This paper examines human trafficking as a global phenomenon that extends well beyond developing nations, including its significant presence in the United States. It surveys the scale of forced labor worldwide, reviews the legal framework established by the Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000, and critiques the law's shortcomings in practice—particularly its failure to protect psychologically traumatized victims and its disproportionate focus on sex trafficking over other forms of labor exploitation. The paper also compares U.S. responses to those of the United Kingdom, Cambodia, and China, and concludes with prescriptive recommendations for more effective enforcement and victim-centered policy reform.
Human trafficking is often thought of as a problem indigenous only to developing nations. However, the phenomenon is pervasive internationally, including in the United States. Examples of human enslavement in the US that have recently been exposed by the media and law enforcement have been found in the fields of domestic service, prostitution, farm labor, factories, and mining (Bales & Soodalter, 2007). As Loring, Engstrom, Hilliard, and Diaz (2007, p. 1) note, trafficking "supplies human beings for prostitution, sweatshop labor, street begging, domestic work, marriage, adoption, agricultural work, construction, armed conflicts (child soldiers), and other forms of exploitative labor or services" around the world.
These cases represent only a proverbial "tip of the iceberg" of the phenomenon as it exists today. The phenomenon of globalization has increased the flow of human traffic worldwide, not only in legitimate spheres of labor, but also in the arenas of human trafficking. "Human trafficking represents perhaps the worst form of labor exploitation and can be regarded as one of the dark sides of globalization" (Loring, Engstrom, Hilliard, & Diaz, 2007, p. 1). It can be very difficult to estimate exactly how pervasive the phenomenon is, given the secrecy surrounding the practice. Even victims of the crime themselves may not reveal when they have been enslaved upon coming into contact with authorities, because of fears of reprisals from their enslavers and because they are likely to be undocumented workers. For example, statistics indicate that of women in the sex slave industry, 28% saw a healthcare professional, yet only a very small percentage were released from captivity after the initial visit, after which they returned to their abusive situation (Dovydaitis, 2007).
Estimates of the pervasiveness of human trafficking vary widely. A 2005 International Labor Organization report estimated that there were 12,300,000 instances of forced labor internationally; other estimates suggest 27 million. All reports agree that women are victims in greater numbers than men. The United Nations states that an exact figure is "unachievable" (Loring, Engstrom, Hilliard, & Diaz, 2007, p. 1). It is nonetheless agreed that "profits from the trafficking industry contribute to the expansion of organized crime in the US and worldwide" and that human enslavement is the "fastest growing source of profits for organized criminal enterprises worldwide" (HHS Fact Sheet, 2010).
The United States has attempted to extend legal protections to victims of human enslavement. The Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000 (TVPA) "attempted to give law enforcement agents additional tools to deal with the phenomenon of human trafficking" and made trafficking a federal crime (HHS Fact Sheet, 2010). According to the TVPA, if a trafficking crime causes the death of a victim, involves attempted murder, kidnapping or attempted kidnapping, or aggravated or attempted aggravated sexual abuse, the perpetrator can be sentenced to life in prison. There are additional penalties for trafficking crimes perpetrated upon children.
"Protection and assistance for victims of trafficking under the law include making housing, educational, health care, job training, and other federally funded social service programs available to assist victims in rebuilding their lives. The law also established the T visa, which allows victims of trafficking to become temporary residents of the US" (HHS Fact Sheet, 2010). The TVPA was updated and reauthorized in 2003.
"Critiques TVPA gaps for traumatized and undocumented victims"
"Contrasts U.S. policy with UK, Cambodia, and China responses"
"Calls for better research and victim-centered enforcement"
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