The Facts and Consequences of Human Trafficking
Human trafficking has in one form or another existed since people have traded and fought. From taking slaves from a conquered army and region to colonial slave trade all the way to modern-day child trafficking and sex trafficking. The best way to understand how massive the human trafficking industry is, here are some statistics:
· 40 million people worldwide are affected by human trafficking and modern slavery
· 25 million people are in some form of forced labour
· 15 million women and children in forced marriages
· 1 In every 192 people today are in some form of exploitation
· Women and girls account for about 70% of all cases of modern slavery
· 1 in 4 victims of forced labour is a migrant – 10s of millions of migrants are at risk of exploitation
· Up to 10% of organ transplants globally are thought to be made up from illicitly trafficked organs with $840m - $1.7bn raised in proceeds.
These statistics are astounding and puts in perspective how close this issue is to everyone’s home. Our daily routines are most likely going to put us within touching distance of products that can be traced back to some form of exploitative behaviour, whether that is forced labour or direct trafficking and slavery.
Human trafficking is defined as the recruitment, transportation and receipt of people that are going to be coerced into an exploitative situation of some form. This more often than not takes the form and involves the use of force, fraud or coercion for the purposes of exploitation – labour, sexual exploitation or forced marriage.
Before we delve into the issue of human trafficking and how it can be limited and prevented, it is best if we cover a couple different forms of exploitation that fall under the human trafficking umbrella. Firstly, there is sexual exploitation. This takes the form of forced marriage, where young girls are forced to marry into other families either for religious reasons or as a form of income for the family she came from. This is estimated to have increased by around 40% as a result of Covid-19 and families needing a form of economic safety net.
Secondly, there is forced labour. This can take place from a single person doing the housekeeping in a residential home, all the way to a factory full of people being paid sometimes nothing to make textiles for large companies – most famously Nike and Apple. Forced labour is also found very often in agricultural sites and construction sites, where traditionally there is a high percentage of immigrant workers. This presents the perfect opportunity form traffickers to place victims in work and gain an income for themselves. As the Covid-19 pandemic begins to pass, there is going to be an increase in the demand for products, as the world economy begins to grow again. This will lead to an increase in supply and companies, often in south Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa will look to employ more people, therefore leading to an increase in the demand for low paid workers, a gold mine for traffickers. Furthermore, as states fluctuate into periods of war, especially in Africa, more extremist organisations will turn to child soldiers and forced conscripts to bolster their numbers in their respective fights.
Why don’t people leave exploitative jobs?
There are a number of reasons why. Firstly, there is the simplest answer. They need finance. People who have no other source of income will often reach out and do anything to make some money to feed their family. However, there are many more nefarious reasons that people won’t leave or indeed can’t leave.
One reason is simply the lack of knowledge around labour rights, especially in western and MEDC countries such as the US and UK. If workers who have entered the country or who already live there do not know their rights as workers on farms or construction sites, they are less likely to leave the job for a new one. In the US, there is a specific visa for those who are trafficked stateside. The T Visa allows trafficking victims to gain permanent residency, protecting them more from being re-trafficked. However, this and other labour rights such as working conditions and minimum wage are often unknown and therefore less likely to be exploited by victims of forced labour or human trafficking.
A second reason is the restraints that the employer places on the victims. These can be a wide range of things, such as physically taking away work documents and passports, thus preventing the worker from leaving, all the way to threats of violence and retribution if the victim leaves. This is especially common in Eastern Europe, where traffickers will often use family who have stayed at home as a means to get the trafficked victim to do what they want. Furthermore, as in the case of migrants who illegally enter countries looking for work, they often face a large, often unpayable amount of debt as a result of the crossing. Such debt is then held over their head until they can pay for it, often leaving them stranded in countries they don’t want to be in, usually somewhere between North Africa and their intended destination in Europe.
What can be done and what has been done?
There is a huge list of what we would like to do, from dedicated taskforces and allocation of resources on a huge scale to combat human trafficking, but the reality is we simply don’t have the budget and capabilities to do this so what has been done is the following.
In the international framework, there have been a number of excellent steps towards combating human trafficking. One such is the Palermo convention. Nearly 120 countries have signed this, agreeing on a definition of human trafficking and recommitting themselves to ridding the world of it. Agreeing on the definition of human trafficking is a huge step as it aligns these states towards a single, clarified goal. Once a definition is recognised, states are able to break it down and start combating the issues within it, such as preventing the transportation phase of trafficking. Furthermore, the UN sustainable development goals have recognised human trafficking eradication as an element to achieving their agenda. This places human trafficking in the spotlight and allows further resources to be allocated to it by the UN. Paired alongside this is the fact that the UN security council (UNSC) have identified human trafficking as a security threat and as a result has led to sanction being placed against individuals and groups involved by the security council in 2018.
Like every issue, there is always more to be done. The issue is, human trafficking is so engrained in today’s society, with what we buy and daily politics, both internationally and domestically, it is incredibly hard to pinpoint even where to start in the fight. For example, when nations tighten the ways people legally enter the country, we see a rise in the number of people trying to enter the country through other methods. Domestically, if a state does not offer healthcare, credit/benefit facilities for those most at risk, they are increasing the likelihood of people taking on risky jobs or ‘too good to be true’ jobs. The more businesses produce, the lower they want to get their costs. It is important that businesses look down their phase of production and identify where there may be space for human trafficking to occur. If they buy a raw product or final goods from a trafficking risky country, does increasing demand for the product increase the likelihood of trafficking being a by-product?
Furthermore, financial institutions need to become better at detecting money that is being created and exchanged via human trafficking, forced labour and exploitation. These institutions work closely with law enforcement agencies to combat fraud, tax evasion and other financial crimes, so why is there a gap in this system that allows payments and transactions for humans?
The problem for law enforcement is the crime itself is so hard to locate, isolate and prosecute. So much of the result of human trafficking occurs in private homes and factories. However, in places of work, it is incredibly hard to differentiate between those who have been trafficked and those who have not. Furthermore, human trafficking-related crimes have increasingly gone online, with a 200% increase in posts on child sex abuse forums just this year. Many law enforcement agencies simply lack the budget and resources to combat crimes like this, as they require technical expertise to pinpoint and gather evidence on. Child exploitation is the most prevalent online crime, with traffickers able to control their revenue and product online via places such as the dark web.
What to take away from this?
It is evident that human trafficking is one of the most prevalent crimes on the planet. But there very rarely is any news regarding it. The human trafficking industry is deeply engrained in the global economy generating around $150bn annually. Just because we live in a developed society, it does not mean that forced labour/child exploitation/human trafficking/slavery isn’t occurring just down the road from where you live. Because it could be. So, if this is a subject that has made you think, go and donate to one of these charities below.
Thanks
https://goodweave.networkforgood.com/projects/24892-goodweave-fund
https://www.stopthetraffik.org
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