Meeting the health needs of trafficked persons

doi:10.1136/bmj.b3326

Published 26 August 2009, doi:10.1136/bmj.b3326
Cite this as: BMJ 2009;339:b3326

Editorials

Meeting the health needs of trafficked persons

International guidance provides advice on safe and appropriatetreatment

The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below.

In April 2009, the Council of Europe Convention on Action againstTrafficking in Human Beings came into force in the United Kingdom.¹The convention requires the state to provide minimum standardsof care, including medical services, to all people identifiedas "trafficked." Meeting the needs and protecting the safetyof such people can be a challenge for doctors.

Human trafficking involves the movement of people by force,coercion, or deception into situations of exploitation.² Traffickedpersons are often subjected to physical violence, sexual abuse,psychological violence, and severe deprivation. Traffickingof women and girls for sexual exploitation receives the greatestattention, but men, women, and children are also traffickedand exploited in, for example, agriculture, construction, contractcleaning, and domestic service.³ Usually, trafficked personsagree to a job opportunity and are misled about their pay, work,conditions, or repayment obligations, and they find themselvesin situations akin to "slavery."⁴

Globally, . . . [Full text of this article]

Cathy Zimmerman, lecturer¹, Siân Oram, research degree student¹, Rosilyne Borland, HIV and health promotion coordinator², Charlotte Watts, professor¹

¹ London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, London WC1E 7HT , ² International Organization for Migration, CH-1211, Geneva 19, Switzerland

sian.oram@lshtm.ac.uk