Human Trafficking: Causes and Motivating Forces There\'s

¶ … Human Trafficking: Causes and Motivating Forces

There's no doubt that human trafficking is one of the saddest evils of our day: "On the worldwide black market, the third most profitable commodity after illegal weapons and drugs is human flesh: women and girls from all over Eastern Europe, sold for sex by the networks of organized crime that became entrenched in the aftermath after the fall of communism" (Malarek, 2011). Other scholars call it "modern day slavery" or "a slippery and confounding evil" (Skinner, 2008). Regardless of what human trafficking is most accurately referred to, the more one entrenches oneself with a bold study of the literature and research that surrounds human trafficking, the better one will understand what motivates and perpetuates this crime against humanity and the better armed one becomes at abolishing it.

For example, in the article, "Human Trafficking in the United States: Expanding Victim Protection Beyond Prosecution Witnesses" the effectiveness of the Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000 signed into law by President Clinton is examined unflinchingly. One of the main arguments that this article makes is that this law has such tough eligibility requirements and such stringent requirements of victim cooperation with law enforcement that it makes any implied or potential benefits to the victims extremely hard to reap:

"Specifically, victims who have been raped, tortured, or otherwise brutalized, as is common in human trafficking, often suffer severe psychological trauma, which may make them incapable of discussing the traumatic events. Under the TVPA, if these traumatized individuals are not able to meet complex eligibility requirements and cooperate with law enforcement officials, they are ineligible for most protections and may, in fact, be deported." (Sadruddin et al., 2000)

This clearly demonstrates the cloddish and almost backwards notion of this law. This demonstrates that it practically doesn't understand the trauma that the victims have lived through and how to respond to, and what the victims are likely capable or incapable of. While it's crucial for the women and girls caught up in trafficking to be able to talk to the authorities, a more sensitive and responsive approach is necessary. As it stands now, victims are often punished more severely than the traffickers themselves (Sadruddin et al., 2000). In fact, Claudia Aradau asserts exactly as much in her article, "The Perverse Politics of Four-Letter Words: Risk and Pity in the Securitisation of Human Trafficking." Aradau addresses the problem of human trafficking as both a humanitarian issue and a security threat and examines how these women are identified as illegal migrants, victims, prostitutes and suffering bodies (2011). Aradau attempts to explain how these contradictory and somewhat manic terms can all coexist. Thus, Aradau eventually concludes that there exists a tremendous amount of overlap in both the security and humanitarian concerns as well a "perverse continuity" (2011).

For example, in the article, "Russian Transnational Organized Crime and Human Trafficking" by Finckenauer seeks to uncover this "perverse continuity" by gaining a more comprehensive understanding of organized crime as it exists in Russia, as Finckenauer believes that organized crime is responsible for much of the human trafficking problem as it exists in the world today ( 2001). Finckenauer defines organized crime as criminal groups that possess sophistication, structure, self-identification within the group, and reputation, notably a reputation for violence (2001). "They are characterized not by undertaking particular political activities but rather by the monopoly and control of criminal enterprises -- by their ability to dominate the criminal underworld (Finckenauer, 2001). Finckenauer explains that things like having a bad reputation allows criminals access to criminal markets that would ordinarily be closed to them, something that crucial in allowing a problem like human trafficking to flourish (2001). Finckenauer cautions that using the typical techniques of fighting organized crime, such as arresting the ringleader are inefficient when it comes to organized crime in Russia as the ringleaders are often isolated and insulated from the rest of the crime ring and the fact that these organizations often have economic and political clout (2001). All in all, Finckenauer cautions that much of the information on human trafficking is very spotty and human trafficking does flourish inside and outside of the organized crime world and that having an understanding of trafficking as it is perpetuated at an organized crime ring level and at an individual or small enterprise level is crucial