trafficked to Europe every year. The cost of communications is now so low that prostitution, which used to be limited by tradition and custom, has become a global market – as has pornography.


Oxfam GB, www.oxfam.org.uk



VITAL VOICES TRAFFICKING ALERT:

Vital Voices begins 2006 with many exciting anti-trafficking activities. Recently, Vital Voices joined the international business community in Athens, Greece to create a strong alliance against human trafficking, especially in women and children. In attendance were businesses from the tourism, shipping, hospitality, telecommunication, job placement, law, IT and banking industries. The roundtable participants proved their commitment to anti-trafficking efforts by signing on to the Ethical Principles. The signatories also pledged to declare a zero tolerance policy against trafficking, develop a corporate anti-trafficking strategy, to encourage business partners, including suppliers, to combat human trafficking, and to monitor and ensure the implementation of the Ethical Principles.

On January 23, 2006, the international business community convened in the birth city of democracy, Athens, Greece, to form an alliance against human trafficking, especially in women and children, by signing onto the Ethical Principles. The Ethical Principles bind corporate signatories to: declare a zero tolerance policy against trafficking; develop a corporate anti-trafficking strategy; encourage business partners, including suppliers, to combat human trafficking; and to monitor and ensure the implementation of the Ethical Principles. The Ethical Principles were later announced at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.



Represented business sectors included tourism, shipping, hospitality, telecommunication, job placement, law, IT, and banking industries. From CEOs to senior corporate officers, all business representatives were aware of the exploitation of all human beings for both labor and sexual exploitation, and are determined to fight it. The full-day discussion focused on specific measures and concrete actions that should be undertaken by the business sector, such as raising awareness through distribution of materials, creating job opportunities, assisting law enforcement investigations, reporting probable trafficking cases to the authorities, as well as advocating for better government anti-trafficking policies and additional resources to strengthen law enforcement and civil society capacities.

The roundtable was organized by the Suzanne Mubarak Women International Peace Movement and the Global Coalition Women Defending Peace and was attended by approximately 150 representatives from businesses, NGOs, and inter-governmental organizations. Dignitaries attending the roundtable included: Mrs. Suzanne Mubarak, First Lady of Egypt, Queen Silvia of Sweden, Queen Shaikah of Bahrain, Dr. Boutros Boutros-Ghali, former UN Secretary General, as well as Mrs. Marianna Vardinoyannis, UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador and host of the roundtable in Greece.



"Our major task is to raise awareness of the magnitude of the problem. I, personally, was not aware of it," admitted Egypt's first lady, Suzanne Mubarak. "This really is a global tragedy, it needs global solutions and it needs global ideas, getting more people like the business community on board and more people committed," said Mubarak.



Vital Voices Chair of the Board, Ms. Melanne Verveer, led the discussion on Ethical Principles in the afternoon. "Throughout the world, more government and NGO partnerships have been established in the war against human trafficking. It is our hope that the newly formed public-private partnership will lead to a much greater impact. The traffickers are organized and we must be united," remarked Ms. Verveer.

Anti-Trafficking experts from inter-governmental organizations such as the International Labor Organization (ILO), the International Organization of Migration (IOM), the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNESCO), the United Nations Women's Fund, (UNIFM), the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), the Interpol, and the World Bank all presented various perspectives of human trafficking, as a labor and sexual exploitation, a transnational organized crime, a human rights violation, a form of gender-based violence, a threat to national security, and an economic consequence.

The business community was shocked to hear from Mr. Ronald Noble, Secretary General of the Interpol, that only one officer at Interpol works full-time on anti-trafficking. "International organizations and governments are clearly not getting the job done," said Mr. David Arkless, executive vice president of Manpower, the world's largest, non-government employer with a network of 4,300 offices in 72 countries. "With women accounting for most of the growth of the global labor force, the need for preventative anti-trafficking measures has become increasingly important," added Mr. Arkless. "As a business community we can have an impact. What we're trying to do is take a stand and say we won't tolerate humans being treated as commodities and slaves, we won't tolerate exploitation at work, and we'll ensure a zero-tolerance policy. It's a huge commitment."



Ms. Deborah Cundy, Vice President of the Carlson Companies, one of the world's largest marketing, travel, and hospitality employers with a global workforce of 190,000, shared her company's strategy to combat child sex tourism, including becoming the first US-based company to sign onto an existing code of conduct developed by the World Tourism Organization, UNICEF, and ECPAT-USA.



At the end of the roundtable, not only did participants sign onto the Ethical Principles, they also formed a working group for follow-up activities. "There will be follow up," insisted Shafik Gabr, chairman of the Arab Business Council. "After Davos, we'll meet again in Cairo in May," Gabr added. "We are not going to let this go. If we do, this problem will get very much out of control. We've declared war against it."

For more information about how you can join the business community to declare war against trafficking, please contact Wenchi Yu Perkins at wenchiyuperkins@vitalvoices.org.