New Publication “Challenging Trafficking in Persons”

On the occasion of the International Human Rights Day, December 9, at the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) in Berlin, the sector project against trafficking in women presented its new publication, "Challenging Trafficking in Persons - Theoretical Debate and Practical Approaches".
The event included a press conference and a technical segment. At the press conference, journalists’ questions were answered by the Parliamentary State Secretary at the BMZ, Karin Kortmann, and Dr. Helga Konrad, the OSCE Special Representative on Combating Trafficking in Human Beings. In the technical segment that followed, the contents of the publication were discussed in greater detail.
Both Karin Kortmann and Dr. Helga Konrad emphasised that trafficking in human beings is not only a serious crime, but first and foremost a heinous violation of human rights. In this context, Karin Kortmann stressed that the preservation of human rights is of superior importance for the entire development policy: “If we want to promote development we must strengthen human rights. In strengthening human rights, we promote development.” 
Dr. Helga Konrad called for increased international cooperation and for networking the actors at all levels in order to address the complex phenomenon of human trafficking by means of equally broad counterstrategies. In this connection, she stressed the significance of the publication “Challenging Trafficking in Persons”, as it pools the experience of a wide variety of actors and makes it accessible to professionals in the field.
In the technical session that followed, Anna Erdelmann, project manager of the sector project against trafficking in women, explained the areas in which the project works as well as the concept and structure of the publication. Nivedita Prasad from Ban Ying, an NGO in Berlin which works on behalf of victims of human trafficking, and Gabriele Reiter, a freelance expert, presented the perspective of practitioners in the field. The two speakers are co-authors of the publication. Using vivid examples, Nivedita Prasad explained the difficult situation of human trafficking victims in Germany: under present law, those of them who are not prepared to cooperate with the criminal justice authorities must leave the country immediately. She called for eliminating the connection between the residence permit and the willingness to testify as a witness, and for allowing trafficking victims to work legally.  Gabriele Reiter described the development of training modules for NATO peacekeepers dealing with human trafficking.  An unusual aspect of this process was that the NATO for the first time accepted a multi-disciplinary procedure and, as recommended by the sector project, involved practitioners from the NGO sphere in the development of the training modules.  Adolf Kloke-Lesch, head of the BMZ Directorate 21, who chaired the technical segment, underlined the significance of development-policy for the subject of human trafficking and its close relevance to other challenges that development cooperation must confront. In this context, he mentioned the areas of crisis prevention and conflict transformation, combating corruption and establishing good governance. 

The various presentations supplied enough material for an interesting and prolonged discussion between the speakers and the professional audience consisting of representatives of ministries, international organisations, national institutes and non-governmental organisations.

The book has been published in the Nomos-Verlag:

Sector Project against Trafficking in Women (Eds.)
Challenging Trafficking in Persons
Theoretical Debate & Practical Approaches
2005, 184 S., brosch., 25 EURO, ISBN 3-8329-1687-3

Further information

• Consulting Project "Trafficking in Women"
  Website