Comment

The threat of violence, of whatever form, is often used by traffickers as a means of instilling fear and controlling those threatened.

The trafficking of women and girls happens all over the world yet remains hidden from public view.

Many women who are offered the opportunity of ‘work’ in other countries, find themselves trapped in a world of physical, psychological and sexual abuse and economic deprivation.
Due to the covert nature of human trafficking and the involvement of criminal gangs, those who are trafficked are extremely vulnerable to violence and most human rights abuses against the trafficked remain hidden.

Many of those trafficked do not report their plight for fear of reprisals. Others are detained and prosecuted for unlicensed prostitution or illegal entry and are deported, only to be trafficked yet again.

Trafficked women and girls are subjected to a range of human rights abuses, including:

physical, psychological and sexual abuse
deprivation of liberty
denial of freedom of movement
torture and ill-treatment
in some cases even to the right to life.

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