The Yemeni government made limited progress in protecting human trafficking victims over the past year and generally failed to identify traffickers, says a new report by the US Department of State.
"The government did not employ procedures for proactively identifying victims of sex trafficking among high-risk groups and lacked a formalized victim referral process," it said.
The report said Yemen had made progress in preventing child labour trafficking through educational campaigns but “did not make efforts to prevent sex trafficking of children or adults".
Khalid al-Anisi, executive director of the National Organization for Defending Rights and Freedoms, said poverty and a weak legislature were to blame: "Poverty forces families to send their children to work in risky environments where they become victims of sexual abuse… The government needs to amend its relevant legislation to ensure maximum protection for citizens," he told IRIN.
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"The government did not employ procedures for proactively identifying victims of sex trafficking among high-risk groups and lacked a formalized victim referral process," it said.
The report said Yemen had made progress in preventing child labour trafficking through educational campaigns but “did not make efforts to prevent sex trafficking of children or adults".
Khalid al-Anisi, executive director of the National Organization for Defending Rights and Freedoms, said poverty and a weak legislature were to blame: "Poverty forces families to send their children to work in risky environments where they become victims of sexual abuse… The government needs to amend its relevant legislation to ensure maximum protection for citizens," he told IRIN.
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This article was produced by IRIN News while it was part of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Please send queries on copyright or liability to the UN. For more information: https://shop.un.org/rights-permissions
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