The Current World Slavery Problem - Research Paper Example

? The Current World Slavery Problem BY YOU YOUR SCHOOL INFO HERE HERE Human slavery is still a considerable problem in the United s and internationally. Research identifies that approximately 12.3 million individuals worldwide are affected by sex trades, trafficking, abduction and human financial sales transactions for the pursuit of human enslavement. Potential opportunities for controlling these activities include cooperative legislation formation and legalizing of prostitution to provide opportunities to assist vulnerable humans being enslaved. The Current World Slavery Problem Introduction The current state of modern human slavery in the United States and globally is dismal, based on the statistics supporting the volume of individuals who are forced into labor, sexual acts, or even fighting in war zones by slave traffickers or dictatorial leadership in a region. In 1999, approximately 50,000 children and women were trafficked in the United States each year for the purpose of slavery (O’Neill-Richard, 1999). The International Labour Organization further identifies that approximately 12.3 million men, women and children are forced into slavery, taken captive by individuals with affiliations among organized crime groups (Ramonet, 2011). The Human Rights Watch makes estimates that approximately 120,000 children have been enslaved in Africa for the pursuit of militant action in countries such as Rwanda, the Republic of Congo, and Liberia (Fitzgibbon, 2003). The scope of the problem of human slavery in modern society is significant and difficult to control and evidence suggests that there should be more governmental intervention and global legislation created to combat this lingering problem. Examination of Slavery Variety The method by which individuals are forced into slavery vary depending on the desired outcome by those who abduct or traffic the victims. Many who are forced into slavery conditions are misled by clever traffickers who promise victims legalization in a foreign country or the guarantee of a high-paying job if they are willing to migrate to another country. Donna Hughes, an educator in the study of women at the University of Rhode Island, identifies that many who are forced into slavery are recruited in nations where job skill training is low and economic conditions poor. Informed that they will receive a quality job by travelling to another nation, they are willing to comply with conscious acknowledgement of their poor job skills aptitudes (Univ. of Rhode Island, 2002). Upon arrival, usually in a different nation than where they were informed the job awaited, factions confiscate their travel visas and inform them that they will be engaging in prostitution with the threat of beatings or complete revocation of their various immigrant papers (Univ. of Rhode Island, 2002). Many of these individuals are physically locked in a brothel and refused exit, thus being forced to comply with the demands of their aggressors. In developing nations, individuals are sold by their parents for moderate cash reimbursement or are abducted to serve as laborers for factions that condone human slavery. Common activities include intensive and harsh labor in diamond mines or agricultural systems that fuel local civil war efforts in certain African countries or being forced to work as domestic servants for various crime ring Lords (Bales, 2004; Fitzgibbon, 2003). Some of these abducted or sold individuals are forced to work in prostitution rings or as street beggars to fund certain war activities. However, these developing nations have much more lenient and tolerating political actors that do not intervene in favor of the youths since they are segregated from adherence to international laws provided by the United Nations. In some nations, the political leadership is corrupt and maintains strong connections with these trafficking rings, which complicates the process of securing human rights and ensuring an end to slavery in these nations. Some African youths are sold for meager totals of below $340 each (Fitzgibbon, 2003), which illustrates the mentality of those who barter for child laborers in certain African nations. In the Caribbean Island nations, many youths are abducted and forced to work in the sex tourism industry, in which there is very high demand (Univ. of Rhode Island, 2002). Countries such as Belize and Guyana have borders that are unsupervised by government and other relevant maritime authorities (Chabrol, 2010), thus providing an opportunity for regular trafficking and enslavement of foreign men, women and children who are forced to serve many Western tourists that applaud these slave trades for their personal enjoyment. The sex tourism industry is a multi-billion dollar industry, thus many government actors will turn a blind eye to these activities with a conscious understanding of the positive financial gains that sex tourism has on various local economies. Human slavery in contemporary society is not only isolated to foreign nations. In the United States, in the suburbs of Kansas City, Missouri, a federal grand jury brought a conviction against an accused crime ring running a debt-bondage scheme to ensure human slavery. Under this scheme, the ring recruited individuals from Jamaica, the Dominican Republic, and the Philippines with a promise of legalization in the United States. After arrival, the crime ring would put these immigrants to work in various hotels as cleaning staff where their paychecks were garnished by their abductors (Wall Street Journal, 2009). Such garnishments were imposed with information that it was being conducted to repay the travel costs from their home country to the United States, rent in deplorable properties, or even uniforms for their new work roles (Wall Street Journal, 2009). Individuals were not able to escape their masters for fear of economic instability and for constant threats of deportation for non-compliance. A man in New Jersey was sent to prison in 2005 for luring Russian dancers to the United States under the premise that they would be cultural dancers. Instead, they were recruited or various roles in strip clubs in New Jersey where they were intimidated with threats of physical violence for failing to obey (Miller, 2005). This tends to illustrate that human slavery is not just a byproduct of organized crime, but can also occur at the individual level which makes the process of identifying and punishing these perpetrators more difficult. What can be Done? Even with the high volume of organizations enacted to combat human slavery and attempt to promote human rights, such as The U.S. State Department Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons, the European Court of Human Rights, and the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, very little advancement has occurred in halting human slavery. It was previously identified that many government officials are involved with these influential crime rings or engage in sex tourism (or other relevant sexually-related enslavement scenarios), thus making legislative headway becomes conflicted. In addition, not all nations are under the jurisdiction of international punishing bodies, such as the Palermo Protocol, a UN legislative effort. Because of this, international pressures or authorities cannot secure adequate punishments for individuals or groups that have prescribed to engage in human slavery. One effort to improve this situation would be to change laws regarding the legislative acceptability of prostitution. Godfrey Bloom, a UK statesman, believes that legalizing prostitution brothels would actually serve to assist law enforcement officials to free victims in vulnerable enslavement positions (UK Independence Party, 2010). Legalization would provide a form of competition to these enslavement rings where they are no longer in demand or obscured from public view by emergence of legalized prostitution centers. Thus, sex slavery would no longer be a lucrative activity and would secure safety for vulnerable individuals forced to work in black market environments. Combating these slave trades would also require more cooperative efforts between Western authorities and developing countries to identify vulnerable populations and provide for allowance of law enforcement to seize assets or make arrests on foreign nations. This could be accomplished by establishing various international charters, ratified by national leadership, to provide open borders for sex trafficking perpetrators guaranteeing non-interference by local officials. Such contractual bargaining could be outlined through United Nations representation or other moderators to determine the most effective entry and procedural methods within a particular national border. Conclusion Though the proposed solutions would not satisfy all problems in combating or controlling human slavery, they represent potential options for improving the current state of vulnerable populations. Human slavery in modern society is a considerable problem, identified by many professionals and experts from reputable international organizations and is supported by high statistical data illustrating its prevalence in the U.S. and internationally. The scope of the problem is intense and there should be more intervention by government and the creation of cooperative legislation to ensure human slavery is abolished. References Bales, Kevin. (2004). Disposable People: New Slavery in the Global Economy, Berkeley: University of California Press. Chabrol, Denis Scott. (2010), OAS Forecasts Increased Human Trafficking in Caribbean: Sex- tourism also fueling modern slave trade, Demerara Waves, Retrieved September 10, 2012 from http://www.demerarawaves.com/index.php/Latest/2010/10/14/oas-forecasts-increased-human-trafficking-in-caribbean-sex-tourism-also-fuel-modern-slave-trade.html Fitzgibbon, Kathleen. (2003). Modern Day Slavery: The scope of trafficking in persons in Africa, African Security Review, 12(1). Miller, John R. (2005). A Modern Slave Trade. New York Post Online Edition, Retrieved September 11, 2012 from http://www.soc.iastate.edu/sapp/SlaveTrade4.pdf O’Neill-Richard, Amy. (1999). International Trafficking in Women to the United States: A Contemporary Manifestation of Slavery and Organized Crime, Center for the Study of Intelligence, Retrieved September 11, 2012 from https://www.cia.gov/library/center-for- the-study-of-intelligence/csi-publications/books-and-monographs/trafficking.pdf Ramonet, I. (2011). Neoliberalism’s Newest Product: The Modern Slave Trade, Center for Research on Globalization, Retrieved September 10, 2012 from http://www.globalresearch.ca/neoliberalism-s-newest-product-the-modern-slave-trade/ UK Independence Party. (2010). Europe’s Modern Slave Trade Thrives Unhindered through Schengen, Retrieved September 10, 2012 from http://www.ukipmeps.org/news_78_%E2%80%A2-Europes-modern-slave-trade-thrives-unhindered-through-Schengen.html University of Rhode Island. (2002), Modern Day Slavery, Retrieved September 11, 2012 from http://www.uri.edu/artsci/wms/hughes/modern_day_slavery Wall Street Journal. (2009). Modern Slavery comes to Kansas, Retrieved September 11, 2012 from http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124520412113421827.html Read More