This is a literature review of several print and Internet articles on the phenomenon of human trafficking and the global sex industry. It discusses current controversies, such as the best way to deal with victims who are abused, and the need to fight poverty and organized crime on a global level to reduce the incentives for individuals to flee abroad, where they are vulnerable to abuse.
Human Trafficking: Literature Review
Perhaps the most significant act of legislation passed to deal with the growing global problem of human trafficking was the Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000. This law established specific federal penalties for trafficking in persons, as well as offered added protections for victims. However, according to Anthony M. Destefano's 2007 The war on human trafficking: U.S. policy assessed, the years subsequent to the passage of this Act have revealed the provisions of this law to be inadequate. First and foremost, Destefano accuses the Bush Administration of having a kind of prurient fascination with prostitution, and says that it ignores other areas of the capitalist system in which there is profiting off of trafficking, such as sweatshops. In the hands of the Bush Administration, the law was used just as often to punish and silence victims as it was to litigate against their abusers.
However, according to Loring's article on "Globalization and social welfare" (et al. 2010), the tendency of governments to ignore the influence of trafficking is not epidemic only in the United States. Many governments, particularly in the developing world, turn a blind eye to trafficking, given the corruption and influence of the organized crime rings that support trafficking. Human trafficking is not manifested only in one nation, nor is one country alone to blame. It is a global phenomenon, and it is facilitated by the existence of the new, interrelated global economy. Given that trafficking is increasing, the need for all countries to fight trafficking together with international law is essential.
Thus, this global economy is increasingly characterized by a chasm between the 'haves' and the 'have-nots' of the world, which creates an appetite to use human beings in a variety of industries, spanning from agriculture, to the sex industry, to domestic servitude, to sweatshops. Unlike Destefano, however, Loring (et al.) does not see the emphasis on prostitution as misplaced, in terms of policing human trafficking abroad and at home. As much as 80% of all human trafficking involves female victims, although trafficking in males does exist. Women in particular may be fearful about speaking out, because they are involved in illegal sex industries and fear retribution from the males who dominate them. Greater clarity is necessary to understand the nature of the phenomenon, and also there must be more coherent definitions of what constitutes trafficking that are agreed upon by the international community.
The need for improved policing of trafficking and its female character is also confirmed in R.N. Tiffany Dovydaitis's article "Human trafficking: The role of the health care provider." Despite the fact that a significant percentage of women who have been trafficked do come into contact with health professionals, this rarely results in the professional alerting the police. There are real concerns, Dovydaitis admits, regarding deportation, because trafficking can be an extremely difficult crime to prove and the crime must be proven for the woman to be protected by the law. Like Destefano, Dovydaitis also takes the U.S. government's Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000 to task for not really protecting women.
Although a trafficking visa (T visa) exists, if the woman cooperates with authorities, the visa only makes illegal residents eligible to become permanent residents within three years, and not all victims can summon up sufficient proof against their abusers to even receive the visa. Despite these warnings, Dovydaitis notes that there is still a great deal of value in going forth with reporting suspected trafficking. She notes common signs such as bruises and PTSD symptoms, a lack of documentation, and the women's demeanor in relationship to her captor as warning signs that healthcare workers must be aware of, when dealing with a women who is a possible victim.
Most authors on the subject see amnesty for victims as an essential component to encourage enslaved workers to come forward and report their abusers. Only by prosecuting the enslavers and ensuring that trafficking is no longer a profitable business can the practice be fought. However, from the point-of-view of the nation that is the source of persons who are trafficked, trafficking can result in an overall economic loss of human capital for the nation in the long run. As a 'macro' solution, increasing the opportunities for legal immigration to the U.S. is not a solution to the problems of human trafficking.
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