A Voice For the Voiceless

MISSION

The Advocacy Project seeks to help community-based advocates produce, disseminate and use information, and so become more effective advocates for human rights and social justice

TAMPEP Responds to the 2006 TIP Report

A Comment on the 2006 TIP Report from TAMPEP - Transnational AIDS Prevention Among Migrant Prostitutes in Europe Project

On Monday, June 5, 2006 the US State Department issued its annual Trafficking in Persons Report (TIP Report 2006).

The 2006 report is in accordance with the Victims of Trafficking and Violence Protection Act (TVPA) passed by President Clinton in the year 2000. The report examines the trafficking situation, government and some non-government efforts in 149 countries. The countries that appear in the report, with the exception of the United States, have been identified as either a major point of entry, transit, or destination for trafficking in persons.

The TVPA 2000 recognises that human trafficking is a mounting global problem, and so its provisions intend to examine and improve strategies in the United States and abroad. The annual TIP report is produced with the hope that the international community will engage in co-operative efforts in the future. An effective anti-trafficking network requires unification between all countries of origin, transit and destination, to compete with and eventually beat the existing and growing crime networks for trafficking in persons.

The 2006 US TIP report is in response to the international community, working as independent and collaborating nations, as viewed by the United States. The question now is: what views are being offered by the international community in response to the 2006 US TIP report and its examination of their work?

TAMPEP, a leading NGO for the rights and wellbeing of migrant prostitutes in Turin, Italy, finds the 2006 Report effective in providing the groundwork for transcending national and even continental boundaries to fight human trafficking. With this objective in mind, TAMPEP’s critique of the 2006 Report finds that a topical summation of the trafficking situation in Italy makes it difficult for multinationals to grasp the complexity of the system at work in Italy.

For an NGO whose work focuses to protect and prevent exploitation, violence, disease and pregnancy among migrant prostitutes, the attitudes, policies, relationships and multinational collaboration they deploy cannot find room for adequate representation in the 2006 TIP Report. Consequently, the role of the NGO is muted, while its integral relationship to the system is the leading agent in Italy’s preventive and protective practices.

Contrary to statements made in the 2006 Report, TAMPEP has not experienced a decrease in the number of Nigerian and Albanian women in prostitution, nor have they identified fewer cases of trafficking on the whole. In Italy, there are more women and children trafficked from Nigeria than any other country. Therefore, the conditions in Nigeria, as the leading country of origin, are intricate to the strategic perspective of Italy’s government and non-governmental agencies. For this reason, TAMPEP has conducted substantial research, initiated practice training, preventive and protective programs as well as collaborative relationships in Nigeria. This work needs to be strengthened and addressed with commitments coming from both ends.

As indicated in the 2006 Report, Italy is far from the only destination or transit point for human trafficking originating in Nigeria. Since the United States as well as countries throughout Europe are sharing the experience of this phenomenon, it would be supremely beneficial to establish co-operative strategies for anti-trafficking investigation and practice implementation.

TAMPEP appreciates the initiatives taken by the United States to hold countries accountable to certain standards, and their expressed commitment to those efforts which aim to unify the global front against human trafficking. The hope for NGOs is that the international community will thus enter into dialogue that seeks to examine their varied experiences. The strategy for outreach, identification and ultimate reintegration in Italy has had extremely successful outcomes, which TAMPEP hopes will be discovered and developed through the emerging network of multinationals.

There exists in Italy an integrated approach to human trafficking that aligns law enforcement and human service providers, such as TAMPEP, in order to prevent, protect and prosecute effectively. This relationship and its enactment in Article 18 of Immigration Law, would serve the international community to explore and critique in the effort to communicate and understand best practices.

The recommendations provided for Italy by the 2006 TIP Report is a sign of hope for TAMPEP, as Italy seeks to realise its prospective work toward improvement. With the exchange of information and support provided by a multinational network against human trafficking, TAMPEP expects such an opportunity to result in Italy’s implementation of those strategies that effectively target the demand for the exploitation of migrants in Italy, and beyond. ·

For more information email tampeponlus@tampepitalia.it or visit them online (Drafted by Anya Gorovets, in Turin, Italy)