tag:www.imadr.org,2008:/trafficking//32 2008-04-07T12:06:45Z Movable Type 3.33 tag:www.imadr.org,2007:/dev/july2007/trafficking//32.412 2007-09-21T02:33:18Z 2008-04-07T12:06:45Z

Regional Committees of IMADR undertake a range of activities in this activity area, including lobbying, organizing workshops, conducting research and forging connections with like-minded organizations at a regional level.

Latin American Base (IMADR-LAB) - Together with church organizations and women’s groups, IMADR-LAB organizes workshops, exploring global and local impacts of human trafficking and ways to address the problem. - Since January 2006, IMADR-LAB has been conducting research on trafficking in women in Argentina. It gathers and analyzes various data, and conducts research into past legal measures and other topics. The first stage was completed in September 2006. Asia Committee (IMADR-AC) - IMADR-AC joined the South Asia Regional Action Forum on Migration and Trafficking funded by the USAID’s South Asia Regional Initiative/Equity Support Program (SARI/Q), and forged connections with organizations in Nepal, Bangladesh, Afghanistan, Pakistan and India. Main focuses of the South Asian Initiative are: ・ Development of a safe migration policy for South Asia ・ Development of a care and protection manual for victims of trafficking ・ Production of mass awareness toolkit on migration ・ Establishment of a monitoring mechanism for the SAARC convention on trafficking - IMADR-AC has encouraged its partners in South Asia to prepare a country status report, to be used to lobby the UN Special Rapporteur on trafficking in persons. - The SARI/Q project supported the following national activities facilitated by IMADR-AC on Sri Lankan migrants’ rights issues: ・ Community awareness raising of potential migrant workers ・ Campaign activities on migrants’ rights ・ Participation of Asia Committee representatives in South Asian programs on migration and trafficking issues ・ Round Table with Policy Makers in Sri Lanka on the UN High Level Dialogue on international migration and development ・ Assistance to migrant workers affected during the crisis in Lebanon Japan Committee (IMADR-JC) - As an active member of the Japan Network Against Trafficking in Persons (JNATIP), the Japan Committee of IMADR (IMADR-JC) is seeking the establishment of legal measures to protect the safety and human rights of trafficking victims, and is involved in actively lobbying the government, national Diet members and political parties. The introduction in June 2005 of ]]> provisions in the Penal Code to criminalize and punish the act of human trafficking was one of the results of those lobbying activities. JNATIP continues to work towards legal system development, as well as conducts fact-finding surveys on the situation of trafficked women, and engages in awareness-raising activities. - IMADR-JC intends to utilize international human rights mechanisms, including the UN Special Rapporteur system, to improve the situation pertaining to human trafficking. For example, IMADR-JC arranged unofficial country visits of the UN Special Rapporteurs on trafficking in persons and on the rights of migrants in 2005, together with other NGOs and academic institutions. In doing so, IMADR-JC is seeking to expand its networks with various individuals and organizations in Japan working to address the problem of human trafficking, including women's shelters that directly assist the survivors. - From December 2005 to September 2006 in Tokyo, IMADR-JC organized a seminar series entitled “Human Trafficking in the Midst of Globalization,” with a total of eight sessions. The purpose of the seminar series was to reveal the social structure that gives rise to exploitative migration, to bring light to the variety of issues that human trafficking survivors/victims face in the process of migration, and to think together about what each member of Japanese society can do to remedy the situation. Records of the sessions were made into a Japanese publication (IMADR-JC Booklet 12). - The Japan Committee provides indirect support for grassroots empowerment. Jointly with KALAKASAN Migrant Women Empowerment Center, a self-help group of migrant women, IMADR-JC published “Transforming Lives: Abused Migrant Women in Japan Blaze a Trail towards Empowerment,” as the 11th volume of IMADR-JC Booklet Series. This bilingual (Japanese and English) publication is a testimony of Filipino migrant women who survived domestic violence. tag:www.imadr.org,2007:/dev/july2007/trafficking//32.370 2007-08-30T09:25:27Z 2007-11-16T08:10:15Z

IMADR, together with organizations that ...

IMADR, together with organizations that are part of the Campaign Against Exploitative Migration and Human Trafficking, issued a joint statement addressed to governmental and non-governmental participants of the Global Forum on Migration and Development (GFMD) from the perspective of the human rights and security of exploited migrants, in particular trafficked women and children. tag:www.imadr.org,2007:/dev/july2007/trafficking//32.369 2007-08-30T09:23:23Z 2008-04-07T11:49:24Z

By defining human trafficking as “multiple discrimination accompanied by the worst form of gender violence,” IMADR has successfully mobilized activists with different views over prostitution. It has forged a worldwide network of contacts through the process of organizing international conferences and workshops on the “elimination of human trafficking” in Japan, South East Asia, South Asia, Africa, Latin America, and Switzerland.

By defining human trafficking as “multiple discrimination accompanied by the worst form of gender violence,” IMADR has successfully mobilized activists with different views over prostitution. It has forged a worldwide network of contacts through the process of organizing international conferences and workshops on the “elimination of human trafficking” in Japan, South East Asia, South Asia, Africa, Latin America, and Swizerland. These include seminars in Tokyo, Bangkok, Colombo and Geneva, as well as workshops held on occasions such as the World Social Forum in Porto Alegre (2005) and Mumbai (2004), the Asia Social Forum, the World Conference Against Racism (Durban, 2001), the World Conference on Women (Beijing, 1995), and the UN Human Rights Sub-commission’s Working Group on Contemporary Forms of Slavery. It is through this process that IMADR succeeded in sharing with the OHCHR and other UN bodies, as well as with the NGO community, the view that human trafficking should be seen as exploitative migration. In particular, IMADR contributed to the UN level agenda-setting by introducing the concept of “multiple discrimination,” included in the Working Paper submitted to the UN Working Group on Contemporary Forms of Slavery in 1998. By working together with academic experts and research institutes, IMADR aims to expand its international network and strengthen its theoretical basis. Over the past few years, IMADR has participated in a cross-national research project on the impact of the "War on Terror" on the human security of migrants, as well as cooperated with the Open Research Project on "Human Security in the Networks of Global Cities," a project of the Center for Human Security Studies at Chubu University (located in Aichi, Japan). Since 2003, IMADR has been working in close coordination with the “Study Group on Human Security, Human Trafficking and Exploitative Migration” set up under the Center for Asia Pacific Partnership (CAPP) of Osaka University of Economics and Law. tag:www.imadr.org,2007:/dev/july2007/trafficking//32.368 2007-08-30T09:21:42Z 2008-04-07T11:44:36Z

As an NGO in consultative status with the United Nations Economic and Social Council, IMADR has been pressing for the necessity of human rights guarantees for trafficked persons especially women and children, at various United Nations forums such as the former Commission on Human Rights (replaced by the Human Rights Council in 2006) and Sub-Commission on the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights ( the present Human Rights Council Advisory Committee).

As an NGO in consultative status with the United Nations Economic and Social Council, IMADR has been pressing for the necessity of human rights guarantees for trafficked persons especially women and children, at various United Nations forums such as the former Commission on Human Rights (replaced by the Human Rights Council in 2006) and Sub-Commission on the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights (the present Human Rights Council Advisory Committee). To the same effect, IMADR tries to utilize the UN Special Rapporteur system, and has worked with Special Rapporteurs on trafficking in persons, violence against women, and the human rights of migrants. Based on discussions with various organizations working to address the issue, in 1998 IMADR submitted a working paper to the UN Working Group on Contemporary Forms of Slavery that recommended the drawing up of an Optional Protocol to the 1949 UN Convention for the Suppression of the Trafficking in Persons and of the Exploitation of the Prostitution of Others. This document was held in high esteem and formed the basis of an official document of the United Nations Sub-Committee on Human Rights (see Related Information). At the drafting stage of the Palermo Protocol (UN Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children, Supplementing the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime), IMADR called upon a wide range of NGOs involved in this issue and lobbied related UN agencies to ensure that the document included aspects on the human rights of trafficking victims. As a result, the protocol that was ultimately adopted in November 2000 contains measures giving some - though still inadequate - consideration to the human rights of trafficking victims. In order to monitor the implementation of the Palermo Protocol, a Conference of the Parties to the Protocol was set up within the UN Office of Drugs and Crime (UNODC), which has met regularly in Vienna since 2004. IMADR intends to monitor this follow-up mechanism continuously, and make suggestions where necessary. IMADR will also utilize and disseminate the "Recommended Principles and Guidelines on Human Rights and Human Trafficking" issued by the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) in 2002, which is an important supplemental document to the Palermo Protocol in terms of protecting the human rights of trafficked persons. tag:www.imadr.org,2007:/dev/july2007/trafficking//32.367 2007-08-30T09:19:07Z 2007-11-17T03:18:01Z

At the World Social Forum that took place in January 2007 in Nairobi, Kenya, IMADR and its network NGOs launched the “Campaign Against Exploitative Migration and Human Trafficking: Towards Just and Sustainable Development.” This international campaign aims to “mainstream” the combat against exploitative migration, including trafficking in women and children.

At the World Social Forum that took place in January 2007 in Nairobi, Kenya, IMADR and its network NGOs launched the “Campaign Against Exploitative Migration and Human Trafficking: Towards Just and Sustainable Development.” This international campaign aims to “mainstream” the combat against exploitative migration, including trafficking in women and children. Specifically, the campaign plans to undertake the following activities with the involvement of a wide range of NGOs working not only in the field of anti-trafficking and migrants’ rights, but also in different issue areas such as conflict resolution, refugee protection, HIV/AIDS, village development and poverty eradication: 1. Share and accumulate experiences and projects which would lead to the elimination of human trafficking and sustainable migration through a series of international and regional meetings, as well as online communication and a jointly developed database; and 2. Compile together a report on global exploitative migration, analyzing the problems and proposing concrete solutions to them, and present it on occasions where migration policies are discussed internationally, including the 2008 G8 Summit in Japan. Through these actions, the campaign aims to develop a broad community of NGOs concerned with the problem, thereby building awareness among civil societies in sending, transit and receiving countries, as well as among various sectors including national governments, international agencies, business communities and the media. For further information, please contact IMADR’s International Secretariat. tag:www.imadr.org,2007:/dev/july2007/trafficking//32.366 2007-08-30T09:14:14Z 2007-12-06T03:45:03Z

Neo-liberal globalization of the economy...

Seeing trafficking as an indication of multiple discrimination against minority women Human trafficking can be seen as a result of various forms of discrimination based on gender, poverty, racism, ethnic origin, nationality and so on, compiled and intertwined with one another. We need to consider the fact that a considerable portion of trafficked persons – especially women and children – belong to discriminated minority groups, and that racism in their destination countries often prevents them from seeking effective remedies for their exploitation and human rights violations. Bringing together activists with different views about prostitution When it comes to prostitution, there have been two different positions on the matter among activists; those who believe that "all prostitution is sexual exploitation and therefore a violation of women's human rights," and those who believe that "there should be a recognized right to sex work, and the issue of prostitution should be considered]]> Seeking solutions other than cracking down on traffickers and tightening immigration control In recent years, as a countermeasure against trafficking in persons, many national governments, as well as the UN, have adopted policies to prosecute and punish traffickers, or tighten immigration control. While these measures can be seen as a step toward ending human trafficking in some aspects, on the other hand, we need to beware that they might just result in making the act of human trafficking all the less visible, and even aggravate the exploitation of undocumented migrants. At IMADR, we believe it is impossible to find an ultimate solution to the problem without confronting and changing the social structure mentioned above – the North-South disparity accelerated by neo-liberal globalization, and the multiple layers of discrimination – that first give rise to exploitative migration.]]> tag:www.imadr.org,2007:/dev/july2007/trafficking//32.364 2007-08-13T07:30:52Z 2008-05-08T08:54:22Z

tag:www.imadr.org,2007:/dev/july2007/trafficking//32.363 2007-07-23T05:37:51Z 2008-05-08T08:51:13Z

IMADR-JC Booklet Volume 11 (Nov. 2006) T...

IMADR-JC Booklet Volume 11 (Nov. 2006) This book is a testimony of the journeys of six Filipino migrant women towards empowerment. In addition to sharing experiences of domestic violence and institutionalized racism, this work offers concrete proposals as to how we can create positive change in our society, communities and relationships with others, by re-examining the structure of the society we live in. tag:www.imadr.org,2007:/dev/july2007/trafficking//32.569 2007-06-10T01:25:34Z 2008-02-22T01:29:56Z

On the occasion of this year's G8 Summit...

On the occasion of this year's G8 Summit Meeting held in Heiligendam, Germany, three of IMADR's officers based in Asia and Africa issued a statement on the responsibility of the G8 nations to respect the rights of migrants, including trafficked women and children.