China’s Ministry of Public Security has launched a special campaign from March 1 to December 31 to crack down on the trafficking of women and children. A teleconference was held by the public security organs across the country on Wednesday for the deployment of the special action throughout the year.
The campaign comes after the tragic case of a trafficked woman in the city of Xuzhou, East China’s Jiangsu Province, and several other recent women trafficking related cases sparked a huge wave of controversy in China and forged strong public voice calling for authorities and the society to crack down on crimes of human trafficking.
The ministry said the campaign will be an “important task” for them in 2022, vowing to severely punish the criminals involved in kidnapping and trafficking women and children. The ministry will also focus on rescuing the victims.
The investigation work will especially focus on women and children with intellectual impairments, mental illness, physical disabilities and those who are vagrants and beggars on streets with unknown origin, said the ministry.
The work will be jointly conducted with local communities, orphanage, some rescue institutions, health commissions and women’s federations to screen out the clues of the trafficking crimes, it said.
A sound reporting mechanism will also be established to mobilize the whole society to expose and report human trafficking. For suspected abductees and those seeking their biological parents, DNA and other key information should be collected as soon as possible to support solving these cases.
The ministry vowed to fundamentally eradicate the ground for breeding the crimes of trafficking and establish an integrated working mechanism to prevent and crack down on the crimes, and provide timely assistance and resettlement for the victims. Ministry of Civil Affairs, the National Health Commission and the All-China Women’s Federation also raised requirements for relevant work.
Human trafficking crimes have been effectively curbed in recent years through the efforts of China’s Ministry of Public Security. In 2021, the cases of trafficking in women and children dropped by 88.3 percent, compared with that in 2013. In particularly, the number of cases of children being stolen or robbed is less than 20 every year on average, said the ministry.
Crimes of human trafficking in China were high in the 90’s, but the actions to crack down on such crimes still need to be strengthened nowadays, it said.
The victim, a woman surnamed Yang, of a human trafficking case in Xuzhou, East China’s Jiangsu Province, receives treatment in hospital. Photo: A screenshot from Sina Weibo
