Time for action to fight human trafficking, but how?
A police car was passing the infamous red light district in Wanchai
An average person in society would never imagine that human trafficking exists in Hong Kong. With limited public attention, there is minimal discussion on whether stronger anti–trafficking laws and measures should be enforced.
In the Trafficking in Persons Report (TIP) by the United States (US) government, Hong Kong’s rating was downgraded to the Tier 2 Watch List, which is considered to be on par with developing countries such as Thailand, Cuba and Sri Lanka last year. Hong Kong was lowered from Tier 1 to Tier 2 in 2009, suggesting a gradual decline in recent years.
Apart from stating the city as a destination and transit place for human trafficking, it also urges the government to enact a comprehensive anti–trafficking law in line with the 2000 United Nations (UN) Palermo Protocol, and proactively identify and protect both sex and labour trafficking victims.
Hong Kong’s Security Bureau rejects the city’s rating in the report and insists that contemporary laws are sufficient to cope with the issue.
The current law defines human trafficking as the movement of people coming or leaving Hong Kong for prostitution, a criminal offence punishable with 10 years’ imprisonment.
Anti - trafficking law or not?
A typical Friday night in Wan Chai red light district
“The government is in denial, despite the lowering of its status in the latest US anti-trafficking report,” Grenville Cross, the former director of public prosecution in Hong Kong and a criminal justice analyst, comments.
He says, “our anti-trafficking laws are outdated, and in need of modernisation”, adding that there is a pressing need for authorities to proactively identify sex trafficking victims among vulnerable populations, such as mainland Chinese, migrants, and domestic workers.
In an article from South China Morning Post, Cross refers to the Modern Slavery Act 2015 implemented by the British government as a good model of a comprehensive anti–trafficking law should be implemented in the Hong Kong government.
The legislation emphasises the prevention and prosecution of human trafficking and the protection of victims. Under the act, the maximum sentence for human trafficking is raised from 14 years’ imprisonment to life.
In the same article, Cross asserts that the act consolidates all the laws used to prosecute people who traffick others, which is lacking in Hong Kong, where a piecemeal approach is no longer justifiable.
However, Mark Kielsgard, an associate professor of law at City University of Hong Kong, has a different view. “The Hong Kong government tends to ignore the issue as it is not particularly reported and the status quo assumes there is no problem, meaning the government departments are living up to their responsibility,” he says.
Regarding the anti–trafficking law, Kielsgard suggests many countries have blurred the line between prostitution and human trafficking. He says Sweden has been combating human trafficking by criminalising the purchase of sex, in other words, placing the legal responsibility on the customers instead of the sex workers.
Now France, Norway, Iceland, Northern Ireland, Canada and recently Dáil, have adopted the same legislation.
Sex worker groups were protesting against the new law established last year in Ireland. Photo: The Journals
Archana Kotecha, head of the legal section at Liberty Asia, a regional institute battling against trafficking, criticises this legal model. She thinks it does not solve the root of the problem, but just moves the sexual activity to other neighboring countries.
“Even though the purpose of the law is not to criminalise the women [sex workers], it has stigmatised them horribly,” she affirms. For example, some landlords refuse to rent properties to sex workers even when it is just for living and it has become increasingly difficult for sex workers to access services of sexual health clinics.
Setting aside the consideration of the suitability of the Swedish model to HK, Kotecha says there is much the Hong Kong government can do to improve on its existing counter- trafficking efforts.
“The first step would be to adopt a more comprehensive anti-trafficking law in HK that is in line with international standards and in keeping with types of issues affecting vulnerable groups in HK,” she says.
Without a comprehensive and holistic legal definition of human trafficking, the government and other front line responders fall short in recognising and identifying victims of different forms of trafficking, according to Kotecha. Due to lack of a comprehensive definition, police training could be less inclusive and as a result, the victims are at higher risk of being criminalised and deported.
“If you don’t have laws, the police will say what I am exactly looking for. So it all stands from the lack of laws. And that’s where you have victim protection issues and identification issues,” Kotecha adds.
Another obstacle is the reluctance of non–governmental organisations (NGOs) that work for sex workers to engage in this subject. The concern of the NGOs is that tightening anti–trafficking laws would restrict sex workers’ rights to work legally in Hong Kong. Kotecha says that is the reason why they are silent on the issue.
“You can do anti-trafficking works and you can still very much protect the right of sex workers. They are not mutually exclusive. It is a shame that this is the way it is,” she adds.
In the reply email of our enquiry, Zi Teng and Midnight Blue, NGOs providing support for sex workers, refused to comment and clarify that they are not working on the sex trafficking issue, whilst another organisation, JJJ association has not responded to our email inquiry.
Government responsibility
It is one thing to raise awareness in various NGOs to fight against sex trafficking, but to fully deal with the problem, the government has to take up more responsibility.
Tina Chan, the project manager at STOP, a frontline anti – trafficking organisation, expressed that there are no components of victim protection under the current legislative framework.
Chan says that they fail to gain access to shelters and medical and psychological supports provided by the Hong Kong government, for example, Po Leung Kuk, Tung Wah Group of Hospitals. These services require a Hong Kong identity card for registration.
“Without the anti–trafficking law, there are no special visa issued for the victims to stay in Hong Kong temporarily,” says Chan.
"English-Cantonese glossary of human trafficking terms" published by STOP to educate the public on human trafficking
In March of this year, the Security Bureau revealed more details of counter trafficking measures in a Legislative Council document.
It mentioned that the Police and Immigration Department put in place an enhanced mechanism for screening and identifying potential trafficking victims since last year, and the Customs and Excise Department is adapting the enhanced mechanism this year. Apart from providing shelter, financial assistance, medical and psychological services, the government will grant visa extensions and waive the visa fees for victims who need to stay in Hong Kong for legal proceedings.
The document shows that over 1,000 law enforcement officers, prosecutors, and Labour Department and Social Welfare Department officers received training on human trafficking last year. These “specialised training worksh0ps” are conducted by experts from the European Union, Liberty Asia, and the Mekong Club.
Matt Friedman, the chief executive officer of the Mekong Club, confirms that he has been offering trainings to mainly the police officers and prosecutors that deal with forced labour and sex trafficking. During the trainings, he also provides the most updated information on human trafficking across Asia.
Legislator, Dennis Kwok Wing–hang, comments on the government policy and says, “sporadic legal protection cannot facilitate identification of victims and culprits at this moment. It also fails to deter acts of human trafficking and forced labour.”
He adds that the government is very reluctant to introduce a comprehensive legislation on human trafficking, but he will continue to push for it on this front.
