WORKING GROUP 8

Human Trafficking and HIV/AIDS

BACKGROUND NOTE

With approximately 3 million people living with HIV in South Asia, there is an immediate need to address the causes that heighten the vulnerability of women and girls to trafficking and HIV. South Asia is also estimated to be home to the second largest numbers of trafficked persons, estimated to be around 150,000 annually. The region has countries which serve as high origin, transit and destination countries for trafficked persons. The twin problems of trafficking and HIV are influenced by the same set of factors - such as poverty, discrimination and unsafe mobility, especially in the context of gender and human rights.

Vulnerability: Though there is not necessarily a direct causal correlation between trafficking and HIV/AIDS always and everywhere, once a person is trafficked they generally face a new and powerless situation in an alien environment which increases their vulnerability HIV/AIDS.

Being female: The susceptibility of a trafficked woman to HIV/AIDS is certainly higher than that of a person who does sex work out of choice. The reason is this. In addition to being exposed to forced and unsafe sex with multiple partners, victims may be injected with drugs to increase their compliance, or they may choose to inject drugs as a coping mechanism. Victims may also receive medical and/or surgical treatment which may have included forced or voluntary pregnancy terminations, in unsanitary conditions, by unqualified practitioners, using contaminated instruments and/or unscreened blood supplies. There is therefore a risk of trafficking victims becoming vectors of HIV - as they drift back into their communities or move onwards to a new destination - without knowing their HIV status. Women who are living with HIV have less access to health care as compared with men. They generally also have less free time to access whatever facilities are available. They tend to have less money at their disposal and cannot afford medical care. The clandestine status of trafficking victims, makes them invisible and further reduces their access to health services, particularly those that focus on HIV/AIDS.

Most victims of human trafficking are poorly educated. Their knowledge of HIV risk factors is therefore likely to be low. With the exception of the very young, most victims of trafficking for the purpose of forced labour are of an age grouping which is likely to be engaging in sexual behaviours and/or experimenting with drug use, exposing them to HIV infection through these routes.

Evidence base: Until recently, there was lack of scientific evidence that validate a clear linkage between HIV and human trafficking. Though this recent research is starting to demonstrate conclusively that forcing trafficking victims into unprotected sexual acts with multiple partners is a significant factor in the spread of HIV, there is still a need to strengthen the evidence base.

South Asia: Certain factors are often cited as contributing to the trafficking of women and children in South Asia both nationally and regionally. These include: the uneven effectiveness of legislation, policies and institutional structures to address women and child trafficking and/or weak enforcement mechanisms for fair labour practices. In certain cases, ineffective border controls also contribute. Existing legislation mainly focuses on trafficking for sex work. There is a need to review the legislation and policies which impact on the provision of HIV prevention, treatment and care services for people vulnerable to human trafficking.

Tackling the twin issues: It has been recognized that both HIV/AIDS and trafficking are development issues. They require an integrated response to reduce the dual vulnerabilities of women and girls. Although much is being done to address the issues of HIV and trafficking, there are still no integrated approaches that view the linkages between the two issues.

While every effort to prevent human trafficking should be supported, regrettably the crime is likely to continue for at least the short to medium term. And that means, we will continue to have people vulnerable to human trafficking who are put at increased risk of HIV. This in turn means that we need to be able to provide timely HIV prevention, treatment, care and support services to people vulnerable to human trafficking. 1

Most often discussions on HIV associated with human trafficking are restricted to discussing sex work. Working Group 8 will establish a broader framework for discussion which looks at HIV and human trafficking for the purpose of sexual exploitation as well as forced labour (domestic labour, begging, etc),and organ removal. In this Working Group, we will look at HIV, prevention, treatment, care and support services for people vulnerable to human trafficking and review the existing policies and legislation in the countries that have an impact on the provision of these services.

People who are trafficked are at an increased risk of contracting HIV. This is why it is important to stop human trafficking. At the same time, the increased risk of HIV infection as a result of human trafficking should be minimized at all stages during the process of human trafficking (e.g., pre-departure, transit, arrival, exploitation, identification, rehabilitation repatriation, reintegration). The Working Group will attempt to draw attention to the way in which service provision can address this need.

WORKING GROUP

Objectives

  1. Deliberate on current knowledge, scientific evidence and gaps on HIV associated with human trafficking.
  2. Deliberate on the legal and policy barriers and solutions in the countries which impact on the provision of HIV prevention, treatment, care and support services to people vulnerable to human trafficking.
  3. Facilitate the sharing of new ideas and identify potential models for timely delivery of HIV prevention, care and support services for visible and hidden populations of people vulnerable to human trafficking.
  4. Contribute to Delhi Declaration.

Methodology
Short Power point presentations, moderated discussion, group work.

Chair: Ms. Manjula Krishnan, Joint Secretary, Ministry for Women and Child Development (MWCD), India
Co-Chair: Ms. Caitlin Weisen, Regional HIV/AIDS Team Leader and Programme Coordinator for Asia and Pacific, UNDP Regional Centre in Colombo, Sri Lanka
Facilitator(s): Ms. Javita Narang (Consultant)
Rapporteurs: Mr. Anindit Roy Chowdhury, Manager, SANLAAP; Ms. Muna Basnyet, Terre Des Hommes (TDH), Nepal
Format: A distinguished guest will chair while a pre-selected and pre-briefed facilitator organizes the discussion. A rapporteur who is fully familiar with human trafficking issues will pull the material together. (The working group will consist of participants from the principal sectors involved in the fight against human trafficking.)

AGENDA

DAY 1

Session 1: 2.00 - 4.00pm (2 hrs)

Current Knowledge, Scientific Evidence and Gaps on HIV Associated With Human Trafficking

  • Setting the Stage: Presentation by Facilitators
    • Presentation on "HIV and Human Trafficking in South Asia" - Nwenwe Aye, Partnerships Development and Mobilisation Adviser, UNAIDS Regional Support Team Asia Pacific, Thailand
    • Presentation on "Sex Trafficked Nepalese Women And Girls: HIV Prevalence And Predictors" by Jay Silverman, Director, Violence Prevention Programs, and Assistant Professor, Society, Human Development and Health, Division of Public Health Practice, Harvard School of Public Health, USA
  • Moderated Group Discussion

Moving Beyond HIV and Human Trafficking for the Purpose of Sexual Exploitation: Looking At HIV Risks of Other Populations Vulnerable To Human Trafficking

  • Panel Discussion
    • Ms. Bhamathi, Joint Secretary, Human Resources, Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India
    • Dr. Asha Rao, Technical Adviser HIV/AIDS, South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation, SAARC Secretariat, Nepal
    • Ms. Enakshi Ganguly, Executive Director, HAQ: Center for Child Rights, New Delhi
    • Representative, Ministry of Labour, Government of India
  • Moderated Group Discussion

Tea/ Networking Break: 4:00 - 4:30pm (30 min.)

DAY 1

Session 2: 4.30 - 6.30pm (2 hrs)

Provision of HIV Prevention, Treatment, Care And Support For People Vulnerable To Human Trafficking: Programme Challenges, and Legal And Policy Barriers And Solutions

  • Presenters
    • Mr. Anand Grover, Director, Lawyers Collective, India
    • Mr. Adilur Rahman Khan, Deputy Attorney General for Bangladesh
    • Mr. Prakash Mani Sharma, General Secretary, Forum for Protection of Public Interest (Pro Public), Nepal.
    • Mr. Zia Ahmed Awan, Lawyers for Human Rights and Legal Aid, Pakistan
    • Representative from Sri Lanka
  • Group Work

DAY 2

Session 3: 10.30 - 1.00 pm (2 hr 30 min.)

Challenges and lessons learnt in providing HIV services: Experiences from Cross Border and Interstate Trafficking Programmes

  • Presenters
    • Ms. Mona Mishra, Program Officer, UNDP, India
    • Ms. Caitlin Weisen, Regional HIV/AIDS Team Leader and Programme Coordinator for Asia and Pacific, UNDP Regional Centre in Colombo, Sri Lanka
  • Moderated Group Discussion
  • Country Group work
  • Recap of Key Points and Discussions for the Delhi Declaration

(Format: The Facilitator will invite the Rapporteur to recount decisions taken so far. Discussions are aimed at refining the elements and sharpening them as both corpus of ideas and in a summary version - as a contribution to Delhi Declaration.)