Human Trafficking and International

¶ … Peril of Human Trafficking All over the world, human beings are bought and sold like slaves: this is known as the scourge of human trafficking. Human trafficking can take many forms. There is trafficking of persons involved in forced labor, forced prostitution, child labor, migrant smuggling and manipulation. No matter the form, the outcome is always the same -- trafficking is a violation of human rights.

The United Nations has issued a very clear and stark warning to the world regarding the severity and seriousness of human trafficking: "Virtually every country in the world is affected by these crimes" (UNODC, 2015). To put a stop to it, the UN has partnered with six organizations "committed to combating human trafficking" (UNGIFT, 20015). This paper will discuss the nature of human trafficking, how and why it violates human rights and international law, and how it can be stopped.

At Its Root Human Trafficking is a Violation of Human Rights The nature of human trafficking is essentially this, as defined by the UN: "the acquisition of people by improper means such as force, fraud or deception, with the aim of exploiting them" (UNODC, 2015). Thus, the various forms of trafficking -- from migrant smuggling to sex trafficking to child trafficking -- are all types of exploitation that enrich the exploiters and harm the exploited.

These types of trafficking violate human rights by denying the human being the basic right to exercise his or her will about his or her destiny.

An individual has the basic right to freedom, as the UN has stated in Article 3 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948): "Everyone has the right to life, liberty and security of person." Traffickers deny persons this right -- by forcing them into sex slavery, labor, or into situations against their will, where the individuals have no say or recourse to exercising their rights, as defined by the United Nations' Declaration of more than half a century ago.

Yet, in spite of this Universal Declaration, trafficking continues -- and the question is why? The answer is a harrowing one: the fact is that people around the world will pay for cheap or even slave labor -- they will employ children in factories and pay the traffickers who bring them; they will exploit women in sex slavery trafficking; they will smuggle migrants across borders in violation of international law because it can be profitable for themselves.

In other words, trafficking occurs because of the self-interest of a few taking place over the common good of all. Trafficking and International Law Trafficking is a violation of international law as well: international law respects the rights of nations to protect their borders. This is why there are immigration ports at all countries, where those passing through must show identification.

Passports are distributed by one's native country to the traveler specifically for this purpose and visas are granted to visitors so that they can have lawful and documented entrance into the country. Traffickers forego this process by smuggling persons in under the ropes. There is no documentation for their being in the country, much less permission. Trafficked persons enter into a country without the authorities being aware of it. Thus, not only is trafficking a human rights violation, it is also a criminal enterprise according to international law.

How to Address the Issue As trafficking is a serious crime that needs direct action from world leaders in order to stop it, much is currently being done to raise awareness and coordinate efforts to reduce the prevalence of human trafficking around the world. One very prevalent form of human trafficking taking place is forced labor through child trafficking.

This violation of human rights -- which is really a form of child abuse as well -- is particularly heinous especially in third world countries where families suffer from poverty and thus allow their children to essentially be taken into slavery to work for slave wages for major corporations that seek to exploit cheap labor. Organizations such LOVE146, whose mission it is to save children from the streets where they are susceptible to being rounded up and forced into labor camps (Become a Partner, 2015).

Against Child Trafficking (ACT) is another organization that operates out of Europe and works to end the "market of transnational commercial surrogacy" (ACT, 2015). The United States has its own agency dedicated to ending child trafficking -- the End Trafficking Project -- operation with the United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund (UNICEF). The goal of this operation is to "provide a living wage for parents so that their children do not have to work to support the family and can attend school instead" (UNICEF, 2015).

UNICEF and the End Trafficking Project thus aim to combat the problem at its root -- by ridding poverty, which compels families to allow trafficking to happen. At a political level, these agencies work through lobbying to urge governments to crack down on trafficking and human exploitation by promoting the passing of legislation that will provide funding for more effective eradication of trafficking and the problem of forced labor in their countries. Forced prostitution is another form of trafficking that many agencies around the world are working to address.

The Coalition Against Trafficking in Women is an international non-governmental organization (NGO) that has as its mission the goal of ending human trafficking, prostitution and commercial sex worker trafficking. The organization was founded in 1988 by American feminist leaders who wanted to fight against the prevalence of pornography in the country. Their fight grew until it began to address the issue of forced prostitution as well. The organization began to spread to other countries where trafficking of women was highly problematic -- places such as Japan, Philippines, Venezueal and Bangladesh (Coalition, 2015).

Many groups that are opposed to human trafficking attempt to raise awareness through the education of the masses of the victims of trafficking who are manipulated into being exploited. Many persons in societies around the world may not understand how persons become victimized by traffickers -- thus these groups provide educative material, give presentations and seminars around the globe, and hold conferences where ideas can be shared and these issues addressed directly.

For instance, one of the points that they may bring up in a conference is the fact that traffickers "lure and ensnare people into forced labor and sex trafficking by manipulating and exploiting their vulnerabilities" (NHTRC, 2015). In other words, traffickers find people who are suffering from homelessness or poverty or drug addiction and tempt them into service by promising them a better life.

Traffickers will assure them of making a high salary or of finding a stable home life or a loving relationship -- and then they will "use physical and psychological violence to control them" (NHTRC, 2015). Traffickers use lies, deception, trickery and psychological tactics to lure their victims into various forms of bondage, where they are kept against their will because they cannot break free from the psychological and/or physical prison that the traffickers erect around them.

Working for Change: Direct Combat Groups opposed to trafficking will attempt to combat the lucrative business of trafficking by going to the industries where trafficking is predominantly occurring -- namely, in transportation industries, advertising, finance, hospitality, labor brokers, and travel services. Businesses that work in these industries have a serious role to play in the ending of trafficking as well. They must understand that traffickers look to exploit them as well so as to hide their actions behind legitimate-in-appearance services.

Business owners, managers and workers in these industries can be aware of the possibility that victims of trafficking may be in their midst. By raising awareness about what to look for and how to confront the issue, groups opposed to trafficking can help to end it by forming critical alliances within the industries were forced labor or forced prostitution is most likely to be seen.

The important thing to remember for leaders within these industries is that trafficking is a violation of human rights -- so even if it appears on the outside that everything is okay, the reality behind the scenes can be very disturbing.

Traffickers can be so psychologically manipulative that those who are forced into labor will not even want to admit of their situation -- they will fear reprisal from their captors or they will believe that there really is no alternative for them so they must make do with what they have.

They may not want anyone to intervene on their behalf because they are afraid of the unknown -- or they may have grown up from childhood as a victim of human trafficking and another way of life may be so foreign to them that they will not know how to approach it or what to do with it even if it were offered to them.

Restoring Victims' Sense of Their Own Human Rights Thus, in order to restore these victims' sense of human rights to them, they first must be educated about the opportunities that lie beyond a life of trafficking. They need to be shown actual and real care and compassion -- variables that they do not encounter in their life from the hands of their traffickers.

They need to be shown real possibility and the fact that actual hope and change are possible and not just dead words sold to them by persons looking to exploit them for personal gain. The crux of human rights and the Universal Declaration on Human Rights is that every human being is important and special and deserving of life, liberty and security of person.

These rights do not just apply to persons who have a high degree of quality of life but rather to all persons -- even to those individuals who may not be aware of the fact that they have such rights. Such individuals who are locked in a psychological prison for whatever reason -- because of poverty, homelessness, drug abuse or neglect -- are still individuals for whom the Human Rights Declaration is stated.

Therefore, it is incumbent upon all societies that adhere to the Declaration and to the belief in liberty that individuals suffering from trafficking be helped. That mission begins with a freeing of the mind -- through education, raising awareness, and direct action on the streets. As UNICEF has shown, sometimes addressing the problem through preventive measures can be the best way to ensure that it does not grow from.