Displacement

Another role that women play in human trafficking that is often overlooked is that of perpetrators, organizers and mobilizers of trafficking. We have worked on exposing numerous small organized operations led by women who prey on the most destitute segments of society — such as those living in IDP camps — and go to IDP communities with the promise of employment, food, clothing and anything else to draw in the desperate. The most worrisome part of human trafficking in Somalia is that, because of the conflict, people are not even aware of the real risk and how to protect themselves and their children from it. Because of weak governance, the south and central regions of Somalia are now used as transit routes for international trafficking, while other parts of the country are regions of destination, transit and origin for victims of international human trafficking, as well as local trafficking between the regions.