Consumers Urged to Help End Demand for Exploited Labour in New IOM Campaign
Eliminating the demand for trafficked and exploited labour to
provide the cheap goods and huge profits desired by consumers and
businesses the world over is critical if global efforts to end
human trafficking are to be successful, says the International
Organization for Migration (IOM).
Launching a new campaign today on the third EU Anti-Trafficking
Day and the start of a European ministerial conference on global EU
action against human trafficking in Brussels, IOM is urging
consumers in particular to play a greater role in ending human
trafficking.
Links
valign="top">
width="8"> "http://www.buyresponsibly.org/" target="_blank" title="">Visit
Campaign Website
width="8"> "http://www.quicklink.tv/IOM/download.asp?Clip_ID=1248" target=
"_blank" title="">Broadcaster's Video Download
width="8"> "/jahia/webdav/shared/shared/mainsite/media/photos/nr/buy_responsibly_hires.jpg"
target="_blank" title="">Download Visual
Encouraging the public to question ‘What Lies Behind the
Things We Buy?’, the campaign, designed by Saatchi &
Saatchi in Geneva, hopes to kick-start a change in consumer
behaviour.
"For too long the belief has been that poverty and gender
discrimination are root causes of human trafficking, which can only
be tackled at source. This is short-sighted," says IOM Director
General William Lacy Swing. "Quite simply, human trafficking is
driven by the demand for unreasonably cheap labour and goods from
around the world."
As well as a television spot for broadcasters to air, the "Buy
Responsibly" campaign is being launched at Place Schuman in
Brussels with an enactment of the spot involving an inverted giant
shopping trolley imprisoning models representing trafficked migrant
workers.
Consumers are encouraged to visit
"paragraph-link-no-underline" href="http://www.buyresponsibly.org/"
target="_blank" title="">www.buyresponsibly.org to find out
more about human trafficking for labour exploitation and what they
could do to end it.
Ageing populations, falling birth rates and labour force
participation in industrialized countries coupled with an
over-supply of labour in developing countries without sufficient
channels for legal migration, have paved the way for human
traffickers to profit from the demand for cheap foreign labour and
services.
Some estimates put the number of people in forced or bonded
labour and sexual servitude in the world at any given time at 12.3
million.
Although focus has largely been on the issue of trafficking of
women and girls for sexual exploitation, greater incidences are
emerging of trafficking for labour exploitation involving all ages
and both sexes.
Figures from IOM’s Global Counter Trafficking Database,
which tracks and details assistance provided by the Organization to
victims, show that over the past 11 years, IOM has assisted an
increasing number of people trafficked for labour exploitation with
the largest increases in the last five years. This has largely
involved men and boys trafficked to work in the agricultural,
construction, fishing and domestic service sectors.
Up until now, global counter trafficking efforts have mainly
focused on prevention and post-rescue assistance in source
countries with little work done to tackle the equally critical
demand side.
"Some sectors of an economy, such as construction and
agriculture, depend on irregular cheap labour for growth and
profits. But economic growth shouldn’t depend on
exploitation," the IOM Director General states.
Despite best efforts by all those involved in countering human
trafficking, indications are that it is at least widespread today
as it was ten years ago.
"Clearly this is not acceptable. A change in mindset and
practices among consumers and businesses alike needs to occur,"
Swing adds.
Several concrete and far-reaching steps can be taken to achieve
this. They include regulating the informal sector in destination
countries to ensure workers are brought under the protection of
labour laws; making business and employers legally responsible for
human trafficking and migrant exploitation in their supply chain;
encouraging the creation of ethical employer associations adhering
to codes of conduct guaranteeing the rights of migrants and workers
and providing more legal channels for migration. Equally essential
is raising awareness among consumers of products and services
provided by trafficked and exploited labour.
"Consumers who are increasingly demanding fair trade have the
power to end labour exploitation by buying responsibly and getting
business to rethink how it operates. It’s also in the
interest of business to ensure its supply chain is not using
trafficked or exploited labour. This can make a huge
difference in countering human trafficking. There is no time to
waste," says Swing.
To find out what you can do to help end labour exploitation and
human trafficking, please go to:
"paragraph-link-no-underline" href="http://www.buyresponsibly.org/"
target="_blank" title="">www.buyresponsibly.org
Broadcasters please note the TV spot is downloadable in English
and French in both 4/3 and 16/9 formats and in broadcast quality
from the following link:
href="http://www.quicklink.tv/IOM/download.asp?Clip_ID=1248"
target="_blank" title=
"">http://www.quicklink.tv/IOM/download.asp?Clip_ID=1248
IOM would like to extend its deep appreciation and thanks to
Saatchi and Saatchi in Geneva for its invaluable creative
assistance and support in the development of the campaign.