Can trafficking be prevented?
Denis Nazarenko is an assistant for research and seminar activities at The Peace Institute. The blog is written by the peace institute’s present or former staff, guest researchers, board members or invited guest writers. The opinions are the author’s own. Mariehamn 08.03.2011 In this article, I will try to outline the “push” and “pull” factors of human trafficking with a focus on the gender aspect. The trafficking is often represented as a problem of the poorest or least developed countries. However these countries can be responsible only for the supply, as poverty, chronic unemployment and domestic violence can push women into highly exploitative situations. At the same time, there is a range of social, cultural, political and broader economic factors that not only reinforce a gendered division in most societies, but also create the “demand” for human trafficking on both domestic and international levels. One of such factors is rooted in gender stereotypes. In this view, the top-down approach, described in the article, is only minimally effective. On the other hand, the work of NGOs and civil society can prove to play a positive role in preventing human trafficking. When the word “trafficking” is mentioned people usually remember movie “Lilja 4-ever” […]
The international women’s day
The Åland Islands Peace Institute is highlighting the internatinal women’s day 2011 by arranging a seminar (held 7th of March) about preventive measures concerning sexual violence and a blog post about prevention of trafficking. Read about the seminar here and read the blog piece here.
A petition to change the Finnish legislation on sexual crimes
Gender Consultant, Mia Hanström, who works as an educator in the Peace Institute’s project Challenging gender roles to prevent trafficking has launched a petition to change the Finnish legislation on sexual crimes. The petition will run until April 15. You can read and write it here.