The trafficking of women and girls in Taiwan: characteristics of victims, perpetrators, and forms of exploitation

Lanying Huang

doi:10.1186/s12905-017-0463-2

Abstract

BackgroundPrior to the passing of 2009 Human Trafficking Prevention Act (HTPA), human trafficking was underestimated in Taiwan. In the past, domestic trafficking in women and girls often targeted vulnerable groups such as young girls from poor families or minority groups. Since the 1990s, an increasing flow of immigrant women, mainly from Vietnam and Indonesia and some from China, into Taiwan has created a new group of Human Trafficking victims. The current study intends to identify, describe, and categorize reported and prosecuted human trafficking cases involving women and girls according to the HTPA in Taiwan.MethodsUsing the court proceedings of prosecuted trafficking in women and girls cases under Taiwan’s HTPA from all 21 districts in Taiwan from 2009 to 2012 under the title keyword of ‘Human Trafficking’, this current study aims to categorize different patterns of existing trafficking in women and girls in Taiwan. The analysis is based on 37 court cases, involving 195 victimized women and girls and 118 perpetrators.ResultsThis study identifies six forms of Human Trafficking victims according to their country of origin, vulnerability status, and means of transport. This study found that women and girls suffer from both labor and sexual exploitation, from mainly domestic male perpetrators. While sexual exploitation is more evenly distributed among citizens and immigrants and affects both adults and minors, labor exploitation seems to be an exclusive phenomenon among women immigrant workers in the data.ConclusionsHuman Trafficking cases in Taiwan share many of the similarities of Human Trafficking in other regions, which are highly associated with gender inequality and gender-based vulnerability.

Highlights

Prior to the passing of 2009 Human Trafficking Prevention Act (HTPA), human trafficking was underestimated in Taiwan
According to the Legislative Yuan, Taiwan HTPA endorsed the spirit of both Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children, and the US’s TVPA (Trafficked Victims Prevention Act)
Patterns of reported Human trafficking (HT) in Taiwan Prosecuted cases of HT among women and girl victims under the HTPA in Taiwan are dominated by sexual exploitation of women and girls, which aligns with previous literature [1, 2]

Summary

Introduction

Prior to the passing of 2009 Human Trafficking Prevention Act (HTPA), human trafficking was underestimated in Taiwan. In early days, trafficking in women and girls in Taiwan, e.g. adopted daughters between families in Taiwan in the 1970s and sexually trafficked aboriginal girls in Taiwan in the 1980s, were seriously underestimated since the victims were from minority or disadvantaged groups [6]. These women and girls were the hidden victims of sexual and/or labor exploitation who received little help from the authorities because they were from poor families with little social capital

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Conclusion