Practical application concepts and case studies

¶ … pervasiveness of human trafficking is essential to further the work of members of human service agencies, so they can be vigilant about its signs. Quite often, victims are not forthcoming about their situation and it is the social worker, not the victim, that must initiate the necessary proceedings to ensure that justice is done. Also, studying human trafficking can enable policy makers to create laws that are more sensitive to the needs of victims, and to enact in more proactive policy responses to deal with the crime. Much like victims of domestic violence, there is often profound ambivalence and fear when victims of human trafficking come forward. But the problem is widespread: "Human trafficking is the third largest source of income for organized crime, and there are twice as many people enslaved today as during the African slave trade. Human trafficking involves forced labor, bonded labor, debt bondage among migrant laborers, involuntary domestic servitude, forced child labor, child soldiers, and sex trafficking" (Dovydaitis 2011).

Human trafficking often exists in the shadows, and victims suffer in silence, terrorized by their enslavers. However, many still are in contact with the outside world. 28% of all female victims saw a health care professional while they were still in captivity (Dovydaitis 2011). It is vitally important that healthcare and other social services professionals have an awareness of the signs of trafficking, so these missed opportunities to intervene are not 'passed by.' Psychological problems often exhibited by victims of trafficking include (but are not limited to) anxiety, depression, psychosomatic complaints, PTSD, and weight loss. Physical problems include chronic pain, cigarette burns, complications from unsafe abortion, contusions, fractures, GI problems, and STDs (Dovydaitis 2011). It is often assumed that persons who are the victims of trafficking will automatically try to free themselves, but this is seldom the case.

"For example, a woman might promise to pay a coyote to smuggle her across the border to the United States from Mexico. When she arrives in the country, she will be thousands of dollars in debt and must "work off" her debt in agricultural, hospitality, housekeeping, or other types of work" (Dovydaitis 2011). But the trafficker charges her so much money for her passage and extracts so much interest and 'fees,' the woman can never hope to pay down her debt, effectively enslaving her to the man. "Because she is in the United States illegally, it is unlikely that she will report any exploitation by her employer and/or trafficker, for fear of deportation" and fears of reprisals to her family in Mexico (Dovydaitis 2011). Because of common situations like this, it is imperative that social and healthcare workers intervene and enable the woman to see she has recourse other than remaining enslaved.

Because of the ambiguity of current laws, however, the fears of deportation that plague many enslaved, trafficked women may be realized. In the U.S., the T. visa enables victims of trafficking to remain in the United States for three years, with the ability to work. "Examples of federally funded services and benefits are health care, translation, witness protection, legal representation, job training, transportation, and access to housing" (Dovydaitis 2011).But because obtaining a T. visa is contingent upon reasonable compliance with authorities, many women are afraid to come forward, since the Victims of Trafficking and Violence Protection Act requires that victims comply with "reasonable requests for assistance in the investigation or prosecution of acts of trafficking (Dovydaitis 2011). If women fear reprisals, they may not be willing to respond to such requests, and for some, three-year amnesty in the United States may not be enough of an incentive to comply and return to what they regard as an untenable situation at home.

To truly deal with the problem of human trafficking requires an international response, not simply a refinement of current U.S. attitudes and laws. "Globalization demands that social workers embrace more than just local and national perspectives; they must adopt an international viewpoint as well" (Loring, Engstrom, Hillard & Dias 2007:1). Internationally, many governments have not exercised sufficient vigilance in attempting to reduce the facilitators of trafficking or punish offenders. "For this reason, the People's Republic of China (PRC), a source, transit and destination country, has sustained a Tier 2 Watch List ranking for three consecutive years" yet China has persistently denied the pervasiveness of trafficking within its borders (Lagon 2008).

Social workers and policy makers must raise awareness about the poverty that exists abroad, to reduce the economic pressures that cause migrants to desperately flee their homeland and seek out employment abroad, which results in their falling into enslaved situations. "People are 'pushed' out of poor countries," such as Latin America and republics of the former Soviet Union, "where economic opportunity is lacking and 'pulled' into countries that have a higher level of economic prosperity with a corresponding demand for cheap labor" such as the United States (Loring, Engstrom, Hillard & Dias 2007:1).Organized crime and government corruption acts as a facilitator to trafficking, particularly if certain ethnic or racial groups are deemed to be 'undesirable' in the eyes of the majority of the populace.