ID with Special Rapporteur on trafficking in persons, especially women and children
Südwind appreciates your endeavors concerning human trafficking. Strategies are needed to address the root causes of human trafficking. Due to its geographical location, the Islamic Republic of Iran is both a transit and a destination country as well as a country of origin for victims of trafficking. As we stated in Südwind’s last year’s report, 54 Iranian women between the ages of 16 to 25 are being sold on a daily basis in Pakistan’s Karachi alone. The estimated number of runaway girls in Iran is at least 300,000, many of whom turn to addiction and prostitution. There are specific vulnerability factors for women and girls that lead them to become trafficking victims such as poverty, drug addiction, sexual abuse, forced marriages as well as divorce. Iranian women and girls are being trafficked to Pakistan, Turkey, Persian Gulf Countries, Iraq, Malaysia, France, Germany and the United Kingdom for commercial sexual exploitation. 70% of the Afghan victims that are trafficked to Iran are boys that are mostly exploited for domestic work, retail and agriculture. More than six percent of them are exploited for sex trafficking and more than 19 percent for distribution and selling of drugs. The victims of human trafficking in Iran are arrested, prosecuted, and punished on charges of prostitution or adultery. Despite issuing a standing invitation to all UN Special Procedures in 2002, Iran has repeatedly rebuffed requests by Rapporteurs to visit the country since 2005. In addition, despite not answering the visit requests of Ahmed Shaheed, the special Rapporteur on human rights in Iran, we ask you to request an invitation to visit the country.
