JULY 12 — The United States’s Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons in its 2015 report retained Malaysia on its Tier-2 Watch List ranking. This ranking means that based on the Trafficking Victims Protection Act 2000 (a US law), "Malaysia does not meet the minimum standards but is making significant efforts to do so”.

Whilst the debate will rage on as to whether the ranking was too high, too low or just right, what often seems to be more problematic is that people do not know what human trafficking is.

Is a human trafficking victim the same as a refugee? Does it involve undocumented migrants? How about stateless people? Is it about sex slaves? Is it about prostitution or forced begging? What is the connection with holding or confiscating domestic workers (maids) passports? Is it the same or is there a link with people smuggling? These are just some questions and interrelated issues which blur the lines.

The Anti-Trafficking of Persons and Anti-Smuggling of Migrants Act 2007, our law, states that "trafficking in persons means all actions involved in acquiring or maintaining the labour or services of a person through coercion, and includes the act of recruiting, conveying, transferring, harbouring, providing or receiving a person for the purposes of this Act”.

Is that clear? I suspect for most people it is not.

Instead of all those words, may I suggest a working definition; human trafficking is where and when a perpetrator uses force, fraud or coercion to control a victim to obtain labour, services or human organs.

Even though this is such a simple definition, most of us will not be able to use it to identify a victim of human trafficking until we have a clear picture or example in our mind. One of the best sources of mental pictures can be drawn from fairy tales. Let’s use Cinderella and Rapunzel. What do these two characters have in common? The answer is that they are both victims of human trafficking.

I’ll use the working definition and the two stories to illustrate.

In Cinderella’s story, the stepmother and her daughters were the perpetrator who forced Cinderella to be their slave-housekeeper and do everything they wanted without pay. The stepmother benefitted from Cinderella’s labour in a situation where Cinderella had no ability to escape.

In Rapunzel’s story, the stepmother was the perpetrator who deceived Rapunzel to make sure that she would not leave the tower. The stepmother could use the magic in Rapunzel’s hair to stay young and beautiful. Rapunzel, without chains or bars was deceived into believing that her tower was a fortress against evils outside but in reality, it was a jail tower. The stepmother intentionally benefited from that whilst Rapunzel remained a slave to these deceptions.

These fairy tales end well with the age old phrase, "they lived happily ever after”. But for the 30 million modern-day slaves worldwide, their fate, at best remains bleak.

How do you spot and help a "Cinderella or a Rapunzel”, the victim in the real world? How do you spot an "evil stepmother” ie the perpetrator?

Since most victims of human trafficking in Malaysia are foreign workers, look for these indicators of victimisation; poor physical health, confiscated passports, restriction of movement, compulsory overtime, no rest days or days off.

If you are an employer and want to avoid the risk of being prosecuted for modern-day slavery, do not confiscate passports of workers, do not restrict their movements, do not force or coerce them to work and pay them what is due under the law.

So if you think that there is a "Cinderella or Rapunzel” that needs help, you may call 999 to conduct a rescue or an NGO for help or more information so that they, the victims may have a chance to be free and to "live happily ever after”.

* Daniel Lo is Special Officer (Human Rights) to Senator Datuk Paul Low, Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department.

** This is the personal opinion of the writer and does not necessarily represent the views of Malay Mail Online.