The Bigger Picture: Trafficking of Iraqi Women Rampant

Human trafficking is a global widespread issue. Due to war fluctuations in Iraq, it has become quite prevailing there. Unable to support themselves or their households, many Iraqi women and girls were widowed and orphaned. The wartime casualties have caused the death of these women's loved ones. Many were in a state of social alienation and desperate living conditions. The Project Censored article reports that 50,000 Iraqi women went to Jordan and Syria with hopes that they would reach safety, but little they did know that they would be preyed on by the human traffickers. 

The news reporter, Nihal Hassan from the The Independent explained that he had a Syrian friend who declared 95% of the women in Syria were Iraqi women who were forced into prostitution. They also were recruited to be cabaret dancers in both Jordan and Syria Most of these women were in their mid teens or in their mid twenties. Hassan also discussed the specific wardrobe that they had to wear, such as tight jeans, low-cut tops, and knee-high boots. They also wore makeup, which made them look older, but it did not dismiss the fact that they were still innocent little girls. The article also mentioned the number of refugees in Syria and because these women were banned from working legally, they had a slight possibility of seeking a stable job. Most of the Iraqi women were forced to attend customers, for their own sake. If they did and were successful, they would earn $60, which is approximately what a month's wage is in a factory. The gravity of this problem is not only that there was sex trafficking involved, but that these women were being controlled and traumatized by the human traffickers. 

As it appears, Iraqi men trafficked their female family members. They feel that in this way, they protected the women, but their goal was otherwise. They wanted to pay their debts and resolve their disputes. They usually trafficked their young female members, most of which were just eleven years old. The article explains that young girls are sold into muta'a marriages in which the girl's family receives a dowry from the husband, and the marriage is just another word for short-term prostitution arrangement.

This is an image of four Iraqi women who had just found out about the trafficking business in Syria and the woman in the middle had constantly been crying because she knew that she was to be the next victim along with her friends. Can you imagine what they must have felt and what most are still feeling from being sexually active against their wills? For all we know, most of the girls must have lost their virginities to total strangers. The fact that they have to forever live with a horrifying image of being sexually abused is such an atrocity. It is disturbing to see how they were taught how to be prostitutes without even wanting to and yet, it is even more disturbing to know that they are forced to present themselves well and hide their emotions and sufferings towards them. Most of the Iraqi women in Syria are simply an investment and exploited in a very ugly way.Where does a women's freedom stand if she is forced to deprive from her internal and external pain? 

http://annabrixthomsen.com/2013/01/25/sex-trafficking-will-end-in-equal-money-capitalism-day-168/

http://www.scoop.it/t/prostitution-trafic-et-tourisme-sexuel-french-and-english

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QhY4ZGj5G4s

The 411 on Human Trafficking

Bonjour! Or better yet, I should start by saying, what has this world come to? 

Did you know that other than arms and drugs trafficking, human trafficking is the third largest criminal industry in the world? To a great extent, one can say that it is just a modern form of slavery. Human trafficking is a market-driven business, a denigrating matter that should not exist. The Polaris Project confirms that labor trafficking and sex trafficking thrive for two main reasons: low risk and high profits. For instance, there are common scenarios where the government and community institutions can be untrained or ineffective to inform such crimes, which is why traffickers perceive deterrence to affect their criminal doings. As for high profits, it is important to understand that there are careless consumers who are willing to buy commercial sex or services who rely on forced labor, which is why they increase their revenue. 

Human trafficking is a violation of human rights that is commonly known for the illegal trade in humans which includes sexual exploitation ,forcing labor, forcing victims into prostitution, and deceiving such victims into debt bondage. Could you imagine living a life that is not rightfully yours, but rather that of the human traffickers? The closest "inside scoop" that I have gotten from what the victims may actually experience is from the movie, Taken. Although the movie is not nearly factual, it presents the viewers with somewhat of an insight on the trafficking in women, for it reveals how women are taken as slaves by organizations. Moreover, human trafficking can happen anywhere, but it is quite predominant in developing countries where poverty is rampant. There is an 80% rate mark that the trafficking victims are mostly females and children.

Although the government and the police departments have done, and are still doing the best they can to prevent the on-going trafficking, what can you say about some of the ostracized and under-developed countries whose undergoing government and police corruption? Let's be realists here! If the government and the police were to be corrupted, then that would mean that they would accept the perpetuation of sex exploitation, prostitution, and evidently become the accomplices of the human traffickers.

What should one keep in mind about human trafficking? First and foremost, there are three elements behind this outrageous and omnipresent issue. These three elements include the act, the means, and the purpose.

• Act - Recruitment, transport, transfer, harbouring, and receipt of persons
• The means - Threat of use of force, coercion, abduction, fraud, deception, abuse of power of vulnerability, and giving payments or benefits
• Purpose - Exploitation including prostitution of others, removal of organs, and other types of exploitation

Aside from the gravity of the situation, the global implications also play a major role in human trafficking. There can be threats to human health because it can spread HIV/AIDS or some other types of diseases, but there also can be threats to national and international security because just like cartels, traffickers are connected to organized crime groups.

This is an informational video on human trafficking that includes certain facts, footage, and pictures of the many women and children who suffer such abuse and traumas. The video mentions that over 2.2 million children are sold into the sex trade every year. The New York Times columnist, Nicholas Kirtsof discusses the fact that children who are 12 years old or younger are kidnapped and their virginities are sold to mad men.

"You have a timeline on how long you can use a human being and then, when they are done, they just find another one."

-Jason Dill, director of "Call Response"

Trafficking of Iraqui Women

The topic I chose was the Trafficking of Iraq Women Rampant which was the 2012 11th top story of project censored news. The reason why I chose this topic was because human trafficking is an omnipresent and outrageous issue and within this news article, it reveals that it has become more predominant in Iraq. This situation is very alarming because the news article explains that due to the Iraq war, many women and girls have lost their husbands and have become orphaned. I am interested in this topic because I think it is a very atrocious situation for women to experience such things. Why should mothers and daughters be turned into prostitutes against their will, where does a woman's freedom stand? What alarmed me the most about this news article was that 50,000 Iraqi women are trapped in sexual slavery with no escape whatsoever. While reading this, I thought about the tragic traumas that all of these women should be experiencing and just the thought of it makes me shiver.

http://www.projectcensored.org/top-stories/articles/11-trafficking-of-iraqi-women-rampant/