Modern day slavery in our midst: Human Trafficking

What is Human Trafficking?

Human Trafficking a modern form of slavery is the illegal trade of buying and selling of people for various reasons such as sexual exploitation and forced labor.

Where Does Human Trafficking Happen? Who Does It Affect?

The Human Trafficking network spans worldwide.

This illegal trade has various victims, but the majority are Eastern European, Asian and African.

Popular destinations for trafficked victims are Brazil, Australia, Netherlands, Cambodia, France, India, Nigeria, Israel, Japan, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom and the United states.

Think Human Trafficking is rare in the US? Think Again.

Facts and Statistics about Human Trafficking

Human trafficking has tied with the selling of arms for second in the top three illegal trafficked items in the world

The United Nations Office on drugs and crimes given percentage breaks on trafficked persons- Men=12% Women=66% Children=22%

Human trafficking statistics 2010 indicate that as many as over 700,00women and children (girls and boys) have been trafficked into the us from all over the world since the year 2000

The Global Human Trafficking industry pulls in 31.6 billion USD yearly and numbers still rise

Most of the time the “recruiter” is familiar with the victim they can be family friends neighbors or family members

The ratio of trafficked to convicted is 800:1

55% of men and 45% of women are recruiters

How Do Recruiters Pull in Victims?

Victims are promised jobs opportunities in another country.

Offered possible husbands or wives in order for a better life.

Some poor families sell their children into prostitution for a significant amount of money.

Other victims are just taken.

Why Don’t They Try to Escape?

Physical force is used to keep victims in line.

Many are forced to take drugs and become dependant on the trafficker for their fix.

Victims are told if they try attempt to get help the their families, loved ones, etc will be killed.

Interview with a victim: Ina "I was working, cleaning dishes in someone's house. Then I noticed a woman and

man following me around. They asked me why I would want to spend the rest of my life working here if I were so pretty. They took me to a café and drugged my food, they then took me to Delhi and told me that in less than a month I would be making more than Rs. 100,000. At first I thought I was going to be a housebuilding assistant and agreed to do the job. I was taken to the railway station and then taken to another part of Delhi. There was a woman waiting for me at the railway station. That woman took me away. The woman's husband then raped me. I was then taken to a red light area and forced to work. I got pregnant. I was forced to take heroin, beer and other strong alcoholic drinks. The brothel owners used to beat and torture us mercilessly. One time, a new girl had come to the brothel, I told her she should leave and described what they did to us. The girl tried to leave. But when the owner found out what I had told the girl, he beat me and kept me in a box for a whole night and day. The box was so small that I couldn't even sit up properly in it. Soon after, I was arrested by the police and taken to jail for one month, but I was told by a policewoman, who was hand-in-glove with the brothel owners, that I was better off back at the brothel and should go back because I would just suffer and die in prison. I was told I would be paid all the money I have earned when I got back to the brothel. I was then sent back to the brothel by means of the policewoman who, at the time, was claiming to be my mother. “

Ina, 12 Year Old Victim of Human Trafficking

Example of a Victim: Alena P.

Alena P. was a dancer and performer in Russia. She came to the United States on a visa for cultural performances to work in a theater troupe. When she arrived, she was taken to an apartment in New Jersey and told that she was to work as a stripper to pay off the debt that she accrued from coming to the United States. She was physically threatened and her passport was confiscated.

She worked for almost a year, only receiving about $50 a week that she had to use to pay for meals. Every day, her traffickers picked her up from an apartment, which she shared with other young women who also worked at the strip club, and brought her directly to work. She was not told how long she had to work there to pay off her debt. The total amount that she owed was not clear either because her traffickers deducted rent, transportation, and costume fees from her income.

One day, one of her roommates ran away, escaping from the apartment through a window, and went to the police. Her traffickers were arrested. Alena cooperated in the investigation of her traffickers, who were successfully prosecuted. She now has a T visa, is married, and is the mother of a young son.

What's Being Done about Human Trafficking?

Most of the World uses Awareness Campaigns to prevent human trafficking.

The Philippine organization, GABRIELA, uses their campaigns to prevent human trafficking.

In Thailand they educate the women to prevent them from being forced into slavery because of outside pressure and a lack of education.

The World Health Organization and other global groups work with local and national law enforcement to prevent and end trafficking rings.

One Country’s Response: The Ukraine is NOT a Brothel

In eastern Europe a group known as FEMMEN is a group of women that fight against human trafficking in Ukraine.

One of their recent concerns on the issue is Ukraine is holding the 2011 Euro soccer cup and FEMMEN fear that visitors will not only come to see the games but the illegal brothels in Ukraine as well.

The European Union, Soccer Organizations and local authorities have teamed up to prevent human trafficking during the event.

Works Cited

“Understanding Human Trafficking.” The Spearhead. Web. 3 September 2010. 11 February 2011.

“Brothels as Prisons.” Human Rights Now Organization. Web. 22 December 2008. 12 February 2011.

“Human Trafficking.” Wikipedia.org. Web. 12 February 2011.

“Human Slavery: Facts and Figures.” World Health Organization. Web. 12 January 2010. 15 February 2011.