Human Trafficking, Rampant in Almost All Countries

Human trafficking, rampant in almost all countries in the world, still unexpectedly continues in the United States with the forced exploitation of humans into forced labor or sexual exploitation. The United States' Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000 defines human trafficking as:

Sex trafficking in which a commercial sex act is induced by force, fraud, or coercion, or in which the person induced to perform such act has not attained 18 years of age, OR

The recruitment, harboring, transportation, provision, or obtaining of a person for labor or services, through the use of force, fraud, or coercion for the purpose of subjection to involuntary servitude, peonage, debt bondage, or slavery (Victims of Violence and Protection Act, 2000)

Almost non-existent here as compared to other countries where it is second only to drugs, according to the Washington Post (2008) only 1,362 cases of foreign victims of human trafficking have been identified here since 2000. Responding to the Post, Hughes of the National Review countered that the local phenomena is more severe than generally known. Cases are discovered from instances of victims who apply for certification, but not all apply for certification due to the fact that, amongst other reasons, some individuals are required to testify against conscriptors and become involved in investigations (an element that is required by certification). Victims are physically and psychologically battered, and know that if they will not be harmed there family will be harmed in their stead if police were to become aware of her circumstances. It is for this reason that hotlines instituted for such victims have failed, for in the infrequent cases when victims seek help, they call their family rather than the police or professional agencies (Markon, 2008).

Whilst human trafficking has become a serious social problem in many parts of the Unites States causing both federal and state authorities to become actively involved in attempting to impede it, the many conditions that go into making it secret make it difficult to find its victims and approximate the exact amount of human trafficking that occurs. This is a hidden population and finding and quantifying the extent of the unobserved is difficult if not impossible.

Background and summarize five related research models: usefulness, flaws and strengths

1. The Norwegian Plan of Action for Combating Trafficking in Women and Children (Brunovski & Tyldum, 2004) investigated mechanisms that make sexual exploitation possible. Quantitative and qualitative methodologies were integrated with Capture-Recapture assessments of women in street prostitution, telephone surveys of individuals involved in the various escort and other prostitution industries, in-depth interviews with victims of trafficking and other respondents. The study did not enable them to estimate the number of individuals who were annually trafficked in Norway nor did it provide information on how they exploited, although it did provide researchers with some idea of how the project succeeded.

2. Heather, Dutch, & Cummings (2006) conducted an exploratory study with personnel involved in controlling and investigating cases of human trafficking in order to investigate the extent of their knowledge on the subjects. A total of 121 telephone surveys with State and other local law enforcement personnel in cities across America supplemented by interviews with managers from agencies involved in law enforcement of human trafficking; online discussion forums with three anti-trafficking task forces and case reviews conducted on nine closed federal cases that were involved with human trafficking related that a significant number of personnel were not fully informed about the nature, prevalence, and patterns of human trafficking. The researchers provide recommendations to improve their knowledge. Whilst helpful in that it may provide insight into a peripheral reason as to why so many cases remain uncaught, the study deals with law enforcement personnel themselves rather than with conscriptors or victims.

3. Wilson and Dalton (2008) explored the extent and characteristics of human trafficking in Columbus and Toledo, Ohio through content analysis of newspaper accounts and through surveys and interviews with criminal justice officials and service providers in each city. Authors found 10 cases of juvenile sex trafficking and prostitution in Colombus and half that many in Toledo. The problem with this study, as noted, is that most victims are disinclined to reveal their situation to the police and that therefore cases are presumably far higher. The study's benefit lies in the fact that discovery that the problems exists in these cities can now lead investigators to ways as to how to curb this.

4. Logan, Walker and Hunt (2009) described and synthesized nine reports that assessed the U.S. service organization's knowledge of and experience with human trafficking cases. They also analyzed actual cases and media reports. Seeking to define human trafficking, and its scope in the U.S., this article went further than others in that it sought to understand the situations that restrained victims from reaching out for help. Law officials, however, whilst able to help with the other inquiries, may have limited knowledge on reasons for reluctance in victims soliciting assistance.

5. A cross-sectional study (Sarkar, C. et al., 2008) was conducted among brothel workers in W. Bengal, India with 540 sex workers form four districts participating. Surveys and blood samples indicated that many of the trafficked victims faced sexual and other violence and several of them had acquired HIV. Whilst useful in India where it may be easier, for various reasons to get in touch with trafficked victims, trafficked victims in the U.S.A. are harder to reach and less reluctant to talk.