Annotation:
This paper was prepared by the former UN Special Rapporteur on Violence Against Women, Radhika Coomaraswamy, for a high-level intergovernmental meeting of the Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific. She begins by discussing the nature of trafficking and the structural factors that push women to migrate. The lack of international consensus on the best approach to trafficking and the relationship between trafficking and prostitution are also examined. The paper ends by analyzing the responses of the international community, including the UN Trafficking Protocol as well as the national legislation and domestic policies of individual states. Women's personal trafficking experiences are also included. [Descriptors: Migration - Trafficking, International]