Human Trafficking: A Modern-day Form of Slavery - Research Paper Example

 Introduction Human trafficking is like a modern-day form of slavery. It involves the use of coercion, force or fraud to exploit humans for some form of commercial sex or labor purpose. Each year, millions of people worldwide, with inclusion of the US become human trafficking victims. Victims are usually enticed with false promises of employments that are well paying or the people they trust manipulate them, but are instead coerced or forced into farm or factory labor, domestic servitude, prostitution, or other forms of forced labor. This essay focuses on depicting the prevalence of human trafficking in United States together with the trafficking statistics, and also identifies the individuals who are victims of human trafficking. Prevalence of Human Trafficking Into and Within the United States Trafficking Into the United States The methodologies and data for approximation of the global and national human trafficking prevalence are not well developed; therefore, the estimates established have varied extensively and changed considerably over time. The State Department of the U.S. has projected that roughly 600,000 to 800,000 victims are trafficked yearly across international borders globally, and roughly half of these victims are under the age 18. In addition, the State Department of the U.S. has approximated that of those victims trafficked globally, 80% are females and about 70% are forced into the sex industry. In comparison, the (ILO) International Labor Organization has approximated that at any given instance, 12.3 million individuals are in forced child labor, forced labor, involuntary servitude, bonded labor, and sexual servitude. Other global labor exploitation estimates range from 4-27 million (Bales & Soodalter, 2010). The initial estimates that were quoted in the Trafficking Victims Protection Act (TVPA) depicted that roughly 50,000 people are trafficked into the U.S. annually. This estimate was consequently reduced to 20,000 in the Department of State’s report of June 2005 “Trafficking in Persons Report,” and in its 2007 report, changed again to an approximation of 17,500 victims trafficked yearly into the United States. In accordance with the official administrative statistics, since 2001, the Department of Justice of the U.S. has put on trial 360 defendants in cases of human trafficking, and attained 238 convictions. Moreover, as of June 2009, 1,264 foreign citizens, both adults and children, have been licensed by the Department of Health and Human Services of the U.S. as human trafficking victims, entitled to be given public benefits. Among these, 1,153 are adults, and 69% of the victims are female. Out of the 111 minor victims licensed, 82% were female. For service providers of some victims and NGOs, these statistics are not considered as a representation of the authentic number of victims trafficked in the country. They have the belief that most victims go uncounted and unreported since they do not desire to collaborate with law enforcement; therefore, do not receive Federal assistance or are by no means reported to authorities (Bales & Soodalter, 2010). Trafficking Within the United States Until today, the human trafficking estimates have focused almost entirely on globally trafficked victims, and this is a fact even in United States. It is only a recent approximation of the under 18s at risk for sexual abuse that came close to estimating domestic trafficking the U.S. The American youth considered at risk for sexual abuse are between 244,000 and 325,000, and about 199,000 occurrences of minors being sexually exploited happen every year in the U.S (Bales & Soodalter, 2010). These statistics are, however, considered to be limited estimates of the American youths at risk for trafficking and do not focus on the U.S. adults and minors trafficked for labor or adult citizens trafficked into the commercial sex industry. However, one can turn to estimates of at-risk populace, like the youths exploited through commercial sex, runaway youths and child labor to achieve a better sense of the probable domestic trafficking prevalence, or at any rate the numbers of individuals at an elevated risk of trafficking. Given the connections linking minors and runaway youth exploited through prostitution, results from the National Incidence Studies can provide extra information concerning the potential prevalence of children trafficked domestically into the sex industry. For instance, out of the 1,682,900 youth characterized as runaway youth; 71% of such youths are deemed to be at risk for commercial sex working. Data released by the homeless and runaway youth programs sustained through financial support from the Family and Youth Services Bureau (FYSB) gives extra information concerning this at-risk youth population. In 2009, approximately 50,718 youth received services from the Family and Youth Services Bureau. Among these youth, 54% were female. In addition, through street outreach programs, 770,223 contacts were made, through distribution of hygiene products, health and written materials, and drinks and food to the youth (Bales & Soodalter, 2010). It is, however, unclear whether these figures comprise duplicate counts, for example in the situation where youths get services several times from more than one service providers, which is a predicament usually intrinsic in administrative data. Furthermore, the number of street youths who the service providers do not come into contact with is not known. A data produced by the National juvenile arrest also provides another foretaste of the potential magnitude of the youth’s domestic trafficking. In a year, for instance, among the 2,220,300 juveniles arrested, 1,400 youth are normally charged for commercialized vice and prostitution. Among these youths, 69% are female and unfortunately, 14% are under the age of 15. Unlike general juvenile rates of arrest, these numbers have elevated as years proceed. Despite these general statistics, there is no comprehensible agreement on the numbers of females versus males oppressed through commercial sex nationwide (Bales & Soodalter, 2010). The degree of difference in the treatment of males and females, together with the disparities in the situations under which they do commercial sex, with inclusion of location, make the data very hard to interpret. Just as other data linked to trafficking of humans, there exist significant gaps between the approximations of populations “at risk” or “prevalence” and persons essentially identified as victims of trafficking or registered in government programs. Enhanced data and research are required to commence differentiation among probable reasons for the breaches between administrative data and prevalence estimates. Moreover, apart from trafficking for commercial sex purposes, American adults and minors are prone to being trafficked for labor; however, minors are usually preferred to adults in the world of labor since controlling them is much easier and cheaper, and they rarely ask for better working conditions. Unfortunately, the information provided about labor trafficking is very little than the information provided about sex trafficking both within and into the United States. There is proof that forced labor on minors exists in the Latin American and African regions and also the developed nations like the United States. A study by the International Labor Organization established that females have a high risk potential of being trafficked for domestic services and commercial sex exploitation, while males are at high risk of being trafficked for forced labor in the drug trade, petty crimes, and commercial farming (Bales & Soodalter, 2010). Victims of Human Trafficking Commonalities Among Victims While the present stereotypes usually depict the human trafficking victims as innocent young females who are kidnapped or seduced from their native nations and forced into the commercial sex industry, it is not only the young females who undergo trafficking. Children, women and men of various ages and backgrounds can fall victims of traffickers for the intentions of labor and/or sex. Victims can be trafficked into the U.S. from various nations or may be foreign citizens who are in the U.S. either legally or illegally and are desperate to earn a living so that they can support themselves or can support their family who may either be in the U.S. or their nation of origin. In spite of citizenship, immigration status, age, or sex, certain similarities exist among human trafficking victims, for both labor and sex, for instance their vulnerability to coercion, fraud, or force. The human traffickers normally look out for those individuals who have few economic opportunities and are struggling to acquire basic commodities (Bales & Soodalter, 2010). These traffickers take advantage of women and girls’ unequal status in the disadvantaged nations and communities, and benefit from the demand for low-priced, unprotected labor and the encouragement of sex tourism in some nations. The human trafficking victims, both domestic and international, share other features that guarantee them the risk of being trafficked. These risk factors for the victims of human trafficking include; Sexual abuse, Lack of support from family e.g., orphaned, runaway youths, and the homeless. Gender inequality, Poverty, Age, lack of employment opportunities, Limited education, Residing in vulnerable areas e.g., areas with high crime, political corruption and police corruption, and Health/mental health challenges. The international trafficking victims may try to flee from internal strife like economic crises and civil wars. Most victims of international trafficking originate from underdeveloped nations where trafficking of humans has become a considerable source of income. Traffickers utilize opportunities in poor nations in Africa, Eastern Europe, Asia, and Latin America that provide limited employment opportunities and are featured by high organized crime rates and violence and hostility against women and children, political instability, armed conflict, government corruption and discrimination against women (Bales & Soodalter, 2010). Most victims of trafficking simply try to get themselves out of these unstable and substandard living conditions. Minor Victims of Domestic Sex Trafficking One of the populations considered to be the most vulnerable are the minors, with the minors in America not excluded. A keen focus on the features of the minors abused through prostitution and the adults prostitutes who were forced into the sex industry as minors offers valuable information to assist the answering the question that focuses on establishing who the domestic sex trafficking victims are. Minors are tricked, manipulated, coerced or forced into commercial sex daily. Countrywide, 12-14 years is the average age where most young females first face exploitation through prostitution, however, direct service providers within the nation give reports that there is an increasing number of younger victims who face this kind of exploitation. For instance, the New York City service providers report that girls entering the commerscial sex industry have dropped from 14 to 12 years of age in current years. However, for the young transgender youth is even much lower since they begin prostitution at the average age of 11-13 years (Bales & Soodalter, 2010). With regards to ethnicity and race, all adolescents’ subgroups are at risk for commercial sex. Normally, majority of those adolescents arrested in the United States for prostitution are of White or Black race. However, the number of African-American female minors and women arrested because of prostitution is far much higher than the number of females from other races who also do prostitution. Generally, the risk factors for the victims of Minor Domestic Sex human trafficking include; Individual substance abuse, Sexual abuse, Age, Loss of parent/guardian, Poverty, Runaway youth, Family substance or physical abuse, Sexual identity issues, Learning disabilities, and Lack of support systems. Conclusion Generally, despite U.S’s and the World’s increased attention towards the human trafficking problem there exists very little information concerning the prevalence of trafficking and the number of victims trafficked. There is also little information about the features of the victims of trafficking. Normally, the information that most people always have concerning the issue of human trafficking is focused on the international trafficking of females into the U.S. for commercial sex exploitation. Little attention is normally put on minor victims, domestic trafficking, transgender victims of sex, and male victims of labor and sex trafficking. In addition, it is important to note that human trafficking in its worst manifestation is similar to modern-day slavery. Victims of human trafficking, therefore, undergo several instances of both physical and psychological torture and exploitation. It is therefore important for every individual to assist where possible in eradicating this crime that is an absolute violation of human rights. Reference Bales, K., & Soodalter, R. (2010). The slave next door: Human trafficking and slavery in America today. Berkeley, Calif: University of California Press. Read More