.**NOTICE:
This project was superceded by the Hawaii Anti-Trafficking
Task Force (HATTF) in July 2005.
The GRC project on Human Slavery was founded in 2000 by Dr. Nancie Caraway, political scientist, researcher, feminist scholar and human rights activist.
An interdisciplinary intellectual and activist endeavor, this project views human slavery and trafficking in persons as a phenomenon of globalization. Human slavery and the commodification of human beings reveals a particularly cruel downside of globalization - a form of modern-day slavery in the new global economy. The practice involves the recruitment, transport, harboring, and often sale, of persons exploited for their labor, increasingly in the sex sector. Thousands of individuals a year are trafficked globally, rendering the practice the fastest-growing and most lucrative criminal enterprise in the world. In Asia, a recognized supply and demand zone for trafficked persons, the practice is fed by economic disparity, restrictive migrant policies, the low status of women and girls in the region, a lax legal environment, poverty, and official corruption.
To respond to this growing human rights crisis in Asia-Pacific, GRC aims to link programs of research, education and public policy in regional, cross-border and transnational sites.
The mission of the Human Slavery Project is:
1) to provide thoroughly developed research, educational resources, publications, conferences/workshops, films and training materials;
2) to collaborate with relevant entities and institutions in the region to protect the human rights of exploited migrant workers in legitimate labor sectors as well as underground sectors - alert to the feminization of migration and the specific vulnerabilities experienced by female migrant workers. |
WORLDMAP of SLAVERY
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Current research is devoted to analyzing existing anti-trafficking frameworks and strategies, assessing the effectiveness of regional and international legal instruments, law enforcement and immigration policies; monitoring and evaluation of NGO "rescue" activities which aim to protect victims but may result in human rights violations themselves. Crucial to the process of protection, prevention and prosecution of traffickers, is the goal of creating and sharing capacity-building resources and training skills for stakeholders.
The GRC Human Slavery Project welcomes partnerships and open dialogue between researchers and grass-roots service providers. It endeavors to promote innovative and humane frameworks to eradicate the human misery caused by the dynamics of globalization.
MAJOR TRAFFICKING PROJECTS
International conference: The Human Rights Challenge of Globalization in Asia-Pacific-US: The Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children. Honolulu Convention Center, Honolulu November 2002. CONFERENCE DETAILS
Hawaii Anti-Trafficking Task Force (2003): An initiative which brings together researchers, human rights activists, NGOs, and law enforcement professionals in Hawaii to raise awareness of and combat human slavery and ensure individuals' human rights. ATTF DETAILS
Expert training sessions: Conducted by The Freedom Network in Honolulu. Human Trafficking and Slavery: Basic Tools For An Effective Response. Over one hundred stakeholders received professional training on the legal, policy, social and economic bases of trafficking. DETAILS and ANTI-TRAFFICKING TRAINING CURRICULUM
Public outreach: lectures, media workshops and presentations provided to community and academic institutions on the issues of human slavery and trafficking.
FUTURE PROJECTS
Publication of edited volume: 'To Prevent, Suppress and Punish: Globalization, Ideology and the Politics of Anti-Trafficking
Production of a one-hour video program on human trafficking and slavery in Asia-Pacific
Research collaborations with Asian NGOs and organizations. Alternative Anti-Trafficking Frameworks
Participation in UN conferences, seminars and workshops on human slavery in Asia
