Foreword |Background |The Situation in New Zealand | Child Prostitution |Child Pornography | Child Sex Tourism | Child Trafficking | Activities to Address CSEC in General | Table of Activities
Trafficking is defined as the transporting of a person from one place to another through means of deception, kidnapping, actual, threatened or implied violence, and/ or the abuse of individuals actual or perceived by a person in a position of authority eg. immigration officer, police officer, etc. An individual may be trafficked for the purposes of domestic employment, work in the commercial sex industry, manual labour, arranged marriage etc. The term trafficking implies a profit arises from the transportation of the child, which can occur across borders or within countries, across State lines, from city to city and from rural to urban areas.
Section 98 of the Crimes Act 1961 prohibits the sale of any person as a slave and provides a comprehensive ban on the trafficking of slaves. The Crimes Act prohibits the employment or use of any person as a slave. It is also illegal for a parent or guardian of a child under 18 years to deliver that child to another person so that child's labour may be exploited.
Child Trafficking to New Zealand
While trafficking to New Zealand may be a relatively small problem, organisations such as the Human Rights Commission and the Police acknowledge that it has the potential to become a growing problem. Throughout the world the trafficking of people from socio-economically deprived circumstances has increased markedly.
The New Zealand Police estimate that there are over 500 Thai women in the sex industry in Auckland alone. However, it is impossible to determine how many of them are under 18 years of age, and thus, inherently able to be considered to have been victims of trafficking. There are many obstacles that prevent trafficked children from coming to the attention of the police or other authorities. The majority of the girls are under constant surveillance by their traffickers. In addition, they may fear the police or believe that they will be in trouble with New Zealand authorities. The Human Rights Commission has received a number of telephone calls from health personnel reporting incidents of Thai girls, under 18 years of age, seeking medical attention, who had been subjected to sexual violence. However, by the time the Police have become involved it has been discovered that the addresses given are false or the girls have been moved to a new location.
New Zealand is committed to addressing the issue of child trafficking and this has been demonstrated internationally through the ratification of the Convention on Protection of Children and Co-operation in Respect of Intercountry Adoptions. The Intercountry Adoption Act establishes a system of co-operation amongst Contracting States to ensure that safeguards are respected and thereby prevent the abduction, sale or traffic in children. Under the Act the Department of Child, Youth and Family Services is involved with intercountry adoptions and internal policy is in place to identify and oppose applications for adoption where trafficking of children is alleged.
The New Zealand government is also working with non-government organisations to implement measures to help those people who may already be trapped in sexual slavery in New Zealand. Last year an interagency group, comprising the Human Rights Commission, the Mayor of Auckland, Auckland City Council, Police, Immigration Service, Shakti Asian Women's Refuge, ECPAT NZ and the Prostitutes Collective, was established by the Mayor of Auckland in response to concerns about Thai and other women and girls being trafficked into New Zealand and held in debt bondage. In 2000 the Human Rights Commission launched a 'Pink Sticker Campaign' to publicise the repatriation programme, which provides a safe house, travel arrangements and follow-up support from Thai women's organisations on return to Thailand. By April 2001, the Commission had helped six Thai women bonded to the New Zealand sex industry. The Human Rights Commission has also assisted one of the women to make a successful claim in the Distributes Tribunal for moneys paid to the traffickers.
As with child sex tourism, child trafficking cases are very difficult to both investigate and prosecute as similar difficulties are faced. It is also difficult for Police in New Zealand to protect witnesses who are returned to their own country. Current policy in New Zealand is to return the trafficked person to his or her own country as soon as possible. As a result, many victims will not agree to provide evidence, for fear of the repercussions from the traffickers that they, or their family, will experience when they return home. The human trafficking business is extremely lucrative for those involved, and the measures they undertake to protect their business reflect that.
Due to these difficulties, it can be argued that the effective punishment of traffickers is not yet occurring in New Zealand. New Zealand law enforcement authorities must take all practicble steps to bring to trial any New Zealanders involved in the trafficking trade, as well as offer assistance to overseas jurisdictions upon their requests for help with their domestic prosecutions. Child trafficking is a transnational activity and it will not be stopped by the activities of one country alone. More effort has to be made to co-operate effectively with law enforcement agencies in origin and transit countries.
International co-operation can be achieved through international conventions that establish frameworks for action against organised criminal groups involved in people trafficking. Having signed the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organised Crime and its accompanying Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, especially Women and Children, New Zealand hopes to ratify these instruments by the end of 2002. New Zealand has a long-standing practice of not ratifying a Convention or Protocol unless domestic law and practice are fully aligned with the treaty's provision. Accordingly, a working group of officials, led by Immigration Services, has been convened to develop a comprehensive policy on trafficking and a strategy for implementing measures to curb people-smuggling. New Zealand will also be enacting new offences prohibiting trafficking in persons in accordance with the requirements of the Protocol.