Some victims are forced to become sex workers without receiving any compensation. Instead they must deal with strict supervision and the threat of violence. Foreign laborers are conscripted into long-term commitments, swapped between employers without warning, never receive any pay and are always at risk of being turned into sex workers.
UN research has shown that international human trafficking has become a global threat. As criminal groups integrate their operations, their illegal earnings are now on par with the illicit drug smuggling and arms dealing industries.
Countries around the world have realized that they need to make legal adjustments to more effectively investigate, prosecute and convict human traffickers and reduce the demand for human trafficking. They have to change biased gender attitudes in importing countries and stimulate international cooperation between exporting countries, importing countries and the countries in between through which victims are transported.
The government and private organizations have to integrate their resources. Last week, the Cabinet passed a plan to prevent human trafficking, which is an important promise from the government to the international community. To protect human rights, and to absolve Taiwan's tarnished name, we should not be absent from the global fight to stop human trafficking.
Sandy Yeh is the president of the Taipei Women's Rescue Foundation.
Translated by Marc Langer
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