Introduction:

In the Pacific region, lack of understanding about human trafficking combined with “the tyranny of geography” contribute to the crime going undetected there, a UN expert has said.

Benjamin Smith is Regional Coordinator with the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) which works to stamp out human trafficking, whose victims are mainly poor women and girls forced, tricked or coerced into the sex trade, domestic servitude and other forms of exploitation.

Julia Dean at the UN Information Centre in Canberra spoke to Mr. Smith during his recent visit to Australia.

He began by explaining why human trafficking is a misunderstood issue in the Pacific.