Human trafficking: characteristics, patterns, and case analysis

Human Trafficking

Transnational crime

Human trafficking is defined as the trade in humans for the purposes of forced labor, sexual slavery, or organ extraction Avdan, 2012.

It has been estimated that human trafficking is a lucrative industry that represents around $32 billion per year. Human trafficking is a serious crime that violates human rights. This trade affects almost all countries in the world. There are thousands of people (men, women, and children) who fall in the hands of traffickers. The traffickers are mostly located in the home country of the victims. The recruitment, transfer, transportation, receipt, or harboring of persons by using threats, coercion, force, abduction, deception, fraud, or power is also referred to as human trafficking. The traffickers are mainly intent in exploiting these persons for their own benefit.

Human trafficking should not be confused with people smuggling. People smuggling usually involves people hiring an individual who will transport them from their location to another location. The transportation is generally to a country where legal entry has been denied. In this (illegal) agreement, there is no deception, and the smuggled person is free once they arrive to their agreed destination. Human trafficking on the other hand, might not involve any travelling. Many people confuse trafficking with smuggling because of the term traffic. Majority of the victims of human trafficking are not allowed to leave once they reach their destination. The traffickers will force, coerce, or threaten them in order for them to work or provide sexual services. The main reasons for increase in human trafficking are lack of education, poverty and economic opportunities. People are easily fooled by the traffickers and promised better opportunities. With the promise of better opportunities and a means to eliminate poverty the victims have fallen prey to the traffickers and they are exploited once they arrive at their new destination Feingold, 2005()

Description of relevant cases for analyses

Amador Cortes-Meza was sentenced to serve forty years on charges of trafficking minors for sex. The accused was sentenced on March 24, 2011. The accused transported the minors for the purpose of prostitution, and he used coercion, force, and fraud to ensure the victims did as commanded. He used to smuggle the minors from Mexico and once they reached Atlanta, GA they would be beaten, and forced into performing over 20 acts of prostitution per night Department of Justice, March 24, 2011.

The children were tricked by the defendant into leaving their families with the promise of better opportunities in the United States. The defendant worked in collaboration with his brother and cousin. The brother and cousin would visit rural areas in Mexico and deceive young uneducated women into coming with them to the United States. The family members would pretend they are interested in the young girls romantically. This way they would convince the young girls to travel with them to the United States in order for them to have a life together. They would also promise the young girls that they would make money working cleaning homes or in restaurants.

Another case involves Abrorkhodja Askarhodjaev who was convicted in May 2009. The defendant was a member of a racketeering unit that had conducted its activities for over a decade. The unit would traffic people from Philippines, Central Asia, Dominican Republic, Eastern Europe and other countries. They used false information to lure the victims to the United States. The victims would be forced to work in various jobs across fourteen states, and they would all live overcrowded apartments that had exorbitant rents. The victims were threatened with deportation back home or withholding their wages. The defendant was charged together with 11 co-defendants for the crime of forced labor, identity theft, corporate employment tax evasion, visa fraud, mail fraud, and money laundering. The defendant made arrangements for the recruitment and exploitation of the foreign workers. The majority of the workers were recruited with false promises in regards to their terms of work, nature of employment, and working conditions. Once the workers were in the United States, the enterprise ensured it maintained their labor by threatening the victims with deportation.

Conclusion

Human trafficking is a serious crime that is still prevalent to this day. The victims are normally uneducated and naive persons who are genuinely searching for better opportunities in foreign countries. Poverty and lack education is the main cause of human trafficking. The victims fall prey to the traffickers who promise them jobs and a better life in a foreign country. The United Nations has recognized human trafficking as a violation of basic human rights and has developed a protocol commonly referred to as the Trafficking in Persons Protocol. This protocol is implemented in a majority of countries that are signatories to the United Nations. The defendants presented in this paper are just a few, but they demonstrate the extent that traffickers will go to lure girls or people for their own benefits.

Enforcing strict laws that would ensure that foreign workers have to be processed individually would ensure that people do not fall prey to the traffickers. In the rare case that they are smuggled into the United States, the victims could be required to report to their embassy offices individually in order to ensure that they are not been forced into work or used for prostitution. Educating people in the third world countries could also assist in reducing the number of illegal immigrants. With education, there would be no victims as they would understand their rights and common laws. Clients who are given young girls for prostitution should also be charged, and this would assist in reducing child prostitution. Hotels and restaurants that employ foreign workers should perform independent background checks. This will assist in confirming if the workers are in the country genuinely. The federal government should conduct random searches in the places of work where foreign workers are reported. These spot checks would ensure that any victims of forced labor would be discovered early.