Protecting Victims of Trafficking in Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka is a destination and source for trafficking mainly women and children for involuntary servitude and commercial sexual exploitation (US Department of State: 2008) This article summerises the trafficking problems faced by Sri Lankans; prevention mechanisms, prosecution mechanisms and protection mechanisms adopted by the Sri Lankan Government to address trafficking issues; and effective recommendation to combat trafficking in Sri Lanka.

Trafficking Problems faced by Sri Lanka include,

• Maintaining un-registered children’s homes (institutions that are not registered under the Department of Probation and Child Care Services) for destitute children. These children are kept in institutions illegally.
• Commercial sexual exploitation of children and adults. Both girls and boys are used as sex workers.
• Using young boys as sex workers catering to fishermen in fisher trawls.
•  Trafficking children overseas. Many of these children, especially girls, are lured by promises of job opportunities or overseas travel, and family members or friends often introduce them into commercial sexual activity.
• Internal trafficking of persons for purposes of domestic servitude
• International trafficking of Sri Lankan women, For instance many women go to the Middle East to countries such as Lebanon, Kuwait, Bahrain, United Arab Emirates, or Saudi Arabia in search of work, only to be put into situations of coerced labor, slave-like conditions, or sexual exploitation.
• Trafficking of foreign women to Sri Lanka. I.e., Thai, Russian, and Chinese women have been trafficked to Sri Lanka for purposes of sexual exploitation.

Prevention measures adopted by the Sri Lankan Government

•  The government, together with NGOs, has conducted public awareness campaigns regarding child labor and created hotlines for reporting child labor abuse.
• Some NGOs also work with the government in starting educational campaigns geared towards keeping mothers from working in the Middle East, where they often work without many civil protections.
• The government is working collaboratively with other governments in educating Sri Lankan women about their rights in destination countries.

Prosecution measures adopted by the Sri Lankan Government

• The Sri Lankan Penal Code specifically criminalizes trafficking in persons, and law enforcement authorities have undertaken some investigations of traffickers.
• Sri Lanka has a labour mediation board and the government also helps in investigating fraudulent employment agencies and contracts.
• The government’s Overseas Employment Bureau works with Sri Lankan embassies abroad to resolve problems that domestic workers encounter.

Protection measures adopted by Sri Lankan Government include-

• Establishing the Police Women’s and Children’s Bureau,
• Establishing the National Child Protection Authority (NCPA),
• Establishing a police unit directly attached to the NCPA work together to combat trafficking and protect victims.
• Providing rehabilitation camps and other services for victims by the government.
• All children’s institutions should be registered under the Probations Department. Children could be institutionalized only with a probation order.
• The government has assigned welfare officers to its embassies to countries in the Middle East to assist women who may have been trafficked. 

Recommendations that could be adopted to effectively counter trafficking

• Developing anti-trafficking and safe migration legislation 
• Conducting Awareness Creation Programmes
• Creating Awareness among intending migrant workers about labor laws and workplace rights in their own and foreign countries
• Creating Awareness among school children on Child and Women Trafficking
• Conducting Awareness on Trafficking and available legislative measures through media
• Organizing government sponsored legal aid and counselling programs for victims of trafficking  
• Establishing Information centres to counter trafficking
• Conducting Research on local, regional, and national trafficking trends and demographics
• Supporting common counter-trafficking initiatives between stakeholders in sending and receiving countries
• Developing skills of law enforcement officers to counter trafficking
• Developing standardized reporting forms for use in police stations on crimes related to trafficking

 Reference-

 U.S. Department of State (2009) Trafficking in Persons Report 2009.


U.S. Department of State (2008) Trafficking in Persons Report 2008.