Kat Pierce

H 230C
The United Nations Work to Prevent Human Trafficking in Bangladesh

According to the United Nations Office of Drugs and Crime, Bangladesh is a

source, transit, and destination country for the trafficking of women, men, and children.
Bangladeshi men and women are lured into work under false pretenses within their own
country or into neighboring countries. The majority of cross-border trafficking in
Bangladesh is due to migration in search of employment. Most are subjected to forced
labor or forced prostitution (1). Thousands of unreported children are trafficked from
Bangladesh to other countries every year. Children who are taken by traffickers often
come from impoverished or isolated regions. The parents, who are usually extremely poor,
are promised that their children will have a well-paid job or a nice marriage. Because of
their hopes for their children, they trust the offer, which too often leads to the children
being exploited (1).
For this research paper, I chose to explore prevention of trafficking in Bangladesh
by focusing on the work of three United Nations organizations: United Nations
International Childrens Emergency Fund (UNICEF), United Nations Office of Drugs and
Crime (UNODC), and United Nations Women (UN Women). All three intergovernmental
groups have helped the country combat human trafficking and prevent enslavement. I will
evaluate the work of each organization and make suggestions as to what they could do to
improve their anti-trafficking activities.
Bangladesh joined the United Nations in 1974. Since then, Bangladesh and the
United Nations have worked together to create a National Family Planning Program, build

and operate health clinics for rural areas, increase literacy throughout the country, and
work towards HIV/AIDS prevention and reducing child mortality (2). Because of the
success that the United Nations and the Bangladeshi government have had in working
toward common goals, it seemed fitting to have the UNICEF, UNODC, and UN Women
organizations step in to work with the Bangladeshi government and people toward a slavefree country. UNICEF and UN Women work with the people directly by creating
programs to prevent slavery, whereas UNODC works more with changing and
implementing the law to reach a wider audience.
UNICEF works closely with the Bangladeshi government to protect poor
childrens rights and improve many different aspects of their lives, including nutrition,
education, and sanitation (3). Bangladesh is vulnerable to trafficking because of the large
population living in poverty (4). All of UNICEFs efforts help prevent trafficking because
as poverty is reduced, so is the opportunity for trafficking. About three-quarters of the
population live in rural areas (3). Parents in these areas are often persuaded to trust a
person that comes to their village promising them that their child will be given education
and a job. However, these children are too often trafficked instead, denied an education,
and forced to work for little or no pay (3). By giving children the essentials to live a
healthy life, UNICEF helps reduce the chances that they are trafficked and more likely to
grow up free and healthy and get an education and a job.
UNICEF has created multiple programs tailored to children to help them succeed.
The Early Childhood Development Program helps children enroll and stay in school.. The
Life Skill program works with NGOs to facilitate life skills sessions in which they can talk
about social issues such as trafficking (5). There are even drop-in centers for children

living on the street at which children can receive food, shelter, and a job placement. All of
these programs help protect children on the streets and in poor villages and prevent them
from being exploited (6).
In 1991, UNICEF Bangladesh created a nine-year-old cartoon character named
Meena to use in educational outreach. Today, there are books, posters, and a TV show
featuring Meena that talk about childrens rights. Like many children from Bangladesh,
Meena lives in a small village in a rural area. She talks about and experiences serious
issues such as education, early marriage, poor nutrition, heavy work loads, HIV/AIDS,
gender discrimination, health, and hygiene (7). Meena has been a huge hit and inspires
girls not only in Bangladesh, but also in India, Nepal, Pakistan, Bhutan, and Sri Lanka (7).
Using Meena has been an extremely effective in reaching out to children and getting their
attention. Many children are encouraged to stay in school, wash their hands, and maintain
other healthy habits because of what they see Meena do.
UNCIEF is doing a good job working toward eliminating trafficking in
Bangladesh. The organization is also working toward universal birth registration.
Currently, the number of Bangladeshi children registered with birth certificates is low. It
is harder to protect children from trafficking when they have no formal proof of their birth
date, age, and identity (6).
I have four recommendations for UNICEFs work in Bangladesh: one, create
training sessions for men, women, and children in rural villages that teach them not to
tolerate unfamiliar people who are seeking out children; two, maintain and expand the
programs that UNICEF has that are helping children; three, keep Meena alive!; and four,
put resources toward raising awareness about birth registration, stressing how important it

is to register children and making registration free. The program previously had been free,
but a lack of resources to process applications and increase awareness hindered its success
(6)).
The next organization I will discuss is the UNODC. The UNODC has worked with
many countries to draft laws and create and implement national anti-trafficking strategies
(7). The UNODC does not focus on preventing a single type of trafficking or a specific
gender or age nor do they have programs in which they work directly with people, like
UNICEF does. They focus on multiple countries at once and try to get laws implemented
to help a large number of people at one time. In my research, I found that UNODCs main
focus is on preventing the migration that leads to trafficking. Bangladeshi men and
women often migrate to other countries such as Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Kuwait, the United
Arab Emirates, Qatar, Lebanon, and Malaysia to look for work (3) but are forced into
unpaid labor and threatened with abuse, and have their movement restricted (3). The
UNDOC tries to increase awareness of trafficking in many Southeast Asian countries like
Bangladesh. They have created video and radio public service announcements and also
partnered with NGOs to distribute written information (7).
UNODC has created a Toolkit to Combat Trafficking in Persons and a Toolkit
to Combat Smuggling of Migrants that help governments, policy-makers, and other
officials combat trafficking better. These toolkits help them identify a person who may be
trafficked and address protection, immigration, reintegration, migrant smuggling, and the
legal framework (8). My main suggestion for UNODC is to make these toolkits available
to Bangladesh as well as many other countries. These toolkits are available in only six

different languages. If they distribute the toolkits to different countries, they could
influence many different government leaders.
The last organization I researched was UN Women, a non-profit that works to end
violence against women. It was established in Bangladesh in 2005 to implement the
second phase of a Regional Program to Empower Women Migrant Workers in Asia (9).
Tens of thousands of women from Bangladesh migrate every year to work outside of the
country in order to send money home. They typically work as domestic servants and are
often faced with sexual exploitation (3). Licensing and monitoring of recruitment agencies
have not been up to par and as a result, people in search of jobs often immigrate illegally
(9). Crossing the border from Bangladesh to India has become easier, and other
employers sometimes provide their workers with false documentation to get them into
the country. Trafficked women from Bangladesh do not know that they have rights, even
if they are in another country. According to the Bangladeshi Constitution Article 34 and
31, forced labor is not allowed and all citizens are protected and will be helped no matter
if they are inside or outside of the country (10). UN Women has worked to promote safer
migration by providing comprehensive information on overseas employment and
resources that they may need. They also broadcast information about safe migration on
national radio, which has been successful in getting the word out (9).
I have several suggestions for UN Women: one, continue helping women safely
migrate and work in different countries if they choose to do so and closely monitor
employment and recruitment agencies to make sure things are going well; two, make sure
that women know the health care system in their destination country and how to find a
doctor if they may need one; three, improve the quality of pre-departure trainings,

covering labor rights, laws, and methods to access assistance, just as the 2014 Trafficking
in Persons Report suggests (11); four, do something similar to what has been done in
Nepal for women migrating for work. UN Women not only helps set up an economic
reintegration program that assists women migrants invest money into sustainable
businesses at home, but they help set up organized village alert groups so women can
reject fraudulent foreign employment (12); five, create a center of education similar to
what UNICEF does, but for women. The center could have counseling, education, job
placement, and skills training. The childrens center by UNICEF has proved successful. If
there were centers for women, they might feel safer and supported; six, find ways to
reduce violence against women. Unfortunately, violence against women is commonly
accepted in Bangladesh culture (9). Although the government has made laws against this,
UN Women should help implement these laws and change how society thinks of women.
This will definitely be the more challenging change, considering male supremacy is
deeply embedded in Bangladeshi culture, but with the power that UN Women has, they
could change this in many ways. One way is just by helping one woman at a time out of
poverty or trafficking by giving her education or a job. Giving a woman an education or a
job can improve her independence and increase the amount of women in the workforce in
Bangladesh and overall empower women.
As a whole, I have a few suggestions to help Bangladesh combat trafficking. They
should continue to work toward a widely literate population and a good education for all
ages. One of the reasons why some people are more vulnerable to traffickers is because
they have a lack of education and a lack of employment. They desperately need a job to be
able to provide for themselves and their family so they quickly take any job that is offered

to them, only to be abused and unfairly treated. Sometimes they migrate willingly for a
job and are trapped once they find that they are given on wages and are abused. The
unfamiliar environment and their lack of knowledge of resources cause them to not seek
out for help. An education can lead to more job opportunities and a less likelihood to be
vulnerable to trafficking.
The government is maintaining anti-trafficking law enforcement efforts, and the
number of new cases of sex trafficking and forced labor increases every year. A large
number of cases are prosecuted, and traffickers are being convicted. However, like most
countries today that have slaves, the problem is not that there are no laws to protect the
people. The problem is that no one is implementing them. Hopefully, the UNDOC can
continue their work to help the government write and implement laws in Bangladesh.
It would also be useful to increase awareness of human trafficking to government
officials, border patrol, police officers, migration officials, so they can recognize human
trafficking and take action to prevent it. Border patrol officers who turn a blind eye to
traffickers should not be tolerated and government officials like these should be monitored
to make sure they are following the rules. It is important to train officials because it is
their job to keep people safe. They are part of the group that enforces the laws, so it is
important that they know what trafficking is, how to identify it, and what to do in
response.
Not only do laws need to be implemented and enforced, but also some current laws
can be reformed. The UN has helped assist the Government of Bangladesh combat human
trafficking in many different ways. They have even helped the government adopt the
National Action Plan against Sexual Abuse and Exploitation of Children, including

Trafficking (7). The Bangladesh Women and Children Repression Prevention Act of 2000
was also created. This law is actually very successful when it comes to how it has been
implemented considering societys views on women in Bangladesh and punishment of the
trafficker. However, the National Action Plan against Sexual Abuse and Exploitation of
Children does not include men and women and the Bangladesh Women and Children
Repression Prevention Act does not include men and older boys. I applaud that
Bangladesh has been addressing human trafficking and working toward eradicating it, but
would it not be more effective to include all genders and ages? It is true that in
Bangladeshi culture women and young girls are commonly abused compared to men and
boys however, the sexual exploitation of boys is a fast-growing issue in Bangladesh. Once
the sexually exploited boys are of what Bangladesh says is an adult, how will they be
protected? Perhaps make laws protecting people from trafficking more gender sensitive.
Bangladesh and UNICEF have made a Sixth Five Year Plan addressing many of
the suggestions I have made in this paper. The plan is from 2011 2015 and aims to
accelerate growth and reduce poverty. There is a strong focus on changing violence
against women in Bangladesh for the better and giving them equal pay and equal
opportunity. The plan also addresses child education and nutrition, increasing jobs and
much more. By allowing women and children their rights and working to reduce poverty,
slavery should be reduced in time. This Five Year Plan a very tall order, but it is great to
see that Bangladesh even has a plan. That is the first step to change. We will see how it
carries out in the future.

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