Human Trafficking: Possible Causes and Examples - Research Paper Example

Human Trafficking By HUMAN TRAFFICKING Introduction Human trafficking refers to the process of transfer, recruitment, receipt of persons or harbouring of persons via force, issuance of threats and other additional forms of fraud, abduction, coercion and deception. Moreover, human trafficking can be aided by people abusing their power and taking advantage of the vulnerable in society in order to receive money or payments. Additionally, a person can be involved in human trafficking so as to primarily benefit from being able to control anther individual or person for exploitation purposes. Exploitation generally includes sexual exploitation such as prostitution, slavery, forced labour, removal of body organs, forced services, servitude or acts similar or imitating slavery. This is the fundamental definition of human trafficking according to the United Nations Trafficking protocol.1 It is the universally agreed definition of human trafficking. However, in simple terms, human trafficking can be defined as the illegal act of buying and subsequently selling of people or individuals for the main purpose of forced labour, prostitution and other acts of exploitation. The human trafficker often operate by making false promises, restricting family and friends contact, limiting one’s freedom of movement, denial of basic necessities like food, taking one’s identification documents, stopping an individual from attending religious services and even threatening deportation to the victim. Over the last two decades, trafficking in human beings, often called ‘contemporary form of slavery’, has become a major international concern. It is an issue that has raised intense political discussions together with ambiguous legal regulations on national, regional and international levels. International organisations, government and civil societies have increasingly focused on trafficking, measures to prevent it, protect trafficked people, prosecute perpetrators and strengthen cross border cooperation against human trafficking. It is the most grave violation of human rights and considered the second most profitable transnational crime after drug trafficking.2 According to statistics by the Homeland Security Department, human trafficking generates about $32 billion per year, with millions of people being trafficked every year in the world. Women, men and children are trafficked for the purposes of sexual exploitation, forced labour, commercial marriage market, the selling of organs and for adoption. Western Europe is a region of destination for victims of human trafficking from mainly South Eastern and central Europe. Additionally, humans trafficked from countries belonging to commonwealth independent states also end up in Europe. Possible causes and examples Human trafficking has been in existence from time immemorial or since the onset of civilization, but in the recent past it has increased due to globalisation, the magnitude of poverty, organized crime, government corruption and probably the growth of commercial sex industry. Due to the growing gap between the living standards of the poor and the rich, the number of people aspiring to migrate is expected to increase in the near future. The feminization of poverty and increased discrimination in the labour market increase the vulnerability of women to fall as victims of human trafficking. The limited employment opportunity and increased economic marginalisation cause many people to take their chances abroad. Extreme situations such as displacement resulting from armed conflicts and natural disasters, sudden economic and societal changes and the opening of borders in translation economies create a suitable environment for human trafficking. Another promoting factor to trafficking is the increased demand for flexible, illegal, low-skilled labour and exotic sexual labourers in the destination countries. Another fact is that human traffickers take advantage of the de regularization and in formalization of the low skill sectors such as domestic work in the labour market, to exploit and abuse the migrants since they are not protected. The complexities of trafficking are staggering; complicated further with the rise of the internet hence overwhelming to many governments. International agencies agree that 80% of trafficking victims are children and women, and majority are trafficked for commercial sexual exploitation. Examples of modern day trafficking include; men eager to find jobs are forced to leave their countries to pick fruits or work in factories under horrific circumstances from morning to night, seven days a week and with minimal or in other circumstances no pay at all. Young women seeking a better life are lured into devastating commercial sex trade or to work as domestic servants under great abuse. Children are recruited or captured as soldiers; babies inherit a lifetime of debt bondage.3 Trafficked people often blend into our society without our knowledge. For instance, you may not realise that the man who sweeps your favourite restaurant or the maid at your neighbourhood is a victim of trafficking. Similarly, women in multibillion commercial sex industries are also hidden in plain sight in massage parlors, brothels, on the street, in strips clubs or advertised on the internet by sex tour operators or bloggers. Due to their undocumented status in the destination country, migrants are very vulnerable to exploitation and abuse. Therefore, human trafficking is a menace that presumably concerns almost every country in the world. Internal and trans-border trafficking Internal trafficking occurs as well, and even at a greater extent in many countries than transnational trafficking. It is the subsequent exploitation, and not the crossing of international borders that defines the trafficking of human beings. Some studies have attempted to generate estimates on the degree to which trafficking is a domestic rather than an international problem. In a study by the Free Slaves on child trafficking in Northern India, the organisation reports that at least 200,000 people are trafficked into, within or through India annually. Within this figure, it is believed that 10% of human trafficking in India is international while 90% is domestic.4 Another research in Netherlands has identified a pattern of internal trafficking whereby young Dutch girls, usually teenagers are courted by older men. The young and naive girl is then showered with nice gifts and after having her ‘fallen in love’, her boyfriend then announces to her that he needs money. The lover boy then convinces the young woman to have sex with other men to help him financially. After winning her over, the lover boy will use psychological and emotional influence, threats, intimidation, violence and blackmail to manipulate and control his victim. This is a technique used not just in Netherlands but in other countries too, to recruit and lure young girls and women into prostitution from their homes. In fact this is considered the most successful recruitment pattern in many countries.5 For instance, older men ‘date’ young women in small villages, offer to marry them and bring them to beautiful home away from the village as a new young bride. Instead, the women are subjected to extreme violence and forced into prostitution upon their arrival in that new home. On the other hand, transnational trafficking cannot be ignored. According to the United States Department of states 2007 Trafficking in Person Reports, about 800,000 people are trafficked across international borders every year. In addition, studies show that the exploitation phase in the trafficking process differs from country to country. For example, studies carried out by UNICRI in Nigeria and Philippines show completely different trafficking practices.6 The majority of victims trafficked from Philippines travelled by air and arrived at their destination within a few hours. During their transfer, the victims are housed in luxury hotels and their exploitation begins only after they arrive in their destination country. On the contrary in Nigeria, sexual exploitation starts in Nigeria, Lagos, where the victims are first kept for two weeks. Some are raped by traffickers and groomed or taught how to service male clients before they are taken into Europe. In the course of their shipment or journey, they are sexually exploited and some even end up conceiving on the way.7 The survey team was told a story of a Nigerian victim who delivered twins along the route. This is after she spent a long time on the journey. She lost her life when their boat capsized in their attempt to cross from Morocco to Spain. Measures against human trafficking States are under clear obligation to ensure that their laws, system and practices do not promote, reward or tolerate discrimination. The connection between discrimination and vulnerability to trafficking, and the obligations that flow from it, has been recognised by the UN policy organs, its treaty bodies and other human rights mechanisms.8 In the present environment, it can be clearly noted that violence directed against or primarily affecting women can also be a factor increasing vulnerability to trafficking. For example, many women accept dangerous migration arrangements to escape the consequences of entrenched gender discrimination, including family violence and lack of security against such violence.9 In such cases even unsafe migration may be perceived as providing the best available opportunity to break free from the dangerous and oppressive environment. The European Union held a conference on preventing and combating trafficking in human beings; in Brussels from 18 to 20 September 2002.The conference brought together more than 1000 representatives of European institutions, European member states, international organizations and NGOs. The conference issued The Brussels Declarations which outline a set of policy recommendations for EU. The directive suggests regulations for the victim who is a third country national, who is entitled to have a reflection time during which he can decide to cooperate or not.10 The declaration also regulates the temporary residence permits for the victim within the time frame of cooperation between him and the police. There was a formation of expert group of 21 people to oversee migration crime control in various countries. The EU also signed the UN convention against transnational organised crime and its two protocols against trafficking and smuggling. In addition, it has made agreement with third party states for the readmission of illegal immigrants with a combination of administrative and criminal law measures. Some of the practical measures identified include provision of safe shelter for women experiencing trafficking related violence, establishment of crisis hotlines and victim support centres equipped with sufficient medical facilities. Challenges Human trafficking is a complex matter and the translation of anti-trafficking laws into actions is a challenge. The law enforcement may face practical challenges in their effort to detect, identify the victim, investigate the offenses and successfully prosecute the offenders.11 Firstly, the victims do not usually report their experiences to the relevant authorities.12 This is despite the fact that most of them can indirectly access authority especially through NGOs.13 The reason behind this include the fear of reprisals from traffickers, political and social pressures that threaten undocumented migrants and prostitutes, fear of arrest, imprisonment and deportation and lack of confident in the police system ,which may collude with the traffickers at the expense of the victim. Secondly, trafficking victims are usually traumatised due to the violence and sexual abuse. This may leave some with memory losses and unable to remember the details of the happenings. This further complicates the investigation by the police. Some victims hesitate to tell their story to total strangers and others refuse completely to participate in the investigation process.14 Thirdly, many countries have just amended their legislations and adopted national planning of actions against trafficking. Training is underway but adequate knowledge about trafficking in the law enforcement, prosecution and judicial services is still lacking. Lack of cooperation between police and judicial sectors of transit and origin countries is another challenge to combating trafficking. Finally, lack of cooperation between the victim/witness and his family poses a challenge since they may withdraw their case any time.15 This is due to lack of protection for the victims and the witnesses distrust in the police and the judicial system. The national witness protection programmes are expensive, rigid and intense; this apparently applies even more to the international protection of trafficking victims and witnesses. Generally, lack of availability of information from the victim is the main challenge to fighting trafficking. Traffickers and their associates threaten their victims or their families with death or severe injury, coarse their victims psychologically and physically into believing that they are not worthy of life or dignity and escape is impossible.16 Foreign victims of trafficking may not be able to navigate the destination country because of the language barrier or fear of the police. The economics of human trafficking also play a major role in strengthening this act. As Cullen-Dupot indicates, the total dollar value is $32million, with sex trafficking being the most profitable. The ILO estimates that the revenue generated from the commercial sex industry in South East Asia can be somewhere between2-14% of gross income of the country. This leaves a dilemma on how to deal with human trafficking, which at the same time seems to be contributing greatly to economic growth. Possible solutions to human trafficking While laws are essential first step to address human trafficking both nationally and internationally, they are not enough. Governments must exercise political will to prevent trafficking by establishing programmes that provide education and economic opportunity to their most vulnerable citizens, directly or through the United Nations and its agencies.17 Still, there is role for everyone in this struggle. Individuals in conjunction with the society must wholly take personal responsibility towards this worthy course.18 For instance, we must as individuals secure the equality for women and girls in order to end sex trafficking. As sex trade flourishes at the cruel expense of the most vulnerable and voiceless, we must raise the paradigm of normalising the exploitation of women in the sex trade by educating the public and our families that women are not for sale.19 Raising awareness about human trafficking is the first step towards action.20 In countries and states where there are no anti-trafficking laws, or weak ones, we can work together to pass strong allegations through means like campaigns against human trafficking. The media is also a key channel of exposing stories and asking the government tough questions about law enforcement and policies to help trafficking victims, as well as amplifying the voice of survivors. Like Eleanor Roosevelt once said, the destiny of human rights is in the hands of all our citizens in all our communities. Conclusion Human trafficking is a scourge in the modern world. It continues to violate and discriminate various ethical laws through numerous criminal activities.21 It is a humanities issue which majorly involves the exploitation of the poor. Due to many financial problems, the poor always find themselves ready to accept anything at their disposal in search for a better life. Traffickers take advantage of this situation to manipulate and control these innocent people into actions that are harmful to them. Ignorance is another factor. Lack of basic knowledge among many citizens exposes them to a higher vulnerability of being lured since they lack adequate capacity to analyze the situation. They are also unable to escape when caught in the trap. This is also contributed by the lack of adequate exposure to new environments. Hence, the need for suitable measures. The government should draft laws that adequately protect its citizens. The involvement of NGOs is very important in this worthy course because these organizations can do some things which the government cannot carry out. So they require maximum government reports. Awareness and sensitization is essential in trying to enlighten the public, especially in the rural areas, on human trafficking. Lastly, maximum cooperation between the government, the authority, the public and all the related organizations is essential in eliminating this commercial crisis. Bibliography Aronowitz, Alexis A. Human trafficking, human misery: the global trade in human beings. Greenwood Publishing Group, 2009. Brysk, Alison, and Austin Choi-Fitzpatrick, eds. From human trafficking to human rights: Reframing contemporary slavery. University of Pennsylvania Press, 2012. Chuang, Janie A. "The United States as global sheriff: Using unilateral sanctions to combat human trafficking." Michigan Journal of International Law 27, no. 2 (2006). Constance Gunderson. Human Trafficking: The Trafficking of Women in Northern Germany for the Purpose of Sexual Exploitation: Systemic Overview of Community Based Responses and Challenges. Vol. 15. LIT Verlag Münster, 2012. Cullen-DuPont, Kathryn. Human trafficking. Infobase publishing, 2009. Gallagher, Anne T. The international law of human trafficking. Cambridge University Press, 2010. Holmes, Leslie, ed. Trafficking and human rights: European and Asia-Pacific perspectives. Edward Elgar Publishing, 2010. Liu, Min. Migration, prostitution, and human trafficking: The voice of Chinese women. Transaction Publishers, 2011. Logan, T. K., Robert Walker, and Gretchen Hunt. "Understanding human trafficking in the United States." Trauma, Violence, & Abuse 10, no. 1 (2009): 3-30. Roth, Venla. Defining human trafficking and identifying its victims: a study on the impact and future challenges of international, European and Finnish legal responses to prostitution-related trafficking in human beings. Martinus Nijhoff Publishers, 2011. Read More