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"
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