Trafficking in human beings

''For other uses, see Human trafficking (disambiguation)

Trafficking in human beings is the criminal commercial trade ("smuggling") of human beings, who are subjected to involuntary acts such as begging, sexual exploitation (eg. prostitution and forced marriage), or unfree labour (eg. involuntary servitude or working in sweatshops). Trafficking involves a process of using physical force, fraud, deception, or other forms or coercion or intimidation to obtain, recruit, harbour, and transport people. To many, the contemporary phenomenon of trafficking in human beings is equivalent to slavery.

Overview

Human trafficking differs from people smuggling. A smuggler will facilitate illegal entry into a country for a fee, but on arrival at their destination, the smuggled person is free; the trafficking victim is enslaved. The trafficker takes away the basic human rights of the victim. Victims do not agree to be trafficked: they are tricked and lured by false promises or physically forced. Traffickers use coercive and manipulative tactics including deception, fraud, intimidation, feigned love, isolation, threat and use of physical force, debt bondage, other abuse, or even force-feeding with drugs to control their victims.^*

Trafficked persons usually come form the poorer regions of the world, where opportunities are limited and are often from the most vulnerable in society (especially in post-conflict situations, such as Kosovo and Bosnia and Herzegovina), though they may also come from any social background, class or race.

Women, who form the majority of trafficking victims, are particularly at risk from criminals who exploit lack of opportunities, promise good jobs or opportunities for study, and then force the victims to be prostitutes. Through agents and brokers who arrange the travel and job placements, women are escorted to their destinations and delivered to the employers. Upon reaching their destinations, some women learn that they have been deceived about the nature of the work they will do; most have been lied to about the financial arrangements and conditions of their employment; and all find themselves in coercive and abusive situations from which escape is both difficult and dangerous. The criminals profit while the women suffer rape and other physical and mental violence.

The main motives of a woman (and in some cases an underage girl) to accept an offer from a trafficker is for better financial opportunities for themselves or their family. Whilst prostitution is where the vast majority of women end up, in many cases traffickers initially offer ‘legitimate’ work. The main types of work offered are in the catering and hotel industry, in bars and clubs, au pair work or to study. Offers of marriage are sometimes used by traffickers as well as threats, intimidation and kidnapping. Also some (migrating) prostitutes become victims of human trafficking. Some women know they will be working as prostitutes, but they have a too rosy picture of the circumstances and the conditions of the work in the country of destination.^*

Men are also at risk of being trafficked for unskilled work predominantly involving hard labour. Other forms of trafficking include bonded and sweatshop labour, forced marriage, and domestic servitude. Children are also trafficked for both labour exploitation and sexual exploitation. On a related issue, children are forced to be child soldiers.

Many women are forced into the sex trade after answering false advertisments and others are simply kidnapped. Thousands of children are sold into the global sex trade every year. Often times they are kidnapped or orphaned, and sometimes they are actually sold by their own families. These children often come from Asia, Africa, and South America.

Traffickers mostly target developing nations where the women are desperate for jobs. The women are often so poor that they can not afford things like food and health care. When the women are offered a position as a nanny or waitress, they often jump to the opportunity.

One sex slave may “service” 8-15 men a day. The women are forced to have abortions. Sometimes up to 20 women are crammed into tiny apartments. The doors are always locked and there are sometimes guards. They work 24 hours a day. Women are dumped on the street or killed when the criminals no longer see them as useful.

Entry into Trafficking

Victims of trafficking are brought into the system through several means. Most victims of trafficking today come from three populations. First, parents may sell children to traffickers in order to pay off debts or gain income. Second, runaways, refugees, or other displaced persons may be picked up by traffickers. Debt bondage through drug addiction seems to be a standard "justification" of human trafficking in these situations. Third, people who are seeking entry to other countries may be picked up by traffickers, and — typically — misled into thinking that they will be free after being smuggled across the border. In some cases, they are captured through slave raiding, although this is increasingly rare.

Extent

Due to the illegal nature of trafficking, the exact extent is unknown. A U.S. Government report published in 2003 estimates that between 800,000 and 900,000 people worldwide are trafficked across borders each year, the majority in South East Asia, Japan, Russia and Europe. This figure does not include those who are trafficked internally. ^*

Between 20,000 and 40,000 people are trafficked into the United States each year.According to the Massachusetts based Massachusetts alone, there were 55 documented cases of human trafficking in 2005 and the first half of 2006. ^*" target="_blank" >In the United Kingdom, the Home Office estimated that there were up to 1,420 women trafficked into the UK in a 1998 study. [http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/prgpdfs/fprs125.pdf Trafficking in people is increasing in Africa, South Asia and into North America. Between 80% and 90% of victims trafficked across international borders are female and the majority of those women and girls are trafficked for sexual exploitation through forced prostitution or sexual slavery.

According to the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, 800 persons are trafficked into Canada annually and that an additional 1,500-2,200 persons are trafficked through Canada into the United States (2004), and these figures could be higher. ^*

In Russia, Africa and South and East Asia, many countries are faced with a rising child prostitution problem and the linkage with tourism is evident. Child prostitution and the trafficking of children for sexual exploitation is also increasing in Europe, North America, Japan and Australia.

The majority of child trafficking cases are in Asia, although it is a global problem. In Thailand, non-governmental organisations (NGO) have estimated that up to a third of prostitutes are children under 18, many trafficked from outside Thailand. In Ukraine, a survey conducted by the NGO [http://www.brama.com/lastrada/ “La Strada-Ukraine” in 2001-2003, based on a sample of 106 women being trafficked out of Ukraine found that 3% were under 18, and the US State Department reported in 2004 that incidents of minors being trafficked was increasing. A report by World Vision Middle East/Eastern Europe funded by the Canadian government and supported by six United Nations agencies and the International Organization for Migration reported that the sexual exploitation of children, child trafficking and sexual violence towards minors is increasing and that Russia is becoming a new destination for child sex tourism. The report adds that some studies claim approximately 20 per cent to 25 per cent of Moscow's sex workers are minors.

The 1996 report of the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Sale of Children, Child Prostitution and Child Pornography estimates that about one million children in Asia alone are victims of the sex trade. According to the International Labour Organization, the problem is especially alarming in Korea, Thailand, the Philippines, Sri Lanka, Cambodia, Vietnam and Nepal. ^*

Human trafficking is so common now that it is the third most profitable criminal activity in the world after illegal drugs and arms trafficking. Globally, forced labour — which includes sexual exploitation — generates US$31bn, half of it in the industrialised world, a tenth in transition countries, the International Labour Organization says in a report on forced labour ("A global alliance against forced labour", ILO, 11 May 2005).

Trafficking in people has been facilitated by porous borders and advanced communication technologies, it has become increasingly transnational in scope and highly lucrative. Unlike drugs or arms, people can be "sold" several times. The trafficking in human beings is not new, but it is a rapidly growing problem. The opening up of Asian markets, porous borders, the end of the Soviet Union and the collapse of the former Yugoslavia have contributed to this dark side of globalisation.

A number of factors have led to its expansion, including:

Easy profits made from exploitation
Growing deprivation and marginalisation of the poor
Discrimination in employment against women
Anti-child labor laws eliminating employment for people under the age of 18
Anti-marriage laws for people under the age of 18, resulting in single motherhood and a desperate need for income
Restrictive immigration laws that motivate people to take greater risks
A lack of information about the realities and dangers of trafficking
Insufficient penalties against traffickers

In exceptional cases, officials have been accused of corruption and helping traffickers. Also, many governments treat victims as illegal aliens, jailing and deporting them while not punishing the trafficker.

International law

In 2000 the United Nations adopted the Convention against Transnational Organized Crime, also called the Palermo Convention and two protocols thereto:

All of these instruments contain elements of the current international law on trafficking in human beings.

Council of Europe

The Council of Europe Convention on Action against Trafficking in Human Beings Council of Europe on 16 May 2005. The aim of the convention is to prevent and combat the trafficking in human beings. Of the 46 members of the Council of Europe, so far 30 have signed the convention and 1 has ratified it. In addition, 1 non-member state has signed the convention (29 June 2006). [http://conventions.coe.int/Treaty/Commun/ChercheSig.asp?NT=197&CM=7&DF=15/12/2005&CL=ENG" target="_blank" >^*

United States law

The United States has taken a firm stance against human trafficking both within its borders and beyond. Domestically, human trafficking is prosecuted through the Civil Rights Division, Criminal Section of the United States Department of Justice. Older statutes used to protect 13th Amendment Rights within United States Borders are Title 18 U.S.C., Sections 1581 and 1584. Section 1584 makes it a crime to force a person to work against his will. This compulsion can be effected by use of force, threat of force, threat of legal coercion or by "a climate of fear", that is, an environment wherein an individual believes they may be harmed by leaving or refusing to work. Section 1581 similarly makes it illegal to force a person to work through "debt servitude". New laws were passed under the Victims of Trafficking and Violence Protection Act of 2000. The new laws responded to a changing face of trafficking in the United States. It allowed for greater statutory maximum sentences for traffickers, provided resources for protection of and assistance for victims of trafficking and created avenues for interagency cooperation in the field of human trafficking. This law also attempted to encourage efforts to prevent human trafficking internationally, by creating annual country reports on trafficking, as well as by tying financial non-humanitarian assistance to foreign countries to real efforts in addressing human trafficking.

International NPOs, such as Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International, have called on the United States to improve its measures aimed at reducing trafficking. They recommend that the United States more fully implement the United Nations Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children and the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime and for immigration officers to improve their awareness of trafficking and support the victims of trafficking. ^*^*

Human trafficking in film and television

Lilya 4-ever, a film by Lukas Moodysson, portrays a young woman from the former Soviet Union who is deceived into being trafficked for exploitation in Sweden. Human trafficking has also been portrayed in the Canadian/UK TV drama Sex Traffic and the Canada/US drama Human Trafficking by Christian Duguay.

'Svetlana's Journey' by Michael Cory Davis depicts the trials of a 13-year-old who loses her family and is sold to human traffickers by her adoptive family. Drugged, raped, and forced to endure continuous abuse by her 'clients' and traffickers, she finally commits suicide. This is based on a true story. More information can be found at Face to Face

Kiss of the Dragon, featuring Bridget Fonda as Jessica, an American woman who was forced into prostitution.

In one of the last scenes of Crash, a character portrayed by Ludacris frees a Filipino slave family.

Lethal Weapon 4 opens with a subplot about a Chinese forger whose family is being held to guarantee his illegal labor.

External links

Amnesty International

Other organisations and campaigns

Articles, papers and factbooks

Government and international governmental organisations

Modern peacekeeping and forced prostitution

Survivors' testimonies

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