Transaction Search Form: please type in any of the fields below.
Date: April 29, 2024 Mon
Time: 10:11 pm
Time: 10:11 pm
Results for mining communities
1 results foundAuthor: Kelly, Jocelyn Title: Assessment of Human Trafficking in Artisanal Mining Towns in Eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo Summary: Human trafficking is a fundamental violation of human rights. In conflict and post-conflict situations, people may be more vulnerable to trafficking due to high levels of exploitation and violence, weak civilian protection mechanisms, displacement, and a breakdown in social cohesion. The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) has been embroiled in violence since 1996, when violence from the Rwandan genocide sparked conflict across the border in the eastern provinces of Congo. Dozens of armed groups with shifting allegiances, motivations, and identities have preyed upon civilian communities, perpetrating a wide array of human rights abuses. Over the decades of violence, millions of civilians have died, making Congolese conflict the deadliest since World War II. In recent years, the artisanal mining sector in eastern Congo has gained a great deal of international attention for the role it has played in fueling the conflict by providing rebel groups with a source of income. Recognition of this dynamic has raised concerns that these mining communities are also home to some of the worst human rights abuses as different powerful actors vie for control of these profitable areas. Hundreds of thousands, and possibly millions1 of artisanal miners and their families rely on mining for their livelihood. Driven by extreme poverty with limited economic alternatives, these miners accept extreme working conditions. The environment is further complicated by poor governance, poor regulatory oversight, and widespread corruption; conditions that are conducive to labor and sexual trafficking. The United Nations and a number of advocacy groups have described different forms human trafficking in these areas. The 2014 State Department Trafficking in Persons Report calls particular attention to trafficking in persons in the artisanal mining sector. Despite this recognition, systematic quantitative evidence about the type and scale of human trafficking in Congolese mines is lacking. This project attempts to provide an empirically-based understanding of the nature and scale of labor and sex trafficking of men, women and children in artisanal mining sites in South Kivu and North Katanga. It then aims to use this information to identify recommendations for the United States Agency for International Development's (USAID) programmatic interventions. Fundamental to the understanding of the scope of human trafficking in this context is clearly defining who a trafficked person is. Broad categories of human trafficking include: forced labor; debt bondage; sex trafficking; forced child labor and child sex trafficking. The Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000 (TVPA) defines the most severe forms of human trafficking as: - Sex trafficking in which a commercial sex act is induced by force, fraud, or coercion, or in which the person induced to perform such an act has not attained 18 years of age; or - The recruitment, harboring, transportation, provision, or obtaining of a person for labor or services, through the use of force, fraud, or coercion for the purpose of subjection to involuntary servitude, peonage, debt bondage, or slavery. Systematic empirical evidence about the type and scale of human trafficking in DRC mines is lacking. Many of the assertions cited by domestic and international groups are based on anecdotal evidence that seek out specific instances of trafficking in persons (TIP). Despite the important body of work aimed at documenting the issues of trafficking in the artisanal mining sector, the established narrative is undermined by the absence of data on the prevalence, patterns, and causes of trafficking. It is therefore difficult to identify which types of interventions are most needed, and what the most pivotal points of entry are for programming to combat TIP. This assessment therefore seeks to fulfill the need for an empirical inquiry using quantitative research methods. The objectives of this work are to: 1) provide an empirically-based understanding of the nature and scale of labor and sex trafficking of men, women and children in eastern DRC mining communities; 2) identify recommendations for USAID programmatic interventions; and 3) recommend evaluation activities and research questions related to the recommended programmatic interventions. This initial version of the assessment addresses the first point and aims to serve as a basis for further discussion about recommendations. Details: Washington, DC: United States Agency for International Development, 2014. 131p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed February 7, 2015 at: http://pdf.usaid.gov/pdf_docs/PA00K5R1.pdf Year: 2014 Country: Congo, Democratic Republic URL: http://pdf.usaid.gov/pdf_docs/PA00K5R1.pdf Shelf Number: 134565 Keywords: Child LaborChild Sex TraffickingForced LaborHuman Trafficking (Democratic Republic of the CongMining CommunitiesSex TraffickingSexual Exploitation |