Topic: 2024-Indiscriminate Weapons
Country: Venezuela
Delegate Name: Eddie Wuerthele
The origins of human trafficking go way back to the 16th century where Europe, Africa, and the Americas partook in the Triangular Trade. Over 400 years later, human trafficking continues to be a worldwide problem. Human trafficking is the illegal act of acquiring, selling, or purchasing individuals through methods of force, fraud, or deception for the purpose of exploitation or profit. Unfortunately, there are many people around the world who enjoy coercing individuals into commercial sex, forced labor, involuntary servitude, among other examples. The UN has taken steps towards limiting the effects of human trafficking through methods such as the 2000 Palermo Protocol. This protocol was designed to: Prevent human trafficking, particularly women and children; protect and assist victims of such trafficking, with full respect to their human rights; and promote cooperation among nations in order to meet those objectives. While the idea behind the Palermo protocol is right-minded, the effectiveness has been limited, leading to the realization that other systems must be put into place.
The Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela acknowledges the severity of this issue, as it has been affected by the amount of trafficking within the country and between borders of neighboring countries. Over 7.7 million Venezuelans have fled the country do to crises including the trafficking crisis and the economic crisis. 60-80% of those migrants are women and children. In response, Venezuela has ratified multiple pieces of legislation, including the Palermo protocol, CEDAW (Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women), and the 2007 Organic Law on the Right of Women to a Life Free of Violence (LOMPVLV). LOMPVLV was put into place to punish acts of violence against women in Venezuela to help ensure gender equality. Venezuela has also expressed support towards the UN Global Plan of Action to Combat Trafficking in Persons, a plan dedicated to global coordination towards the prevention of human trafficking. All of these pieces of legislation dictate that human trafficking is punishable under Venezuela’s penal code.
While the delegation of Venezuela agrees that systems must be put into place to mitigate the amount of human trafficking, it believes that the best solution would be allocate funding to each country in need, so that each country can resolve the problem nationally, as each country understands their situation the best. Venezuela has been working towards limiting human trafficking and funding would be markedly appreciated, specifically towards victim protection and training programs for police revolving around the enforcement of trafficking. The delegation of Venezuela, keeping privacy and national sovereignty in mind, is willing to collaborate with other delegations to determine the allocation of resources to prevent human trafficking.
