Social, Humanitarian, and Cultural Committee

Pureunsaem Kim, Director

Hi, my name is Pureunsaem Kim (I go by Saem) and I will be directing the Social, Cultural and Humanitarian Committee at HMUN 2012. I’m a junior at Harvard, studying English with a citationin French. The topics for this year’s conference are two areas of human trafficking: child sex trafficking and organ trafficking. I came across the issue last summer when I worked at a NGO in Lao PDR on an anti-human trafficking project, and it still remains close to my heart. I hope you find the topics interesting and engaging as well, not just on the academic, intellectual level but also on the personal, emotional level. Human trafficking is a very complex problem, one that stands at a cross-section of society, culture, and humanitarian field. That being said, I hope you will read through the study guide, which lays out the basics of the issue, and do further research as you see necessary. Both child sex trafficking and organ trafficking evolve in unexpected ways regarding their means, ends and processes. I am truly looking forward to your creative and insightful inputs! As one of the larger committees, SOCHUM will provide you with the chance to interact with delegates with diverse perspectives. The debates will be varied while focused, and you can expect visits and testimonies from the parties involved in the topics.

Looking forward to meeting you in person,

Sincerely,

Pureunsaem (Saem) Kim

email Saem at sochum@harvardmun.org

Topic Area Summaries

Topic Area A: Organ Trafficking
Andre was in a financial trouble when a Turkish man visited his village and offered a large amount of money for his kidney. He agreed, and travelled to Turkey, where he was placed in a lodge for the night to go to a clinic next day for the operation. He lost consciousness, and when he woke up, he found his kidney gone. Andre reported the case to Turkish police, but they simply deported him back; he reported the case to the local police, but due to lack of clear information, there was little to be done. He subsequently called a Hotline to obtain help in locating the Turkish broker, and was upset that he had been cheated out of the money.

Andre’s case is a stereotypical ‘urban myth’ of organ trafficking. Such stories of illicit clinics, corrupt doctors and global networks are very grim. International organ trafficking is a big business, with an estimated value of $50m in 2008. The World Health Organization estimated in 2007 that organ trafficking accounts between five and 10 percent of kidney transplants worldwide; in 2010 the figure was between 10 to 20 percent. Nevertheless, it is difficult to obtain accurate data due to the lack of visibility. Much information on media is based on anecdotes and speculation.

Under the United Nations Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children, trafficking for organs occurs when a third party recruits, transports, transfers, harbors, or receives a person for the purpose of removing the person’s organ(s). The means used can be threats, force, coercion, abduction, fraud, deception, or abuse of authority or a position of vulnerability. When children are concerned, the mere act of organ removal by a third party is enough to be identified as organ trafficking; there is no need for deception or coercion.

The demand for human organs continue to grow thanks to increasing life spans, better diagnosis of organ failure and improved surgeries that can be performed safely. The emergence of powerful anti-rejection drugs means that organ donor does not need to be an immediate family member anymore, adding to the demand. The supply from organ donations is limited, and the waiting line can be long. The supply from organ trafficking continues in part because there is profit to be made- the poor can reportedly earn between $3000 to $15,000 for selling their organs, and the middlemen can resell them to wealthy buyers for up to $200,000.

From the above-mentioned UN Trafficking Protocol to WHO’s Guiding Principles on human organ transplantation, the international community has been trying to pin down organ trafficking. The main goal of the committee would be to analyze these international and related national or regional efforts, amend or propose new policies as needed, and plan ahead as the advances in technology and medicine reshape organ trafficking. The emergence of Internet, for example, has led many to buy and sell organs online through websites.

Approach the issue from your country’s standpoint, and the same questions apply here as they do to child sex trafficking: Who are the traffickers and victims? Why are they involved and what creates the demand? What means are used? Which area is most affected and is your country a source or a destination? Then compare your country’s situation to that of the world, and draw on the overlapping factors to devise a common policy.

Topic B: Child Sex Trafficking

At the age of 13, Margarita was sold into sex slavery by her mother and stepfather. She was taken across the border to Greece by foot, and then to a hotel in Central Athens where she was brutally abused, forced into sexual servitude and eventually arrested during a police raid. She was pregnant, had no documentation, and had been in prison for months before an NGO discovered and rescued her. She was then put into a shelter for trafficked victims.

In another case, an 11-year-old-girl disappeared and returned after 7 months. A man in his thirties befriended her, and then kidnapped her after having built up the trust. She was kept as a sex slave in an apartment in East Side of New York City, and was abused by several men. She managed to escape after calling her grandmother and creeping out of the apartment while her kidnapper was asleep.

These are stories of just two out of the estimated 2 million children who are sexually exploited. An estimated 1.2 million children are trafficked each year; between 50 and 60 percent of children who are trafficked into sexual slavery are under age 16. Scale-wise, human trafficking is the second largest organized crime in the world, and about $9.5 billion is generated as annual revenue from all trafficking activities, including the $4 billion from the worldwide brothel industry.

Child sex trafficking is the recruitment, harboring, transportation, provision, or obtaining of a person for the purpose of a commercial sex act, where the person is under age 18. The means involved include force, fraud, or coercion. The United Nations has been actively fighting against child sex trafficking, as exhibited by The Protocol to Prevent, Suppress & Punish Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women & Children, and the Optional Protocol on the sale of children, child prostitution, and child pornography that supplements the Convention on the Rights of the Child. Numerous NGOs and GOs have played a major role in the struggle against child sex trafficking, through both legal and non-legal measures.

Yet the problem remains, and grows stronger. The goal of this committee is to analyze the current efforts in terms of their reach and effectiveness, amend them accordingly or develop new policies and plan their implementation. Child sex trafficking is an issue that is at once global and regional. Analyze how child sex trafficking occurs in your country- with respect to who, why, how and where. Who are the traffickers and victims? Why are they involved and what creates the demand? What means are used to traffick children? Which area is most affected and is your country a source or a destination? Then compare your country’s situation to that of the world, and draw on the overlapping factors to devise a common policy.

Click here for this committee’s background guide (password required).