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Petition Urges Govt To Tackle Human Trafficking
Nurfika Osman | July 27, 2011

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soyamado
2:23pm Jul 28, 2011

There must be public awareness of this violent crime! Kidnappings, forced prostitution rings, organ trafficking, murder are often results from scams promising money and freedom There is HOPE:http://stephaniesprayercorner.blogspot.com/

MikeOfAston
1:41pm Jul 27, 2011

Identifying a problem is not the same as solving it. I hope the petition mentions strengthening public welfare infrastructure, increasing employment throughout the country, elevating educational standard as among the steps to eliminate, over time, this sad phenomenon.

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More than 200,000 signatures have been gathered on a petition urging the government to tackle human trafficking, in light of Indonesia’s key role as a source, transit and destination country for the crime.

Irwanto, chairman of the National Coalition for the Elimination of Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children (ECPAT), said the current methods of handling child and teenage trafficking for sexual purposes should be overhauled.

ECPAT and The Body Shop Indonesia presented the petition with 210,176 signatures to Linda Gumelar, the minister for child protection and women’s empowerment, on Tuesday.

Irwanto said the idea for the petition stemmed from the concerns around Indonesia’s continued problems with human trafficking — the third-largest crime in the world.

“Indonesia is not just primarily a source of trafficking victims,but also a transit and destination country for the crime,” he said.

“We are therefore committed to strengthening national measures in an attempt to prevent and eradicate the trafficking of children and young people in Indonesia by collaborating with local community organizations, academics, the government, private sectors,and international institutions.”

Unicef estimates that 100,000 women and children are trafficked annually for commercial sexual exploitation within the country and abroad.

It also estimates that 30 percent of female sex workers in the country are minors, while 40,000 to 70,000 Indonesian children are victims of sexual exploitation.

Unicef data shows that Indonesian women and children are mostly trafficked for sexual and labor exploitation in Malaysia, Singapore, Brunei, Taiwan, Japan, Hong Kong and the Middle East, while a significant number of women who migrate voluntarily to work as domestic workers there are later coerced into abusive conditions.

Irwanto said Unicef data also indicates some Indonesian women are recruited by false promises of overseas employment and later forced into prostitution or forced labor.

“Ethic Chinese women and teenage girls in West Kalimantan are recruited as mail-order brides for men in Taiwan, Hong Kong and Singapore,” he said, adding that women in the Riau Islands, Bali and Lombok were often forced into the sex tourist trade for men from Malaysia and Singapore.

Linda also pointed out that Indonesia has a significant amount of internal human trafficking, with victims taken from rural to urban areas for prostitution and forced labor.

“Poverty, unemployment, lack of education and economic disparities between different regions has put Indonesians, especially children and young girls, at risk of being trafficked,” she said.“The number of trafficking cases continues to increase even though we still don’t have exact figures.”

Unicef also blames a lack of birth registrations nationwide for increasing women’s vulnerability to trafficking. About 60 percent of children under the age of 5 do not have a birth certificate.

Linda acknowledged the current anti-trafficking efforts were lacking and has promised to follow up on the petition.

“We are going to follow up on this petition by working harder to find solutions to prevent human trafficking and help the victims,” she said.