Henan Government Offices and Women's Federation Jointly Fight Human Trafficking

Provincial police, courts, and the women's federation in Henan province began a coordinated attack on domestic violence and human trafficking, according to a July 27 Jinbao Net report. The Chinese government has adopted anti-trafficking laws and regulations since 1986, but the problem continues to grow. Public security officials reported in early 2005 that abduction of victims for sale is still on the rise, and now involves more violence, larger criminal gangs, and sale of victims across international borders. In addition to abducting women for sale as wives and children for illegal adoption, gangs now abduct people for forced labor and prostitution.

The government has focused on top-down measures to control human trafficking, passing criminal laws to punish traffickers and giving public security bureaus the chief responsibility for suppressing trafficking. In March 2005, a lawyer from the Beijing University Law School's Women's Law Center said in a speech that the state's effort to reduce human trafficking in China will not succeed without better government coordination with the NGOs that provide legal assistance to trafficking victims, according to Women's Watch-China. The lawyer noted that NGOs such as the Women's Law Center can strengthen anti-trafficking efforts by empowering victims to sue their traffickers for compensation, or by helping them get custody of children they may have been forced to leave behind when escaping from trafficking gangs.