Child trafficking, under the guise of intercountry adoption, is a form of human trafficking that is often misunderstood by policy makers, governments, the media, and nongovernmental organizations. The aim of this analysis is to bring awareness and attention to child trafficking disguised as inter-country adoption, to provide an analysis of current policies that address human trafficking and inter-country adoption, and to suggest that in order to support more ethical child welfare practices, social workers and NASW, in particular, should take a more aggressive role in the development of sound approaches to international child welfare and the protection of children, especially during humani-tarian emergencies. We use the 2010 abduction attempt of Haitian children by American missionaries as a case to demonstrate how existing policies are insufficient to provide protection to victims and to prosecute perpetrators of this form of child trafficking. We conduct an analysis of the Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000 and provide an application of the Intercountry Adoption Act of 2000.

Disaffected, impoverished, and displaced people in weak and failing states are particularly vulnerable. Human trafficking exploits social and political turmoil caused by natural disasters, economic crisis, and armed conflict. The exploitation and forced servitude of millions of trafficking victims take many forms. Women and children are trafficked into becoming child soldiers and concubines of illegal armed groups, men, women and children are trafficked into forced labor and sexual slavery, forced to sell drugs, steal, and beg money for the criminals controlling them, and thousands are coerced or forced into a growing black market trade in human body parts. The growth in illegal mining operations by illegal armed groups and organized crime is also fueling conditions of forced labor. Trafficking victims are dehumanized and suffer grave physical and mental illness and often die at the hands of their captors and exploiters. Colombia is particularly afflicted by the scourge of human trafficking. All the elements of modern-day slavery and human exploitation are present in this Latin American state that is struggling to overcome decades of internal armed conflict, social fragmentation, poverty, and the constant debilitating presence of organized crime and corruption. Women’s Link Worldwide recently reported that human trafficking is not viewed as an internal problem among Colombian officials, despite estimates that more than 70,000 people are trafficked within Colombia each year. This article examines human trafficking in its many forms in Colombia, the parties involved in trafficking, and the State’s response or lack of response to human trafficking. The article also presents innovations that might be effective for combating human trafficking, and proposes that Colombia can serve as an effective model for other countries to address this growing domestic and international human rights catastrophe.

The global community has long condemned the abhorrent practice of trafficking in persons (TIP), and many States have considerably strengthened their efforts to prevent and prosecute TIP and protect its victims. While great strides have been made, much more remains to be done. As with other crimes, addressing the demand side of trafficking, for example, has proven particularly challenging. Often, even identifying persons who have been trafficked is difficult – for example, when they are males who do not fit stereotypical notions of a TIP victim. And, despite the laudable and significant increase in anti - traffic king laws on the books in many states, there are still far too few successful prosecutions of traffickers. This paper outlines the key challenges faced by States and the anti - trafficking community in preventing and responding to TIP , including protecting victims, and makes recommendations for concrete actions and commitments that should be addressed in the Global Compact on Migration.

The project, "Enhancing counter trafficking in crisis in the Western Balkans" aims to enhance counter-trafficking efforts through strengthening the capacities and mechanisms for victim identification and to raise awareness of TIP risk factors among vulnerable migrant populations, specifically within the mixed migration flows transiting the region and during crisis. In light of the increased numbers of vulnerable irregular migrants stranded and transiting through countries in the region, every goverment's capacity to identify and refer VOTs and PVOTs requires further adaptation to the current situation. They need to take into account any new modus operandi of traffickers, victim profules, as well as new forms of trafficking that have begun to emerge. This Analytical Report intends to capture concrete TIP-related information, including TIP risk factors, trends and vulnerabilities within the mixed migration flows in the Western Balkan region.

This Guidance Note is an internal IOM tool that is intended to help Regional Thematic Specialists as well as Chiefs of Mission, Heads of Office and project developers to apply the appropriate standards of the Organization in performance of their functions. In case aforementioned IOM staff needs to deviate from this Guidance Note, DMM must be consulted. This Guidance Note focuses on Assist Voluntary Return and Reintegration (AVRR) for Trafficked Migrants.

This Guidance Note is an internal IOM tool that is intended to help Regional Thematic Specialists as well as Chiefs of Mission, Heads of Office and project developers to apply the appropriate standards of the Organization in performance of their functions. This Note focuses on the provision of guidelines on how best to carry out general and specific risks assessments, on when a risk assessment should start, on its length and on its updating and monitoring needs.

This Guidance Note is an internal IOM tool that is intended to help Regional Thematic Specialists as well as Chiefs of Mission, Heads of Office and project developers to apply the appropriate standards of the Organization in performance of their functions. This Guidance Note focuses on the criteria for the correct identification of victims of trafficking, exploitation, abuse etc.

Global assessments suggest that a substantial proportion of labour migrants ends up in situations of extreme exploitation, some of whom are identified as victims of human trafficking. Because large numbers of migrant workers fall into a “grey area” between trafficking (as defined by international and national law) and exploitative labour situations, there is good reason to explore the differences and similarities between the health needs of those who have been identified as trafficked compared to other migrants working in the same labour sector who have not. It is urgent to understand present-day occupational health and safety risks, forms of abuse and exploitation in different sectors and common hazardous working and living conditions to improve prevention and response strategies. This is among the first studies to explore and compare the influence of occupational and other risk exposures on people’s health and well-being and compare the experiences of migrant workers and victims of trafficking across sectors and regions. Our multiregion qualitative study on exploitation and harm experienced by individuals in the textile sector in Argentina, and artisanal gold-mining in Peru and construction sector in Kazakhstan, found important commonalities in the health hazards and financial, social and legal challenges across sectors and regions. In total, we interviewed 71 people; of these, 18 were formally identified victims of trafficking and 53 were migrant workers.

Background: Human trafficking is a crime that commonly results in acute and chronic physical and psychological harm. To foster more informed health sector responses to human trafficking, training sessions for health care providers were developed and pilot-tested in the Middle East, Central America, and the Caribbean. This study presents the results of an investigation into what health care providers knew and needed to know about human trafficking as part of that training program. Methods: Participants attended one of seven two-day training courses in Antigua and Barbuda, Belize, Costa Rica, Egypt, El Salvador, Guyana, and Jordan. We assessed participants’ knowledge about human trafficking and opinions about appropriate responses in trafficking cases via questionnaires pre-training, and considered participant feedback about the training post-training. Results: 178 participants attended the trainings. Pre-training questionnaires were completed by 165 participants (93%) and post-training questionnaires by 156 participants (88%). Pre-training knowledge about health and human trafficking appeared generally high for topics such as the international nature of trafficking and the likelihood of poor mental health outcomes among survivors. However, many participants had misconceptions about the characteristics of trafficked persons and a provider’s role in responding to cases of trafficking. The most valued training components included the “Role of the Health Provider,” “Basic Definitions and Concepts,” and “Health Consequences of Trafficking.”

Las evaluaciones mundiales sugieren que una proporción sustancial de los trabajadores migrantes terminan en situaciones de explotación extrema, algunos de los cuales han sido identificados como víctimas de trata de personas. Debido a que un gran número de trabajadores migrantes caen en una "zona gris" entre la trata (como es definida por el derecho internacional y nacional) y situaciones de explotación laboral, hay una buena razón para explorar las diferencias y similitudes entre las necesidades de salud de aquellos que han sido identificados como víctimas de la trata en comparación con otros migrantes que trabajan en el mismo sector de trabajo que no lo han sido. Es urgente comprender los riesgos actuales para salud y la seguridad, las formas de abuso y explotación en los diferentes sectores y las condiciones de trabajo y de vida peligrosas comunes para mejorar las estrategias de prevención y respuesta. Este es uno de los primeros estudios que explora y compara la influencia de las exposiciones de riesgo ocupacionales, entre otros, en la salud y el bienestar de las personas, comparando las experiencias de los trabajadores migrantes y las víctimas de trata en todos los sectores y regiones que lo integran. Nuestro estudio cualitativo multi-región sobre la explotación y el daño sufrido por las personas en el sector textil en Argentina, en la extracción artesanal de oro en Perú y la construcción en Kazajstán, encontró similitudes importantes en los riesgos para la salud y los retos financieros, sociales y legales en todos los sectores y regiones. En total, se entrevistó a 71 personas; de éstos, 18 fueron identificados formalmente como víctimas de trata y 53 eran trabajadores migrantes.