Abstract
Protecting the Rights of Trafficked Women in the United Arab Emirates: A Critical Assessment of UAE’s Obligations under International, Regional and Domestic Legal Frameworks
Ayesha Shahid and Humaid Al Bannai*
Abstract
Human trafficking is an intractable crime that involves commercial sex exploitation, servitude, rape, violence, and forced labour. Human trafficking equally involves trade in human organs as well as other labour or services in which human beings can be cruelly exploited. Trafficking in women for sexual exploitation, or sex trafficking, is the fastest growing underground service industry in the modern global market. Countries of origin and destination neglect victims of human trafficking. Trafficked victims are silenced and often remain hidden from the public glare and suffer human rights abuses. Women from developing countries are trapped into trafficking and end up as victims of forced prostitution in countries in the West or the Middle East. The United Arab Emirates (UAE) is a destination for migrant workers predominantly from South and Southeast Asian countries, trafficked for the purposes of labour and sexual exploitation. UAE acknowledges the existence of human trafficking as a problem. The common scenario for trafficked women in UAE is that they are promised illusionary job positions, but they end up working in prostitution dens without their consent. This paper examines the trafficking of women to UAE, through the lens of human rights-based approach and Islamic perspectives on slavery. Using this approach, this paper questions the efficacy of UAE’s legal response in providing protection to trafficked women and identifies the human rights violations that occur throughout the trafficking cycle.
Keywords: Sex Trafficking, Women Victims, UAE, UAE Federal Law 51
Ayesha Shahid and Humaid Al Bannai*
Abstract
Human trafficking is an intractable crime that involves commercial sex exploitation, servitude, rape, violence, and forced labour. Human trafficking equally involves trade in human organs as well as other labour or services in which human beings can be cruelly exploited. Trafficking in women for sexual exploitation, or sex trafficking, is the fastest growing underground service industry in the modern global market. Countries of origin and destination neglect victims of human trafficking. Trafficked victims are silenced and often remain hidden from the public glare and suffer human rights abuses. Women from developing countries are trapped into trafficking and end up as victims of forced prostitution in countries in the West or the Middle East. The United Arab Emirates (UAE) is a destination for migrant workers predominantly from South and Southeast Asian countries, trafficked for the purposes of labour and sexual exploitation. UAE acknowledges the existence of human trafficking as a problem. The common scenario for trafficked women in UAE is that they are promised illusionary job positions, but they end up working in prostitution dens without their consent. This paper examines the trafficking of women to UAE, through the lens of human rights-based approach and Islamic perspectives on slavery. Using this approach, this paper questions the efficacy of UAE’s legal response in providing protection to trafficked women and identifies the human rights violations that occur throughout the trafficking cycle.
Keywords: Sex Trafficking, Women Victims, UAE, UAE Federal Law 51
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Publication status | In preparation - 2019 |
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- General Social Sciences
- Law
