Modern Date

Slavery in Today’s World:Human Trafficking

K. CardenasFlorida International University

[Criminal Justice, November 14, 2014]

Modern Date

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Abstract

According to the United Nations Office of Drugs and Crime, Human

Trafficking is defined in the Trafficking Protocol as “the

recruitment, transport, transfer, harboring or receipt of a

person by such means as threat or use of force or other forms of

coercion, of abduction, of fraud, or deception for the purpose of

exploitation.” With Human Trafficking on the rise, it has become

the fastest increasing criminal industry in our world today with

drug-trade coming in second. (What is Human Trafficking? (2014,

September 1). Retrieved November 6, 2014)

Introduction to Criminal Justice explains how transnational organized

crime consists of the following: money laundering; human

smuggling; cybercrime; and the trafficking of humans, drugs,

weapons, endangered species, body parts, or nuclear material.

There is also a troubling overseas trade in prostitution, in

which men from wealthy countries frequent semi-regulated areas in

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needy nations such as Thailand in order to procure young girls

forced or sold into prostitution—a phenomenon known as sex

tourism. In addition to sex tours, there has also been a soaring

demand for pornography, strip clubs, lap dancing, escorts, and

telephone sex in developing countries. Transnational sex

trafficking, exporting women for the purpose of prostitution, is

the subject of the accompanying Race, Gender, and Culture in

Criminal Justice feature. (Siegel, L. (2014). Transnational

Organized Crime. In Introduction to Criminal Justice(9th ed., pp. 623-

625).)

Origin of Human Trafficking

Human Trafficking dates as far back to the ancient Mesopotamian

and Mediterranean civilizations and stemmed from then on. What do

we define, in depth, Human Trafficking as? Modern- day Slavery.

As previously stated, it is the illegal trade of live human

beings for forced labor and or exploitation. The term exploitation

refers to using others for prostitution or sexual exploitation,

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forced labor, forced work, slavery, or even the unauthorized

removal of human organs to be sold in the Black Market.

The 1400s marked the start of European slave trading starting in

Africa with the Portuguese transporting people from Africa to

Portugal, thus, using them as slaves. It was not long before the

British followed the acquirement of slaves in the 1500s. Then, in

the 1920s, the League of Nations was founded after WWI. The

purpose was to maintain world peace and focusing on international

issues such as Human Trafficking. Until this, children were not

recognized as victims of Trafficking. When WWII came about, Asia

erupted the outrageous system of using women all across the

continent for involuntary sexual slavery with international

soldiers as their highest paying clients. Since resources such as

vaccines against diseases were not readily available, most of

these women died to disease, malnutrition, exhaustion, suicide,

etc.

There are three core elements that comprise Trafficking:

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1. The action of trafficking which means the recruitment,

transportation, transfer, harboring or receipt of persons.

2. The means of trafficking which included threat of or use of

force, deception, coercion, abuse of power or position of

vulnerability

3. The purpose of trafficking which is always exploitation. In

the words the Trafficking Protocol, article 3 “exploitation

shall include, at a minimum, the exploitation of the

prostitution of others or other forms of sexual exploitation,

forced labor or services, slavery or practice similar to

slavery, servitude or the removal of organs

Modern-Day Slavery

Who is classified as traffickers’ victims? In sexual terms, women

and young girls are the easiest targets for Human Trafficking

with poverty being the main cause and reason. Social and economic

factors are heavily at hand when analyzing what could cause such

a high amount of victims. When social factors such as position in

society or acceptance is not met, it could easily be said that

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these women find it more and more difficult to find other means

and resources. Living in an impoverished atmosphere protrudes

some women’s inabilities to find a way out because they feel

stuck, feeling anguished and pressured to sell their bodies to

provide for their families. Poverty is the leading cause for

Human Trafficking. Lack of educational resources, lack of funds

to be able to pay for education, thus, lack of employment-

respectable employment, that is. Women fall victim to the

destitution that they corner themselves to believing so

desperately that entering in this new world is the only solution

to their financial cumbrances.

In the U.S. , our government considers trafficking of people to

include “all of the criminal conduct involved in forced labor ads

ex trafficking, essentially the conduct involved in reducing or

holding someone in compelled service.” (state.gov, 2014.) We know

that, just as it was when slavery originated, forced labor is a

significant aspect of Human Trafficking purposes. This form of

involuntary servitude is particularly can emerge when employers

export their employees, for lack of a better word, when they are

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at their most vulnerable. Given then high rise in recent years in

unemployment, poverty and crime have been reasons to led victims

into this unfortunate, involuntary way of life. Immigrants are

most susceptible to forced labor due to the fact that they have

no legal citizenship, ergo, their employers hold that over them

as leverage in return for their pay which is not nearly enough to

survive on, but the lives they are running from outweigh that of

coming forward. (What is Modern Slavery. (2014, November 8).

Retrieved November 8, 2014.)

Emigrated young women are also found susceptible to Sex

Trafficking for lack of funds resources, etc. Forced into

prostitution, they have been recruited against their will to

repay an “unlawful” debt that occurred from recruitment that

these “Pimps” hold them liable for until they can be free.

However, many never see their freedom. Amongst Sex Trafficking,

women are also victims of involuntary domestic servitude.

Traffickers find this environment easier to get away because

authorities can not so easily investigate private property

without a warrant as opposed to “formal” working places.

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Another unfortunate, and perhaps, the worst form of Human

Trafficking is Forced Child Labor or Child Soldiers. Children can

be victims of Human Trafficking with location of the exploitation

being an irrelevant factor. Child Soldiers has also manifested as

a result of Human Trafficking as “the unlawful recruitment or use

of children- through force, fraud, or coercion- as combatants, or

for labor or sexual exploitation by armed forces.” (What is

Modern Slavery. (2014, November 8). Retrieved November 8, 2014.)

The Rise of Modern Day Slavery

Human Trafficking has been on the rise with Bangladesh leading

the highest Human Trafficking rate and China in number 10. This

modern day form of human slavery has become an issue on an

international level. Thus, one of the biggest causes for the rise

in human trafficking has been due to poverty, ergo, social,

economic, and cultural factors could contribute to the pool of

its causes.

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With modern day slavery rising, it should also be noted that

Human Trafficking is almost always a form of organized crime on a

globalized scale. That being said, er - written, 79% of Human

Trafficking’s most commonly identified form is sexual

exploitation and labor at 18% according to UNODC. (UNODC,

2014)http://www.unodc.org/unodc/en/human-trafficking/faqs.html#Wh

at_is_human_trafficking)

In 2013 alone, the National Human Trafficking Resource Center

confirmed 31,945 phone calls received to the hotline; 20,654 in

2012; and 5,746 in 2008. The potential cases that were reported

in 2013 were 5,214; 3,420 in 2012. The actual calls the center

received from survivors increased by 65% from 1,355 in 2012 to

2,241 in 2013. Proving, thus, a significant rise in Human

Trafficking in the United States alone. (Human Trafficking.

(2014, February 1). Retrieved November 9, 2014.)

As for International Human Trafficking, ISIS continues to engage

in sex trafficking. ISIS has reportedly kidnapped approximately

2,500 Yazidi women since circa August of 2014. With that being

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said, Kurdish authorities have only been able to rescue about 100

women out of the 2,500. In October of 2014, The United Nations

researchers confirmed that 5,000-7,000 women were being held by

this organization. Reports have also emerged highlighting the

sexual slavery and forced marriages these women continue to face.

There was one report of a young girl who was systematically

abducted, raped several times a day by different men, then sold

in the black market as a sex slave. Obviously enough, there have

been local efforts to rescue and aid the women, however, the

Human Rights Watch’s resource are running scarce. Ergo, making

the receipt of services a rarity. (Pierce, S. (2014, November

10). ISIS Continues to Engage in Sex Trafficking. Retrieved November 10,

2014.)

Being Preventative of Human Trafficking

Since Human Trafficking is such a profitable transnational crime,

traffickers have become more effective with their skills. It is

important to bear in mind that Traffickers may not necessarily

look like they want to cause harm to their victim. Traffickers

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also tend to hire women to do their recruiting because it is

presumable that women can be trusted assuming that they have the

person’s best interest at heart. The best and most effective to

stop human trafficking is to stop the purchasing of sex

altogether at the source. (Clay, R. (2011, May 4). Modern-Day

Slavery. Retrieved November 8, 2014.)

Conclusion

International Law defines Human Trafficking as a nonconsensual

exploitation of all kinds that consist of threats, coercion,

fraud, or deception. Economic coercion has been a motive for

leading victims into the realm of sexual trafficking, however,

the boundaries of the subject are vague. People, due to human

nature, subdue themselves to said exploitation because they feel

as though they have no choice, thus, emerging consensual

exploitation. They then become prisoners of their social

economical stature for fear of not being able to break the cycle

of the poverty that surrounds them. The two terms; consensual and

nonconsensual exploitation must be readily differentiated and

distinguished as their definitions, purpose, and judgment is

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contingent upon each type. There are adequate and legal remedies

readily available for consensual exploitation within labor and

social law, however, for nonconsensual exploitation the remedies

are found within criminal justice law.

It must be pointed out that exploitation of any kind is a

derivative of adverse effects on efficiency and equity of

economic developments. Also to be reemphasized should be the

fact that the only sure way to prevent human trafficking is by

following up with Supply and Demand and ridding the supply of sex

to be available for purchase. If you rid the purchase of sex,

then there is no sale, if there is no sale, then there is no

profit, if there is no profit- well, there will not be a business

to run and the crime can shut down. Yes, of course, it seems

highly unlikely because the crime is so profitable. But it is a

formidable and very possible outcome that could manifest if we

had more resources pinpointing to the sources both domestically

and transnationally.

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References

UNODC (2014, September 1). What is Human Trafficking? Retrieved

November 6, 2014, from

http://www.unodc.org/unodc/en/human-trafficking/what-is-

human-trafficking.html

Transnational Organized Crime (Siegel, L. (2014). In Introduction to

Criminal Justice (9th ed., pp. 623-625).)

U.S. Department of State, What is Modern Slavery (2014, November 8).

Retrieved November 8, 2014.

American Psychological Association, Human Trafficking (2014,

February 1). Retrieved November 9, 2014.

Clay, R. (2011, May 4). Modern-Day Slavery. Retrieved November 8,

2014.

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Pierce, S. (2014, November 10). ISIS Continues to Engage in Sex Trafficking.

Retrieved November 10, 2014.)