Experts tackle human trafficking
Justice Bell believes that current state and territory laws do not adequately protect the security of tenure for public housing tenants, who can be evicted without reason or cause.
The modern-day slavery of human trafficking and exploitation for forced labour will be the topic of discussion among leading experts at a public lecture in Melbourne.
Presented by the Castan Centre for Human Rights Law, the lecture will deliver insights into the trade of people for slavery, latest research, and anti-trafficking efforts to tackle and prevent this bewildering global issue.
Co-presenter Professor Susan Kneebone, a specialist in forced migration, human trafficking and refugee law, said human trafficking was a multi-billion dollar global industry that remained one of the most difficult crimes to monitor and address.
“Victims of human trafficking are exploited in a number of different situations. Many are forced into labour or face sexual exploitation, particularly women and girls,” Professor Kneebone said.
It is estimated that there are around a 20 million victims of human trafficking worldwide at any time. Most are trafficked across international borders, others are enslaved in their own countries.
Labour-related trafficking occurs in a wide range of sectors, including agriculture, fishing industries, manufacturing, mining, construction, cleaning and hospitality.
“Forced labour, in particular, is part of a large global network, and is under-reported and under-investigated. Instances of forced labour occur when corrupt employers or recruiters exploit vulnerable workers,” Professor Kneebone said.
Professor Kneebone said some workers were more vulnerable due to unemployment, poverty, and cultural differences. Immigrants are particularly vulnerable and often forced into labour in other countries.
Professor Kneebone will discuss Australia's response to trafficking in a global context with emphasis on human rights protections of trafficked people.
“I think that in Australia, there needs to be proper acknowledgement of the United Nations Human Trafficking Protocol definition. It’s important to recognise that exploitation is more than just slavery or forced labour, and to actually identify and prosecute those responsible for exploitation,” Professor Kneebone said.
Professor Kneebone is co-author of Transnational Crime and Human Rights: Responses to Human Trafficking in the Greater Mekong Subregion. She is currently researching human trafficking in the Greater Mekong Sub-Region and intra-regional labour migration in South East Asia.
Director of Anti-Slavery Australia, Jennifer Burn, an associate professor at the University of Technology, Sydney, lawyer and migration agent, will discuss advancing the rights of people who have experienced human trafficking and extreme forms of exploitation.
The free public lecture, ‘Forced Labour and Human Trafficking: the Criminalisation of Labour Exploitation' will be held from 12:45- 2pm on Friday 17 May at the Monash University Law Chambers, 555 Lonsdale Street, Melbourne.
For further information or to rsvp, visit the Faculty of Law website.