Add us as your preferred source on Google to see more of our content in Search.
Add to Preferred SourcesTrafficking in vulnerable women, especially to go abroad, is a significant issue here – as it is in many low-income countries.
The problem’s dimensions here are as bad as anywhere. Madagascar is both a source and a destination of victims of trafficking (VoTs). According to research by the International Organization for Migration (IOM) and its partners, women are particularly vulnerable and subjected to sex trafficking and forced labor in the domestic sector within the country. Thousands of Malagasy women are employed as domestic workers in Lebanon, Kuwait, and Saudi Arabia. Hundreds of Malagasy women are sent by persons acting as informal placement agents on the false pretense of legitimate work to China and end up exploited in forced labor and sold as brides.
That’s why earlier this month IOM launched a six-month initiative to promote human rights and empower Malagasy women victims of trafficking in persons (TiP).
VoTs in Madagascar are almost exclusively women (95% of identified VoTs), and mostly young women (56% aged 29, or less). When identified, these victims show grave signs of physical and psychological trauma related to the forms of exploitation that constitute the crime of trafficking, with nearly half reporting physical and sexual abuse, as well as economic hardship.
Through this new initiative, funded by the Government of Australia through its Direct Aid Program (DAP), IOM will be able to provide emergency medical and psychosocial care, in addition to supporting the empowerment of referred VoTs through tailored grants that can cover education or vocational training, or the implementation of income-generating activity. IOM will also support and engage national TiP stakeholders through a high-level, one-day roundtable to contribute to fill a gap in expertise and know-how on the sustainable social and economic reintegration of women VoTs.
“We are very grateful for Australia’s commitment and glad to see more partners and friends of Madagascar joining the fight against trafficking in persons in Madagascar,” noted Daniel Silva y Poveda, IOM Madagascar Chief of Mission.
Original source: IOM
Published on 22 February 2019