HumanTrafficking

Human Trafficking

Omari E.

Today many human right activists consider Human Trafficking to be the new form of slavery. (Human Trafficking) Human trafficking can be dated back to the time of the ancient Greeks in the 18th century B.C.E. There are many definitions to human trafficking but Author Morrison defines it as, “The involuntary transport of women and children as commodity to be bought or sold”. (Morrison, 36) //According to U.S. State Department, each year between 600,000 and 820,000 men, women, and children are trafficked across international borders. Approximately 70 percent of those trafficked are women and girls and nearly 50 percent are minors.// (“Human Trafficking”) People who are trafficked across borders are usually trafficked for prostitution, child labor, forced marriages, forced labor.

Human trafficking became an expansion in Russia during the 1990 because of the fall of communism. Since the fall of communism, border controls eased across Europe therefore making it easier for Smugglers to transport drugs and sex slaves. (“Human Trafficking”) Today Russia is on the Tier 2 Watch list for human trafficking for their failure to show evidence of increasing efforts to prevent trafficking over the previous years. (Trafficking in Person) While Eastern Europe dominates in trafficking there are other countries who deal with it such as, Japan North Korea, China, and Japan. “Many people assume that poor economy and lack of education are major factors when it comes to trafficking but you also have to think about their culture and life style”.(“Publication”)

Though the number of people being trafficked is increasing, there are many government and nongovernmental groups who are trying to find ways to prevent the trafficking of humans in the future. “China’s government has awareness raising programs and they also have authorities hold a media outreach seminar to raise awareness of anti-trafficking strategies, victim protection, and relevant legislation.” (China”) “Vietnam’s government also raises awareness through seminars and they also have training for young girls in high risk areas.” (“Vietnam”) There are many ways we can protect people from being trafficked, we can show awareness through media, have training, show the risks of illegal migration. Let’s not another life be lost to trafficking.

"Human Trafficking"


 * Human Trafficking: Sex Slavery**

Kara B.

Sreypov Chan was sold when she was seven years old, my her mother, to a brothel in Phnom Penh, 8,965 miles away. (Earth) From the age of seven to ten, pimps forced her to have sex with up to 20 men a day. When she first refused to have sex, a pimp would, among other things, cover her with biting ants and beat her with an electric cable. When she continued to refuse, he would use genital mutilation techniques, and then let the client rape her. She is now 20 and says she can never be with a man again. She believes she is lucky she escaped after two failed attempts. She now works at a center for rescued sex workers. (Pesta)

Only in foreign countries right? Not so much. A 29 year-old man in Virginia named Adam H. Bryant has been prosecuted with allegedly answering an ad on Craigslist in the erotica section that offered sex with a 13-year-old girl. Bryant is also involved with other child prostitute cases. When authorities checked Bryant’s cell phone records they revealed his being in contact with seven other known child prostitutes. A Fairfax County detective posed as a father selling his step-daughter for sex. This detective who is working for the FBI played a recording of a call in which Bryant supposedly offered what he called “the going rate” for sex with the 13-year-old or $1,000. When he submitted the ad, within five minutes Bryant responded using the screen name “Let’s Play.” Bryant later forwarded a message to the ‘father’ explaining the sexual acts he wanted and “indicated that he intended to photograph and videotape the sex acts.” according to court records. Bryant and the ‘father’ and ‘daughter’ met at Champs in Arlington VA. When Bryant arrived court records state that he called the agent posing as the teenager and explained that she was to meet him “inside the bar with no panties on.” When Bryant was arrested he had cash, a video camera, a cell phone with a camera and a blackberry on his person. ("Prosecutors") "For Sale" This took place roughly 159 miles from Virginia Beach, in Arlington Va. That is pretty close to home. These things are illegal in most of the world. Russia still makes roughly $7 billion a year. The top countries involved in the exportation of people are Russia, Mexico, Vietnam, Somalia, and Thailand. “Approximately 600,000 to 2.5 million people are trafficked each year. They are usual enslaved for two to five years, but some have been in slavery for 20 plus years.” (Maltias) Of that number between 18,000 to half of that number are women and children. The number of people that are trafficked to the US each year? A shocking 14,500-20,000. Of this number only 103 cases were taken to court in the year 2007. In 2008 the amount made throughout the world in human trafficking was $31 billion; of this $17 billion was the sex industry. It is no wonder the number is so high if the going rate for a 13-year-old in the US is $1,000. ("General")

It is quite easy to be trafficked into the sex slave industry. You have the obvious brothels, strip clubs, and porn making houses. These places are often under cover names such massage parlors, escort services, adult bookstores, and modeling studios. Here in the USA it can be even easier to get to the girls. Teenagers have a tendency to run away from home. This provides the perfect opportunity for a trafficker to pick up and force into sex slavery. Most of the girls picked up in the US stay in the US for we are one of the main destinations for human traffickers. ("Who")

The traffickers cannot always keep the people from running away, but they certainly do make it hard to do so. They use rape, solitary/confinement, kidnapping, threats against family, and other forms of abuse both physical and mental. This type of trafficking makes up 43 percent of all trafficking victims. (Maltias) When the victims do manage to escape their captors they are almost always caught. When they are brought back to their owners they are beaten into submission and obedient. Then they go back to the customers.

As stated earlier it is nearly impossible to escape these people without help from the outside world. Often times the people soliciting the slaves will know something is wrong if they see a camera, so, the use of hidden cameras are incredibly common. In foreign countries many of the pimps and madams target foreigners, especially Americans. They make it easy to communicate what you want to do. For example the phrase “yum-yum” means oral and “boom-boom” means intercourse. When the phrase ‘new’ is used it tends to mean the girls are virgins, this causes the price to rise in many cases. ( [|Undercover Saviors] ) "Human Trafficking Statistics" "Primary"

The majority of women and children trafficked around the world are from the Eastern European to Asia and the Oceanic region. They tend to end up in Western Europe and the Americas. ( [|Far Away From Home] ) Then there is the small percentage that is forced into slavery through, not a stranger, but their parents. Some do not even leave the country and report back to their parents with the money that they make. ( [|White Slaves in a Blacks' Country] )

Trafficking is a horrible offense and one should wonder why a person would put other people through this kind to torture and treatment. The pimps often have a grudge against women for one reason or another. Though that would not explain the reason that there are madams in the trade as well. The biggest reason for the slave trade is the fact that next to the drug trade, it is the biggest industry in the world. The drug laws are much more enforced in developed countries were as the slavery laws, if there are any, are slack. In Asia many a time the law enforcement is in on the industry themselves. If they catch a prostitute they will often let her go if she lies with him for free. This makes the trade and sale of these people all that much easier for the traffickers.

The solution to this problem is neither direct nor easy. This problem will probably, unfortunately, never disappear entirely. It is just too easy to make massive amounts of money through it. The solution is to start pulling kids off the streets when they are seen by themselves. If they look too young, check their records. We need to crack down harder like the Swedish have done, on human trafficking. “They are now holding the pimps and brothel owners and customer or ‘Johns’ responsible and not the prostitutes. This has caused a 50% decrease of women in prostitution. It has also had a 75% decrease in the number of men buying sex, two years after the policy was established in 1999.” (Anwar) The first and best thing to do is to make the world aware of the fact that there is still slavery. Not a thing of third world countries and the past; but, developed countries and the present. "Child"

Sierra R. "The Reluctant Bride"
 * Forced Marriage: Women lost to Men**

Marriage...Till death do us part?

In the world men, women, and children are kidnapped, drugged, or sold, or tricked into marriages they don’t want. It’s not something you would like to experience. Being beaten, mistreated, or sexually abused by someone you are supposed to call your spouse. In recent media news many women were being abducted and forced to be wives to military leaders. In many countries have the world there have been reports of women being victim in the mail in order brides, and being married to men who would have them locked up in the homes, and mentally, physically, and emotionally abusive them. Often these women who join these types of marriages are unable to leave the marriage and then it becomes a forced marriage.In an area of Egypt there have been many drugging and kidnappings of Christian Coptic women and children by Muslim men, where they have been forced to convert their religion into Islam and marry a Muslim man of leader (Disappearance). In many situations it is not always women being kidnapped or sold, sometime it may involve an arranged marriage. Not to get an arranged marriage confused with a forced marriage, an arranged marriage is when two families decide together that their children should be married together. In often times the wife and or husband would like to leave the marriage, but the family won't allow him or her to leave the marriage being that the family benefit from the marriage then that's when the arranged marriage is then known as forced marriage. (Arranged) Forced Marriages have been going on for many centuries and not much have been done to stop it. The question to it is how to actually stop an issue that not many of us know about. It has been estimated that more than 1,000 British and European girls, mainly in there teens are sent to Pakistan, India, Yemen, Algeria and other Islamic countries to visit their relatives, only to discover that they have been secretly married off to a man they have never seen (End it). Many of the forced marriage often occur in Islamic communities, where young women and teens are put in the positions of being married to someone they never knew. There are not many scenarios where men are victims to forced but it has been reported in many cases where a man can be tricked to get married to a woman so shes able to receive a visa into the country for her and her true husband

There are many cases where women mostly young women are often taken away from their families and are forced to marry leaders in armies. There is a story of a young girl in Africa how she was kidnapped and forced to marry a leader in the LRA Commander. Her mother talks about the thought that came into her head when she thought of her daughter. “But eight years I have been waiting, knowing very well what the rebels do, their brutality. (sigh) Every day we were wondering, “Has the child died today? Has she been injured? Is she bleeding to death? Has she been abandoned in the bush alone? Has she been killed and her body is rotting somewhere? Has the bomb been dropped on her?” These are the thought that crowded the mother's head while her daughter was missing for eight long years. Luckily for her daughter returned (Forced)


 * ImmigrationScams**

Brittini M.

Many women who live outside of the United States have goals and aspiration of coming to America to pursue the “American Dream.” Any opportunity they are offered, indeed every last one of them would jump at the chance. Imagine being offered an opportunity of a lifetime, your trips expenses being covered for, finally getting a job, going to America. It would be as if you had it all, everything would be perfect from what you suspect. You would never guess that the trip you are currently about to experience would change your life forever.

Anyone can be scammed into Human Trafficking. It is a huge crime that we have yet to find a way to diminish but according to Lisette Arsuaga “Human Trafficking is well hidden.”(Johnson and Rodriguez) People do not notice it, but the foreigners you see on the streets, that majority of the society would consider a “prostitute,” could be someone in need of rescuing because they could have very well been forced into that job by a person whom gave them false impressions.

Generally a situation like human trafficking is not going to just pop up in your face. You won’t generally see it happening like you would see a drug trade or weapon trade. Human trafficking is a problem that the masters behind the whole crime consider it a “secret” and hide this “secret” from everyone that is not a part of the business dealing with the trafficking.

At least half of the individuals that are involved in trafficking are foreigners. Unable to communicate with others that do not speak their native language, they are in an unfamiliar place, a huge obstacle for the foreigner. On top of that, their “boss” threatens them that if they do say a word about them being trafficked that they will be punished which just so happen to be unbelievably cruel and unusual. This is similar to Anna’s (identity was asked to be concealed) story, a female from the Philippines who was scammed into going to Malaysia under the impression that she was receiving a job as a waitress.

Fortunately, Anna was able to reach the embassy in the Philippines and get in contact with someone that would be able to come and rescue her. Anna is now safe in her hometown but she feels awful. The worst effect that comes from being trafficked and taking advantage of is possibly carrying a transmitted disease that leaves the victim scared for the rest of her life. It’s hard for these individuals to move on with their lives when they are constantly being reminded because of the outcome of the whole experience. Anna was diagnosed with human papillomavirus. This disease can only occur from being sexually active. Unfortunately, for Anna this could turn into other possible diseases such as cervical cancer. (Adams and Hansan)

Yet the question that everyone still seems to ponder on is “why?” Why do people constantly want to take advantage of young women? Why are they ruining the future for others? Why is it that they take control of foreigners the most? The most reasonable answer seems to be money. Making money by exploiting women definitely appeals to the male ego more so than any other. It brings in big bucks and they consider it a well-run business. It’s never fair to those whom can’t escape the horror of the dark world. Just like a woman who was smuggled into the U.S from Guatemala, thinking she was going to get a job for housekeeping. She was told to pay for her debt (expenses from the flight tickets so on and so forth) so she had to pay for it by prostituting. (Abel Jonathan)

Being told everything you want to hear is not always a good thing. Anything could be said just to get you to fall for it. That’s why millions of women are being trafficked today because of believing what others say. Even someone you think is close to you and can trust, they could turn their back on you in a heartbeat. Foreign women especially are the most vulnerable. If someone offered them anything in America they will go for it. Just to get out of the poor like place they are in now. People need to continue to announce this problem to everyone. Announce it to women, young girls, even men and young boys. Everyone can be affected by trafficking. The world needs to be well informed about a dangerous crime like human trafficking. The foreigners could think they are stepping into a new country of beautiful dreams but they would really be stepping into a country of nightmares.


 * Child Soldiers**

Rowan C. "Child Soldiers"

In this day and age, child soldiers have become a great problem throughout the world. In conflict zones throughout the globe children are constantly abducted and impressed into armies, forced to serve and fight for their captors. This is not a new phenomenon –indeed, child soldiers have been used since pre-crusades era- however it has become an extreme issue in this time.

In discussion on child soldiers, attention is almost certainly directed first to Africa, specifically Uganda and Sudan. ( Child Soldiers) However, children have been forced into warfare in many other countries throughout the recent century. The list of countries includes but is not limited to Myanmar, Columbia, Iraq, Yemen, and Nepal. According to international law, it is illegal for a child to participate in direct warfare. However, many groups have disobeyed this law. According to recent statistics, roughly 300,000 children in over 50 countries presently serve as soldiers or other positions in the direct warfare. (UPI) Roughly 33,000 have been involved in the Congolese war alone. Child soldiers around the world are recruited as early as seven years old in some countries. Some of these remain involved in war into early adulthood. These children have their childhood stolen from them, fighting and often killing at a young age, forced to witness and commit acts that haunt some throughout their lives, long after they have left the war zones.

Child soldiers often endure a great deal of mental and physical abuse. In many cases, a child soldier may witness beatings, witness killings, and even be forced to partake in beatings and killings themselves. Some are even forced to kill or witness the death of friends or family. Even those not directly involved in combat find themselves hurt and abused. Some, rather than being forced into direct combat, are forced to become spies, servants, sexual slaves, and even suicide bombers by their kidnappers. (UPI)

It is important to note that not all child soldiers are involuntary. A child soldier is merely a soldier recruited under the age of 18. In fact, it is not always illegal for an individual under 18 to enlist. In some countries, for example, the UK, one may in certain cases enlist at the age of 16. This does not fall under the same category as the scenarios otherwise noted in this article, and the distinction should be made.

Here are a few statistics regarding child soldiers. Many child soldiers are recruited before their 8th birthday. The majority of child soldiers are between 15 and 18. Over 2 million children have died in the conflicts in the past decade. (Chelala) Children across the globe are used constantly in one conflict or another throughout the world. Even when a child soldier is no longer in the war zone, they are still far from safety. Often the children will have spent years in the armies. Many will have endured serious physical and mental trauma, and take years of healing and therapy. Some are given drugs while in the war zone, and therefore must even break addictions after being freed. In some cases, even if they are completely healed, the children are not completely accepted back into society, sometimes not even into their own families. There is no clear way to stop the child soldier problem directly. Those who kidnap children for such scenarios are difficult to catch, thus it can not be solved simply through arresting and bringing to trial those individuals. The direct cause may not be possible to stop, however the children can be better protected from being kidnapped in the first place. If one might find a manner of simply keeping the children away from those who would steal them away, the scenario would be lessened greatly.

Child soldiers are employed in wars across the world. These children face some of the worst that any child could endure, and can take years to recover. Even with a great deal of help, some never do recover. Their childhood is lost, their education missed, job opportunities lost. At times these children are not accepted back into their communities. It is of great importance that these children are given the help they need; to prevent their capture when possible, to help them escape when captured, and to help them recover. A child should never have to endure such turmoil.

It should be remembered that the kidnapping and use of children in forced warfare is but a single branch of a larger global problem. This problem is Human Trafficking. One should keep in mind that Human Trafficking is merely another word for slavery. However, there is an even darker side to human trafficking than to the slavery of ages past. This is a time in which every country has denounced slavery in an official capacity. It has become illegal in every nation. The actual problem of slavery never left. It merely became a black market, illegal business, continuing to destroy the lives of innocent individuals while profiting their exploiters. Whatever may come to be, efforts must be made to aid the victims of this terrible treatment

Abel, Jonathan. "The downfall of sex slave ring." //Jammed True Stories: of Human Trafficking//. Abel, Jonathan. 14 Mar. 2009. Web. 11 Feb. 2010.
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