Human Trafficking

WHY DOES HUMAN TRAFFICKING EXIST? BY PAMELA AMINE

Why does human trafficking exist? 1

Abstract The purpose of this research is to explore the issue of human trafficking. Human trafficking is the illegal trade in human beings for the purposes of slavery, commercial sexual exploitation and forced labor. Trafficking of human beings is a major problem in today 's universal society. It has been identified as the fastest growing illegal commerce on the planet. The reason why I chose this topic is because not everyone is aware of human trafficking being a major international problem. Despite the effort of many associations and governments, people are still not alerted enough of this issue. I will be developing the causes of human trafficking worldwide and the reasons behind its massive growth. Who are the victims and who controls human trafficking? What are the hot spots for trafficking? I used several sources such as library books, databases and eligible websites. I found out at the end that it is the high demand that is behind the trafficking industry. More demand means more victims.

Why does human trafficking exist? 2 Outline Thesis Statement: There are numerous causes for human trafficking in the countries of origin and in the countries of destination.
I. Countries of origin A. Poverty 1. Lack of employment 2. Trading children for money B. Lack of education 1. Education is only provided by international associations 2. No access to education C. Gender discrimination 1. Feminization 2. Women and children are more subject to the cause D. Lack of protection and awareness 1. Vulnerable victims 2. Broken promises E. Illegal migration 1. Desperate victims searching for a better life 2. Escaping family abuse II. Countries of destination A. Cheap laborers 1. Domestic labor 2. Slavery B. Illegal trades 1. Prostitution 2. Women as surrogates 3. Illegal adoptions 4. Organ trafficking 5. Arranged marriage C. Criminal organizations 1. Organized crime groups 2. Child soldiers

Conclusion: Perchance the right approach is using means that will grip the attention of communities, similar to involving well-known celebrities and famous artists to lend a hand by reaching out to the public.

Why does human trafficking exist? 3

Why does human trafficking exist? Crimes against humanity are mainly atrocious offenses that comprise of a severe assault on individual dignity and degradation of human beings. Human trafficking is a crime against humanity and is one of the most profitable crimes that the world is facing today. The ban of human trafficking is an essential code of international law, valid to all countries. Professional criminal groups are attracted by these high profit crimes and are yielding from the victims ' misery and suffering. Trafficking of human beings is illegal, nevertheless countless people worldwide are suffering from its consequences. Eliminating trafficking means cutting the source, which is the high demand part of the industry; as long as there is demand, supplies will be provided. There are numerous causes for human trafficking in the countries of origin and in the countries of destination. Exploring those reasons is hopefully going to identify and help eliminate the root causes for this worldwide crime. Countries of origin: Poverty is one of the major factors in the human trafficking commerce. It 's because of money issues that some people see trafficking as the only solution for their problem. They choose selling themselves, their loved ones, over starving to death. As Gonzales(n.d) explains, due to a low economy, people in undeveloped countries choose sex trafficking as their line of work to provide food for their family (para.1). These poor people will trust traffickers to smuggle them out of the country, thinking that they will get better jobs elsewhere. In some cases, families are so poor and desperate that they will trade anything for money, even their children. Poverty leads some parents to sell or force their daughters into trafficking in exchange for money (Adenekan, 2010, para. 5). Even though nothing guarantees

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that they will actually get paid at the end, being in a smaller family has a greater chance at survival. The parents sometimes think that their children are better off without them, seeing that they can 't take care of them. In addition to poverty, there is also the matter of education. Lack of education in unfortunate countries is the reason why civilians are out of jobs and human trafficking is increasing. Those who have just enough to provide for their family do not spend it on educating their children. Education is only provided by international associations to young women in poor countries to eliminate sex trafficking (Gonzales, n.d, para.8). This attracts people and encourages them to learn. All have given up on education because it 's just not part of their lives. Everyone is used to not having school, learning isn 't a priority to them because it is unavailable. Also, schools are rare in poor regions. Without transportation, it is difficult to attend classes if the school is faroff. According to Caritas (n.d), people have no access to education. Even supposing kids want to learn, there is no one to teach them (para.7). After the issue of education, discrimination is also a crucial factor, because it is one of the most common social problems that women face nowadays. It 's affecting their career and driving them to accept any kind of employment even if it involves trafficking. Aronowitz (2009) reveals that women are discriminated when it comes to work. The feminization of migration is the reason that all the women are being exploited in conditions of trafficking. Uneducated women have very little access to the job market (para.1). It is apparent that most victims of human trafficking are women and young girls. They are more at risk than men, more vulnerable. Urban Ministry (n.d) states "Of the 600,000-800,000 people trafficked across international borders each

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year, 70 percent are female and 50 are children" (para.4). Not to mention that men are stronger physically and have a better chance of defending themselves in case of violence. Traffickers prefer females rather than males since they are easier to handle and it is unlikely for them to escape. Moreover, lack of protection and awareness has facilitate the act of trafficking. In illegal migration, women and children are not safe, they are exposed to vulnerability. After willingly crossing the borders, they have no choice but to serve the traffickers. These victims "become trafficked in their self-initiated illegal border-crossing migration", comments Ren (2004, p.9, para.2). After crossing the borders, it is not the same for the victims, it is not what they wanted it to be. Giving hope and making promises are a perfect strategy for a predator to collect his prey. Doing just that, traffickers pick out their victims and make them hear just what they want. Adenekan (2010) mentions that victims of trafficking are tricked into the sex industry by thinking that they are getting solid jobs and domestic work. They are later surprised when they actually get to their destination. Passports and papers will be taken from them. They will have to work as prostitutes and give all the money to the traffickers to avoid beatings (para.1-2). Aside from the previous reasons, illegal migration is one of the causes that leads to human trafficking. Adenekan (2010) remarks that young girls, victims of trafficking, are approached by someone rich and familiar who tells them an untrue story about earning money in another country. Seeing the intruder 's life, these vulnerable girls buy everything he says (para.4). By telling them fairytales, he gains their trust. Following that, these victims ' lives and future depend on him. Once out of the country, he mistreats them and everything the victims were

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expecting turns out to be all lies. Girls wind up victims of trafficking often as they try to run away from home. Countless young women that have been abused by a member of their family, leave for good to avoid exploitation. Unsafe and alone, a stranger notices them. Before they know it, sex exploitation is back at haunting them. Escaping an abusive home, Ashleigh ended up homeless at 15. She met an outsider who made her a prostitute and a victim of trafficking (Covenant House, n.d, para.3-4). Countries of destination: Having discussed the causes in the countries of origin, let us not forget the causes in the countries of destination. In the developed countries, employers demand lower labor rates. For that, the perfect employees will be illegal migrants, since they can 't complaint to anyone without getting in trouble. Aronowitz (2009) claims that supply and demand are the source of human trafficking. Sex trafficking and cheap labor are very highly demanded in the sex industry, agriculture, domestic work and food industry (p.25, para.1). Therefore, cheap labor is highly demanded but it comes at different levels. Some even get to the point of slavery. Kevin Bales, slavery and trafficking expert, says "Trafficking in persons is one of the means by which people or organizations bring people into, and maintain them in, slavery and forced labor. Human trafficking is not a condition or result of a process, but the process of enslavement itself." (Aronowitz, 2009, p.28, para.1). Bales is saying that slavery is what human trafficking is all about. If it hasn 't come to that, it will eventually. Furthermore, all kinds of illegal trades are in demand in wealthy countries. Prostitution is at the top of the list. According to The Freedom Project (n.d), an elevated demand of prostitutes worldwide is one of the factors of sex trafficking and due to the unavailable number of women

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willing to turn to this line of work, female trafficking is increasing which is a highly profitable business (para.1). Thousands of women are forced to sell their bodies to satisfy the needs of rich men. Plus, desperate couples who can 't have children, would try anything to have what they want. Sometimes it doesn 't work out legally, consequently they will try it through illegal channels. Ehrlich (2011) confirms that investigations on a company in Taiwan are being processed and it 's been accused of trafficking women in order to use them as surrogates in exchange for money (para.1). A surrogate is a woman who is paid to deliver a baby who isn 't her own. She carries it for nine months in her womb then give the baby away when it is born. There isn 't a large number of women willing to go through this long route, as a result, huge sums of money are spend on trafficking females who will be used as surrogates. Likewise, illegal adoption is another solution for hopeless couples. Ren (2004) admits that illegal adoption is highly profitable business in China due to traditions that says that only a boy can support a family and a married couple with no son is a disgrace (p.2, para.1). Every wealthy family has her reasons for paying to illicitly adopt a child. Additionally, trafficking of human organs is the less popular category of human trafficking. There 've been myths about children being victims of organ trafficking but there wasn 't any proof. The UN concluded that it was unlikely possible to know exactly the number of people involved in organ trafficking (Aronowitz, 2009, p.110, para.1). This type of trafficking attracts sick or dying people in need for an organ transplant. Due to the high number of patients on transplant lists, some cheat and illegitimately buy an organ through the black market. This means traffickers who kidnap poor people and trade their organs for money. Moreover, there 's a high demand in bridal trades. Young women are being kidnapped and sold for arranged matrimony that are popular in Asia. Some of the victims are not older than

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eighteen years old (Ren, 2004, para.3). Families marry their daughters against their will, for money or sometimes to pay off a debt. Those young girls may end up violently beaten and mentally abused. Aside from the high demand of cheap laborers and illegal trades, criminal organizations who participate in trafficking, are spread all over different countries. Human trafficking isn 't run by amateurs or a small group of individuals, it is managed by high profile people with power and money. Those who are behind it are protected by an endless chain of employers. Aronowitz (2009) observes that there are a lot of crime groups and criminal organizations around the world who are involved in prostitution and human trafficking. The economy and political problems have facilitated and given opportunities to crime groups to smuggle the victims across countries (p.71, para. 1). Those organizations have accomplices everywhere; at border control, in governments, they are well connected. Another cause for human trafficking, especially in the African continent, is child soldiers. Children are taken from their home to another region and they are forced to work in the army. Amnesty international (n.d) reveals that recruitments of children into groups is usually done by abduction and some sign up by themselves because they see no other option. The boys are involved in deadly battles and the girls are raped (para. 2-3). Those young men are trained by their kidnappers, and taught how to kill. Guns and rifles are given to them to shoot prisoners in cold blood. Refusing orders are not an option, otherwise they will get killed. Conclusion: In conclusion, human trafficking is caused by many major factors in the countries of origin like poverty, lack of education, gender discrimination, lack of protection and

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awareness, illegal migration, as well as in the countries of destination like cheap laborers, illegal trades and criminal organization. Despite the effort of numerous associations worldwide that specializes in fighting human trafficking, it is still a growing business and thousands of people are profiting from it. Perchance the right approach is using means that will grip the attention of communities, similar to involving well-known celebrities and famous artists to lend a hand by reaching out to the public.

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References Adenekan, A. (2010). Causes and effects of human trafficking Amnesty International. (n.d). Children and human rights : Child soldiers. Aronowitz, A. (2009). Human trafficking, human misery : The global trade in human beings. Caritas. (n.d). Root causes of human trafficking. Covenant House. (n.d). Escaping slavery and finding refuge at covenant house. Ehrlich, R. S. (2011). Thai company accused of trafficking vietnamese women to breed. The Washington Times. Gonzales, S. M. (n.d). Poverty and sex trafficking. Ren, X. (2004). Trafficking in children: China and Asian perspective. The Freedom Project. (n.d). Forced prostitution. Urban Ministry. (n.d). Human trafficking statistics.

References: Adenekan, A. (2010). Causes and effects of human trafficking Amnesty International. (n.d). Children and human rights : Child soldiers. Aronowitz, A. (2009). Human trafficking, human misery : The global trade in human beings. Caritas. (n.d). Root causes of human trafficking. Covenant House. (n.d). Escaping slavery and finding refuge at covenant house. Ehrlich, R. S. (2011). Thai company accused of trafficking vietnamese women to breed. The Washington Times. Gonzales, S. M. (n.d). Poverty and sex trafficking. Ren, X. (2004). Trafficking in children: China and Asian perspective. The Freedom Project. (n.d). Forced prostitution. Urban Ministry. (n.d). Human trafficking statistics.