Modern-day slavery; a term I would use to describe human trafficking in a few words. Slavery has always been known as the tragic events that occurred to the African Americans in the early 1600s, where the African Americans were forced into labor with no choice and had to work under the mercy of their plantation owner. Besides, being forced to work, the African Americans faced many physical and sexual abuses. Although many people believe slavery is over, that is not entirely true. A new form of slavery, known as human trafficking is occurring all over the world today. Human trafficking is the act of tricking, luring or forcing a person into leaving their home to work for little or no pay, and sacrificing his/her personal freedom for the profit …show more content…
The answer is always going to be money and demand. The demand for cheap labor and commercial sex industry business are tremendously high. Approximately, traffickers make billions of dollars per year, in profit by exploiting millions of civilians worldwide. The “Not for Sale” campaign also states that traffickers make on average of $4000 on every victims of forced labor exploitation. Estimates of 2 million children are exposed to sexual exploitation, where the average age for girls in this industry is from ages 12-14. According to the International Labor Organization, there 20.9 million sufferers from human trafficking worldwide, including the United States, where there have been multiple reports of crimes in all 50 states. Human trafficking occurs worldwide, this issue does not have a certain headquarter where all the danger occur. The areas of the world that are most affected by human trafficking are countries that are living in extreme poverty and are less developed. An area that had a recent natural disaster or countries that are considered war zones are more likely to have an increase in human trafficking crimes. These statistics show that money and power are two main advantages the traffickers have on the victims. The trafficker’s first grab their attention by luring them into believing there’s a better life out there …show more content…
Organ trafficking is when victims are being trafficked for their organs. Main targets for organ trafficking are people who are migrant workers, homeless, and someone who is unable to read and write. The organs that are on high demand are the kidneys, liver, and any organ that is reusable. The United Nations Global Initiative to Fight Human Trafficking (UN.GIFT) states that organ trafficking can occur in different types of ways. The first approach is the trafficker is determined to trick and/or convince the victim into giving up their organs, and if all else fails the trafficker will force the victim into giving up their organs. The second approach is where money contributes its power to convince the victim into giving up their organs; the victim and the trafficker make an agreement, the victim will sell their organs for a profitable amount of money to the trafficker. Most of the time, the victim will end up getting cheated out on the deal and receive less than the amount agreed on or just not paid for their organ at all. The third approach is the merciless of all the approaches; the trafficker will find someone who is ill with a disease that requires surgery and during surgery the traffickers will remove their organs without informing the victim before the procedure. Organ trafficking is not a one man job; there are many contributors to this brutal crime. The main contributors are the
Barbara Amaya was sexually abused by members of her members at the age of ten. With a depressed state of mind, Barbara ran away from home at the age of twelve. It was then that she was taken off of the streets by a couple that had the desire to care for her. After a month of being cared for, the couple put her out on the streets for prostitution. Barbara was sold to another sex trafficker that transported her to New York where she experienced sex trafficking for eight years of her life. During this time Barbara was abused, shot, addicted to drugs, stabbed, raped, kidnapped, trafficked, beaten, and jailed. As a result of her addiction to methadone, Barbara was no longer a valuable asset to her trafficker. She was forced out on the streets of New York by herself. Today, Barbara is a sex traffic survivor, who occasionally has flashbacks of her past (Amaya).
Country to country, person-to-person, human trafficking is becoming a bigger and bigger issue all across the globe, including right here in the United States. Human trafficking is said to be a form of modern-day slavery, subjecting its victims to commercial sex, debt bondage, and forced labor through force, fraud, or coercion. There are often no easily identifiable victims as they come in all ages, genders, and races. There are said to be at least 2.4 million victims of human trafficking across the globe at any given time, leading to profits of $32 billion for the criminal masterminds behind such trafficking operations, making it the second most lucrative criminal industry behind narcotics. Despite the abundance of victims, it is estimated that fewer than 30% of all countries report at least 10 trafficking convictions a year, and 20% of countries do not even have an offense for trafficking. An additional 20% of countries have an offense for trafficking but still report no convictions of the offense. Without an organized coalition to help prevent such atrocities, it is left up to national governments to come up with solutions for their respective nations, and many governments do not possess the know-how or effort needed to combat these crimes.
Human trafficking is among the fastest growing categories of crime in the world right now, rivaled only by the drug and weapons industries. A 32 billion dollar global enterprise annually, its effects are far reaching and highly damaging to all involved. In reality, “human trafficking” is essentially a politically correct term for slavery. Through books, articles, and interviews, the two phrases are used interchangeably and are used to mean the same exact thing. There is an endless list of myths and misconceptions in regards to human trafficking, but I plan to keep all the information here very clear and concise. According to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, “Human trafficking is the acquisition of people by improper means such as force, fraud or deception, with the aim of exploiting them.” (1) This means that innocent people are taken from their homes and families, kept in secret and forced to work for their captor or whomever they are sold to. This work may be physical labor and it may be sexual in nature. The living conditions are usually harsh, and it is not uncommon for the captor (or
People consider trafficking to be only in the form of sex, but trafficking actually has many different categories. Human trafficking is defined as people who sell or trade their bodies, or other people’s bodies for different purposes like, forced labor, sex, forced marriage, and even organs. Trafficking of any kind is considered a crime in the United States and every other country in the world except Iran because it is a violation of human rights. Although trafficking is illegal, it still takes place all over the world and statistics say that trafficking brings in approximately 32 billion dollars of international trade per year. Out of all the different forms of trafficking, organ trafficking is the most dangerous. The compensation of organ donors was legal until 1984 when the National Organ Transplant Act of 1984 was put into place. Many people turn to buying organs because there is a shortage of organs and some patients may be on the organ transplant list for years. Because there is such a shortage of available organs for transplantation, many people turn to buying or selling organs on the black market illegally. If trafficking was legalized with regulations, there would rarely be a need to use the black market. Even though the 32 billion dollars that the black market makes each year would rapidly diminish, the money would be spent in other places, and legally. Many people argue that a human life should be invaluable but by legalizing the trafficking of organs, the list for organ transplants would slowly disappear. If the sale of organs was legal with heavy regulations, many more organs would be donated; therefore, many more lives would be saved all over the world.
In many countrys where poverty is huge is where many predators are looking for vurneerable women to take advantage of because of their situation. The poverty in other countries is a contributing factor in the sex trafficking world. As mentioned by Alicja Jac-Kucharski in her article The Determinants of Human Trafficking: A US Case Study many immigrants are brought to the United States of America with the promise a good job waiting for them for when they arrive. To them this is an amazing opportunity to be able to help their family by leaving their country for a few months they believe they can make enough money to help their family because of how poor their country is. These are the factors that make it possible for people in take advantage of people who want to help their families in need. Kucharskii states,” Push factors are those that people experience around them where they live; these include demographic growth, low living standards, lack of economic opportunities, and political repression” Which are the reasons people feel vulnerable to predators who take advantage of them. It is not just pushed factors that play a role in sex trafficking, but also ,”pull factors”. As stated by Kucharskii a pull factor is,” demand for labor, availability of land, good economic opportunities and political freedoms” . People who are trafficked to another country’s are sometimes enticed by what they hear. Such as a opportunity for better lives and jobs, when in reality it is just a lie so that their traffickers can take than away from her family. Sadly as mentioned by Kucharskii most of the people trafficked are women. Which because of all that was promised to them never comes true and in reality they are turning to sell their bodies. Sex trafficking immigrants are growing more because of how
Human Trafficking is the trade in humans, mostly used for purpose sexual slavery, forced labor, or sexual exploitation, prostitution. Others may use the humans for extraction of organs. “Human trafficking is one of the most hideous crimes in today 21st century ” said the ICE Department. Human trafficking in today society is modern day slavery. Victims pay to be illegally transported into the United States only to find themselves in the hands of traffickers. They are promised a new life where they can start all over in the U.S. Usually the people that are trafficked across continents are from poor social classes and are fed lies so that later they can be trafficked and abused by others. Most of the people trafficked are forced into prostitution, involuntary labor and other forms of servitude to repay the debt that they owe. The FBI states “Human trafficking represents an estimated $32 billion in international trade yearly, illegal international trade estimated at $650 billion in 2010”.
What is human trafficking? Human trafficking, according the dictionary.com’s definition, is the illegal movement of people, typically for the purposes of forced labor or commercial sexual exploitation. However there are many different forms of human trafficking and one that has caught my eye is the form called sex trafficking. This is very important because many young teenage girls around my age are affected by it the most and they grow up being a sex slave. Although majority of the victims are young girls, human trafficking affects everyone: male, female, young, and old. There are very few people out here hearing their cry. We are very blind to this topic in the United States because its not very well-known and also because it’s such a big
Amid a storm of controversies including gay marriage, state data hacking, and a heated debate on the Confederate Flag, South Carolina’s media has paid little attention to the pressing issue of human trafficking. Perhaps this is due to the viewpoint of many Americans that human trafficking is a third world problem far removed from them and the people that they care about (Archer). This simply leaves them unconcerned, and the media cannot sell topics that people are not upset or in an uproar over. However America, including South Carolina, is not exempt from this type of human rights abuse. Without proper recognition of the importance and prevalence of this issue from the general public, human trafficking cannot be solved even when the government takes combative action. This is the case of South Carolina legislators, who in November 2012, had House Bill 3757 signed by Governor Nikki Haley to go into effect on December 15th, 2012 (Conley). House Bill 3757 is one of the most promising pieces of anti-human trafficking legislation ever turned into law with many beneficial effects and ideas, but even it is not without its issues and areas for potential improvements.
Human trafficking is a worldwide issue affecting many individuals; the Department of States estimated that about 600,000 to 800,000 people are taken across borders each year and two to four millions of people being victimized within their own country (Siskin & Wyler, 2010). The majority of trafficking victims are forced into sexual exploitation, however many are also used for labor. Although there is a current US policy that addresses anti-trafficking legislation, the problem of victim identification still persists. The failure to adequately tackle this phenomenon, paired with a concern over human rights, has prompted debates over who is considered a victim. There needs to be a more effective way to eradicate the dangers of human trafficking.
In order to understand how sex trafficking affects its victims, one must first know the severity of sex trafficking and what it is. The issue of sex trafficking affects 2.5 million people at any given time (Abas et al., 2013). The form of sex slavery affects many women and children across the world. Even though both males and females are sexually trafficked and exploited, there is a deep emphasis on the sexual exploitation of women and children. This is due to gender discrimination (Miller, 2006). This is because women and children are more vulnerable and appeal to the larger populations of brothels and the so-called “clients” since the majority are men. Ecclestone (2013) stated that children as young as age three are trafficked. Sex trafficking has changed over time; “Today, the business of human sex trafficking is much more organized and violent. These women and young girls are sold to traffickers, locked up in rooms or brothels for weeks or months, drugged, terrorized, and raped repeatedly” (Walker-Rodriguez & Hill, 2011). It is found that many of the victims of sex trafficking are abducted, recruited, transported and forced into involuntary “sex work”. These sexual acts include prostitution, exotic dancing, pornography, and sexual escort services (McClain & Garrity, 2011). What happens to these sex trafficking victims is extremely traumatizing.
One of the main causes of human trafficking is vulnerability. For example, children are more vulnerable to trafficking because of their lack of understanding and experience. Additionally, in certain societies, women are less empowered than men thus resulting in gender inequality both at home and in the workplace. Gender inequality then leads to easy exploitation through the use of force or threats. Human trafficking can be curbed by combating the underlying causes that make people vulnerable.
Sex trafficking is a form of contemporary slavery that induces and forces people into a commercial sex trade against their will. Many factors contribute to the sex trade and the exploitation occurs mostly to women and children. Through the age, gender, class, and race many are trapped in a never-ending cycle of coercion and abuse in order to survive in the corrupt society around them.
Human trafficking is a form of slavery, forcing victims to engage in sexual activities and labors against their will. These activities can be taken place through force, fraud, or constraint. Human trafficking is not just affecting one group of people, it is a worldwide issue, affecting all different ages, genders, ethnicities, and socio-economic backgrounds. Human trafficking is such an immense problem, apprehending the true size, knowing how to help, and how to keep the issue from reoccurring. Human trafficking is and is still becoming such a serious issue that something needs to be done about.
“Human Trafficking is the recruiting, harboring,moving or obtaining a person by force, fraud or coercion, for the purposes of involuntary servitude, debt bondage or sexual exploitation(¨Human Trafficking in Illinois¨).” Human Trafficking is one of the largest and is the fastest growing criminal industry in the world. Annually 9.5billion dollars of profits are generated from trafficking humans world wide. “Persons do not have to have been transported internationally to be considered victims of trafficking(Facts about Human Trafficking). Men and women are often times tricked into servitude by “johns” a term used for traffickers and pimps. “Johns” use fraud, deception, coercion, and threats to the victim and or loved ones of the victim, to transport, harbor and or obtain people for sexual exploitation, or labor and slavery(¨Human Trafficking¨).
Human trafficking is a worldwide problem. From California to Australia, it happens. “161 countries are reported to be affected by human trafficking by being either a source, transit, or destination count. Out of the 161 countries, 56% of those are in Asia and the Pacific, being the number one place it occurs” (UNGIFT). Trailing far behind with 10% is Latin America and the Caribbean” (UNGIFT). No matter the location or the state of the economy, human trafficking is always in progress. “People are reported to be trafficked from 127 countries to be exploited in 137 countries, affecting every continent and every type of economy” (UNGIFT). “The majority of trafficking victims are between the ages of 18 and 24 years old” (UNGIFT). Just because those are the most common ages, doesn't mean that it only happens to them. Children are also affected by human trafficking. “An estimated 1.2 million children are trafficked each year” (UNGIFT). So many people think that it is just teens and adults that get stuck into the trafficking business, but it is also small children.