Human Trafficking & Modern-day Slavery Poverty drives the unsuspecting poor into the
hands of traffickers Published reports & articles from 2000 to 2025 gvnet.com/humantrafficking/Switzerland.htm
Switzerland is
primarily a destination and, to a lesser extent, a transit country for women
and children trafficked for the purposes of commercial sexual exploitation
and forced labor. One NGO reported that roughly 50 percent of the trafficking
victims counseled in Switzerland came from Eastern Europe; 27 percent were
from Latin America; 14 percent were from Asia; and the remaining nine percent
came from Africa. There is reportedly
forced labor in the domestic service sector. Trafficking of ethnic Roma minors,
who reportedly are brought from other European countries to various Swiss
cities to beg and commit petty theft, is a rising concern of Swiss
authorities. - U.S. State Dept Trafficking in Persons Report, June, 2009 Check out a later country report here and possibly a full TIP Report here |
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CAUTION: The following links
have been culled from the web to illuminate the situation in HOW TO USE THIS WEB-PAGE Students If you are looking
for material to use in a term-paper, you are advised to scan the postings on
this page and others to see which aspects of Human Trafficking are of
particular interest to you. Would you
like to write about Forced-Labor? Debt
Bondage? Prostitution? Forced Begging? Child Soldiers? Sale of Organs? etc. On the other
hand, you might choose to include precursors of trafficking such as poverty and hunger. There is a lot to
the subject of Trafficking. Scan other
countries as well. Draw comparisons
between activity in adjacent countries and/or regions. Meanwhile, check out some of the Term-Paper resources
that are available on-line. Teachers Check out some of
the Resources
for Teachers attached to this website. HELP for Victims FIZ Makasi
(NGO) ***
FEATURED ARTICLE *** Charity reveals
tragedy of forced marriages Adam Beaumont in www.swissinfo.ch/eng/Home/Archive/Charity_reveals_tragedy_of_forced_marriages.html?cid=5612814 [accessed 28 December
2010] www.swissinfo.ch/blueprint/servlet/eng/charity-reveals-tragedy-of-forced-marriages/5612814 [accessed 13 August
2020] Thousands of women
trapped in forced marriages in ***
ARCHIVES *** 255 cases of human
trafficking in Switzerland in 2019 SWI - Swissinfo.ch,
11 May 2020 www.swissinfo.ch/eng/rising-numbers_255-cases-of-human-trafficking-in-switzerland-in-2019/45752734 [accessed 12 May
2020] Last year marked a
record high number of cases of human trafficking in Switzerland, a support
group for female migrants reported on Monday. The “Advocacy and
Support for Migrant Women and Victims of Traffickingexternal
link” (FIZ) group said in its annual report that it recorded 255 cases in
2019, 169 of which involved women. The victims came
from countries including Nigeria, Hungary, Afghanistan, and Romania, and were
often destined for the prostitution industry, FIZ said. However, a growing
number are also being trafficked for work in private homes or the
accommodation sector. Human trafficking
remains a problem for Switzerland swissinfo.ch/mga 20 May 2019 [accessed 21 May
2019] A support group for
female migrants provided care for 108 new cases of human trafficking in
Switzerland last year. The “Advocacy and Support for Migrant Women and
Victims of Trafficking” (FIZ) service said 34 of the victims were asylum
seekers. Taken together with
the 113 ongoing consultations from previous years, FIZ says the number of
cases of women being trafficked into the country (many for prostitution)
remains high. In 2017, FIZ provided
support for 228 women. To combat the problem, FIZexternal
link has joined forces with Church groups to provide better care for the
victims. 2020 Country
Reports on Human Rights Practices: Switzerland U.S. Dept of State Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and
Labor, 30 March 2021 www.state.gov/reports/2020-country-reports-on-human-rights-practices/switzerland/
[accessed 27 June
2021] PROHIBITION OF
FORCED OR COMPULSORY LABOR According to antitrafficking NGOs who provided services to victims,
incidents of forced labor occurred primarily in the domestic-service,
catering, agriculture, tourism, hospitality, construction, and nursing
industries. Labor trafficking in the forms of forced begging, stealing, and
financial scams occurred in several cantons. PROHIBITION OF CHILD
LABOR AND MINIMUM AGE FOR EMPLOYMENT The government
effectively enforced laws and policies to protect children from exploitation
in the workplace. The Federal Department of Economic Affairs, Education, and Research monitored
the implementation of child labor laws and policies, and cantonal labor
inspectors effectively inspected companies to determine whether there were
violations of child labor laws. Cantonal inspectors strictly enforced these
provisions. Freedom House
Country Report 2020 Edition freedomhouse.org/country/switzerland/freedom-world/2020 [accessed 8 July
2020] G4. DO INDIVIDUALS
ENJOY EQUALITY OF OPPORTUNITY AND FREEDOM FROM ECONOMIC EXPLOITATION? Although the government
complies with international standards for combating human trafficking,
according to the 2019 edition of the US State Department’s Trafficking in
Persons Report, Switzerland remains a destination country for victims. Labor
regulations are generally enforced, but there is no national minimum wage,
and migrant workers are more vulnerable to exploitative labor practices and
dangerous working conditions. Findings on the
Worst Forms of Child Labor Office of Child Labor,
Forced Labor, and Human Trafficking, Bureau of International Labor Affairs,
US Dept of Labor www.dol.gov/agencies/ilab/resources/reports/child-labor/findings [accessed 20 January
2020] Note:: Also check out this country’s report in the more recent edition DOL
Worst Forms of Child Labor [Select Switzerland] The Department of
Labor's annual Findings on the Worst Forms of Child Labor focuses on the
efforts of certain U.S. trade beneficiary countries and territories to
eliminate the worst forms of child labor through legislation, enforcement
mechanisms, policies and social programs. Human trafficking
allegations involve Swiss diplomatic missions in Pakistan Canadian
Broadcasting Corporation CBC News, 19 May 2006 www.cbc.ca/world/story/2006/05/19/swiss05192006.html [accessed 28
December 2010] Switzerland shut the
visa section at its Islamabad embassy earlier this month, following a
Pakistani investigation into the illegal issuing of Swiss visas that has
led to a number of arrests. Swiss Envoys in IdslamOnline.net, slashnews.co.uk/news/2006/05/09/3551/Swiss-Envoys-in-Pakistan-Embroiled-in-Human-Trafficking [accessed 28
December 2010] The issue came to
the surface after local media started highlighting the plight of Pakistani
visa applicants who complained of sexual harassment by Swiss embassy
officials. Women’s groups
highlight cabaret club abuses Isobel Leybold in www.swissinfo.ch/eng/Home/Archive/Women_s_groups_highlight_cabaret_club_abuses.html?cid=3714668 [accessed 28
December 2010] Cabaret dancers in
Switzerland will still face violence and sexual exploitation, despite
attempts to improve their lot, according to women’s groups. About 1,200 women
come to the country a year, usually on short-term permits, to work in
Switzerland’s 400 cabaret clubs. But
at press conference in Zurich on Tuesday, ProKoRe, an umbrella group for
organisations lobbying for improved rights for sex workers, said that abuses
including dishonesty over pay, violence and sexual exploitation were still
rife. Concluding
Observations of the Committee on the Rights of the Child (CRC) UN Convention on the
Rights of the Child, 7 June 2002 www1.umn.edu/humanrts/crc/switzerland2002.html [accessed 28 December
2010] [36] The Committee
welcomes the entry into force of article 268(c) of the Civil Code which will
allow adoptive children to know their biological parents and the ratification
process expected to be completed in 2003 of the Hague Convention of 29 May
1993 on Protection of Children an Co-operation in respect of Inter-country
Adoption. However, the Committee remains concerned that children adopted
abroad shall wait two years before being formally adopted which can lead to
discrimination and statelessness. In addition, the Committee is concerned
that, because of the inadequate follow-up, cases of ill treatment of children
by adoptive parents have been reported. [52] While
welcoming the amendments to the Penal Code prohibiting the possession of
hard-core pornography, including child pornography and the establishment of a
new centre against cyber-crime in 2003, the Committee remains concerned at
the lack of knowledge about the scope of sexual exploitation of children, in
particular vulnerable groups, in the State party. ***
EARLIER EDITIONS OF SOME OF THE ABOVE *** Human Rights
Reports » 2005 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices U.S. Dept of State Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and
Labor, March 8, 2006 2009-2017.state.gov/j/drl/rls/hrrpt/2005/61678.htm [accessed 11
February 2020] TRAFFICKING
IN PERSONS
– Trafficking into the country is primarily performed by individuals and
small groups related through ethnic, clan, or family ties, as well as,
occasionally, organized criminals. Traffickers often forced victims into
prostitution and in many cases subjected them to physical and sexual
violence, threatened them or their families, encouraged drug addiction,
withheld their documents, and incarcerated them. Many victims were forced to
work in salons or clubs to pay for travel expenses and forged documents and found
themselves dependent on the traffickers. Generally the victims were unable to
read, write, or speak the country's languages and were afraid to seek help
from the authorities. All
material used herein reproduced under the fair use exception of 17 USC § 107
for noncommercial, nonprofit, and educational use. PLEASE RESPECT COPYRIGHTS OF COMPONENT
ARTICLES. Cite this webpage as: Patt,
Prof. Martin, "Human Trafficking & Modern-day Slavery - |
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