“In our world 600,000 to 800,000 people are trafficked internationally each year, 14,500 are trafficked into the United States every year and 80% of these people are women and children (Paranormal.)” These people are not only taken from places in the United States but from all over the world. This simply recognizes the people abducted here. Human trafficking is the illegal and often illicit means of capturing people, using them to complete simultaneously illegal things, such as the sex trade and forced labor. Something must be done about it. Human trafficking is something that affects people in many detrimental ways that will continue to affect them physically and emotionally for many years after. There are many diagnosable psychological disorders that result from this. There are four different types of nationally recognized types of human trafficking, which are utilized by governments to penalize people according to severity.
One of the major things is where these people are abducted from. Although controversial, according to the credible site humantrafficking.org, around twenty thousand people are trafficked through the United States every year to various countries around the world. Sometimes the people are kept within United States borders, and this is often where we get missing people reports from.
Human trafficking not only focuses on the sex trade but also focuses on forced labor. Which is the idea that people are required to work against their will whilst receiving little or mostly no payment, this is perhaps closely related to the archaic term of slavery. In which a person has been purchased or taken by the “owner” and forced to complete certain tasks. If the victim fails to complete the task they are often times punished; utilizing malnourishment and violence. Occasionally leading to death and extreme psychological stress. According to Human Trafficking.com, forced labor is a larger problem then sex trade. Kristina Kangaspunta, the chief of the Anti-Human Trafficking Unit for the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC); claims that “Forced labor appears to not be as prominent because the reports of it are less then those of sex trafficking.” Thereby this convinces people that it is not as bad as sex trafficking, when often times it is worse. People are required to work in factories creating textiles and clothing products, (humantrafficking.org (title).)
The people abducted are often times unaware that they are being abducted until the obvious signs display themselves. Such as, people are most often abducted through friends and co-workers who see the profit in it. They are essentially sold by their friends into slavery. Sometimes parents will go out to do errands and leave their child at home. The child (who has already been targets) is abducted right in his home. This is also especially true when parents bring their children to crowded unknown areas. “Most human trafficking happens because of coercion and trickery, (human trafficking).”
There are three different elements of human trafficking that show the progression of how the act is committed. They are “act, means, and purpose.” Each of these explains in detail what is meant to be accomplished according to the steps.
Beginning with the act, which is the primary level of abduction. It is made up of several different steps such as recruitment, which is the original usage of force and control to capture the person. Then the owner or abductor, has to transport a person to a specific place and be able to sell them once he gets there; to make a profit. This is the first stage because it recognizes what the abductor has to do in order to get the person to a different location, it is the transportation stage.
The second stage is the means of human trafficking, which looks at coercion, deception, and abuse of power. Coercion being the ability to essentially convince someone that they should go with you and be trafficked even though they are unaware, this also ties into deception; which is the means of explaining to the person that they will have a better life if they go with them. The last part is the abuse of power on an exceptionally vulnerable person, such as a boss that sells an employee or trades them for perhaps some sort of material good.
The last level of human trafficking is the purpose, which is the reasoning behind abducting and trafficking a person. There are several reasons why one might feel the need to traffic other human beings. Such as prostitution and sexual exploitations, which means the person is abducted solely for the reason of being pimped and controlled. Mostly women and children are affected by this not men. Another purpose would be slavery or acts mutual to slavery. Inclusive of child labor and factory a worker, which provides a cheap means of utilizing people to do work, meaning the owner receives more money because he has less people to pay. Perhaps a minor but most interesting purpose for human trafficking would be the removal or harvesting of human organs. So people are abducted, worked until they die (or are killed), and then the owner removes the organs of the person and sells them on the black market.
People are abducted utilizing several different methods. Perhaps they are encouraged by an acquaintance to travel abroad, and that friend sells them into prostitution. Perhaps a group abroad program is run illegitimacy and the person running the program is in reality a trafficker. Occasionally in especially third world countries, parents will sell their children to feed the rest of the family so that everyone survives in a sense.
There are three ways that a person is convicted of participating in human trafficking according to UNODC. They are recognized as: An attempt to commit a trafficking offense (such as conspiracy), participation as an accomplice to an offense of human trafficking, and organizing or directing others to commit human trafficking. These are all offenses they hold sever punishments. Another list of definitions for human trafficking includes that the trafficking occurs across country borders and within a country. Also that it is a range of exploitative reasons, such as sex trafficking and forced labor. Who the trafficker victimizes, whether it be children, women, or men, finally if it takes place utilizing the involvement of organized crime syndicates.
According the above information human trafficking is actually a very complex and difficult profession. It is also an incredibly lucrative business. The people who abduct and sell other humans make a significant amount of money doing so. It is a multi-million dollar a year illicit business.
People are abducted utilizing several different methods. Perhaps they are encouraged by an acquaintance to travel abroad, and that friend sells them into prostitution. Perhaps a group abroad program is run illegitimacy and the person running the program is in reality a trafficker. Occasionally in especially third world countries, parents will sell their children to feed the rest of the family so that everyone survives in a sense.
There are several different real life stories of people who were captured and sold on the black market, according to human trafficking (a website not to be confused with human trafficking.org), a woman named Nida from Thailand, who moved to Japan in her search for employment. She intended to give her earnings to her family so they could buy food. She traveled alongside a man she had to pretend was her boyfriend, in order to survive. This man sold her to a brothel, who then required her to make approximately ten thousand USD, before she could send any money home. After she participated unwillingly in an unfortunate event with a client she was diagnosed with AIDS. Another woman named Nung also from Thailand also experienced the same thing. She was coerced into prostitution by her older half-sister. She held employment at bars in Thailand and was trafficked into Japan. She then was diagnosed with ovarian cancer and was released by her captor to return to her son.
There are also several disorders associated with human trafficking, such as anxiety disorders, stress disorders, post-traumatic stress disorder, and depression. Anxiety and stress disorders are characterized by twitching, sweating, dry mouth, and muscle tension. Someone who experiences human trafficking first hand lives with these feelings on a daily basis, they have been through things that no one should ever have to go through (Health NY times.)
Post-traumatic stress disorder is displayed as something that is constantly felt by the victim emotionally. “People who have PTSD have persistent frightening thoughts and memories of their ordeal and feel emotionally numb.” Feeling emotionally numb is characterized by simply not caring anymore, being apathetic towards all situations. The people who were involved in some way with 9/11 often experience emotional numbing. People who have PTSD have recurring nightmares and feelings pretty much all the time. They often relive the situation through flashbacks triggered by things that they see, feel, hear, touch, smell, or sense in some way (NIMH.)
The final commonly seen disorder in trafficked people is depression. Depression has many symptoms, but the ones that relate to human trafficking are agitation, insomnia, feelings of hopelessness, and withdrawal from daily tasks. Agitation is characterized by constantly feeling angry and irritated for no reason. Insomnia is a consistent inability to fall asleep and stay asleep at night. This is the most common symptom for trafficked people. Feelings of hopelessness and withdrawal from daily tasks go hand in hand with each other. People no longer want to be involved with their life and they would rather stay at home and do nothing (Google Health.)
There are several things that are being done right now to combat human trafficking around the world. “For example, in Australia where a non-governmental organization (NGO), Child Wise, has organized an awareness campaign, a help hotline, and teamed up with police departments…(human trafficking). Efforts have also been made in Africa in the country of Ethiopia where immigration distributes information and provides videos and speakers to explain people the risks of traveling abroad. Almost all countries are attempting to figure out ways to fix this situation. The UN is the major participant in lowering human trafficking cases. They started a program called “The Blue Heart Campaign.” This group effectively gathers information from trafficking cases and provides support and services to people affected by human trafficking (Blue Heart Campaign.)
Any person can also help with this, by doing specific things. Such as getting involved with an organization that fights human trafficking, volunteer and help to provide funding. Another possible thing is to report any potential trafficking theories, such as a suspected person who you think might be trafficking people. There are several coalitions that people can join, for example: Coalition Against Trafficking in Women, Anti-Slavery International, and The Protection Project (human trafficking.)
Overall human trafficking is a huge problem that affects people of all races and cultures. Human trafficking is a very lucrative business and millions of people across the world are affected by it every day. Although work is being done to combat trafficking there are still many people who have to deal with on a daily basis the psychological and physical effects of it.
Works Cited
“Blueheart Campaign.” United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime. Web. 17 Nov. 2010.
Carey, By Benedict. “Stress and Anxiety – Symptoms, Causes, Tests – NY Times Health Information.” Health News – The New York Times. Web. 17 Nov. 2010.
“Human Trafficking.” Oak.cats. Web. 17 Nov. 2010.
“HumanTrafficking.org | News & Updates: Human Trafficking for Forced Labor Might Exceed Perception.” HumanTrafficking.org: A Web Resource for Combating Human Trafficking in the East Asia Pacific Region. Web. 17 Nov. 2010.
“Major Depression.” Google. Web. 17 Nov. 2010.
“NIMH • Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD).” NIMH • Home. Web. 17 Nov. 2010.
Paranormalknowledge.com | Paranormal Articles . Web. 04 Nov. 2010.
