CAIRO - Human trafficking is the third-largest illegal trade in the world, following trading in weapons and drugs. It causes a headache for people in Egypt and many other countries. This headache was discussed at a recent meeting in Cairo, attended by experts who came to find ways to put an end to human trafficking. A United Nations special report on human trafficking has identified common forms of trafficking in Egypt, including trafficking for the purpose of sexual exploitation of underage girls in poor villages, via ‘seasonal/temporary' marriage and prostitution. Among the experts at the meeting were Nagwa Khalil, the head of the National Centre for Psychology and Criminology; Azza Soliman, Board Chairwoman of the Women's Issues Centre; Salem Abdel-Gelil, Undersecretary of the Ministry of Endowments; and Mai Samir, Board Chairwoman of ‘El-Malak el-Sagher' (Young Angel) Association. "There must be a law that criminalises the trafficking of daughters by their parents," Mai said. The participants called upon the Egyptian Government to punish parents, who force their female children to get married against their will for the sake of money. Females in small villages, particularly young ones, are often married off to wealthy Arabs ��" usually against their will ��" and their parents get well paid for this. "Such marriages don't conform to Islam or Egyptian Law," Abdel-Gelil said. "Marriage in Islam doesn't mean business or profit-making; it means creating a family to establish a community," he added. Women and children have become victims of forced labour and sexual exploitation, while many are victims of other forms of trafficking, including commercial sexual exploitation, early marriage, sex tourism and domestic servitude. In 2007, there were 40,000 cases of summer, business and tourism marriages, which resulted in the birth of 150,000 illegitimate children, according to an Egyptian study. "Poverty and illiteracy are the main reasons for this kind of marriage," said Azza of the Woman Issues Centre. "We have to warn people of the long-term dangers; for example, many children, born of such ‘marriages', don't know who their legal fathers are.” Egypt tops the list of Arab countries when it comes to so-called marriage tourism, according to a study published by Paris' Sorbonne University in 2009. "The authorities concerned, along with the Government and NGOs, must increase people's awareness of the harms of early marriage," Azza continued. "Psychology and religious support are very important for solving this problem.” Sexual exploitation in Egypt is hidden behind the guise of common law marriage or ‘summer marriage', which brokers promote for money. According to the Trafficking Report 2010, Egypt, issued by the US Department of State, there is a growing trend for the sexual and economic exploitation of young girls by their parents and brokers, who execute marriages popularly known as ‘seasonal/temporary' marriages. Azza, who works for a local NGO campaigning for the rights of women, has met many girls, who got married to wealthy Arabs, and the girls' parents. One of the girls she met was only 12; her father wanted her to marry a wealthy Arab because the lack of security in the small villages of Fayoum made him anxious about his daughter. He, therefore, arranged for her to marry an Arab man. "The problem is not a small one," Azza added. "We have to deal with it. We mustn't shy away from it.”
