15 Terrible Facts About Human Trafficking

15 Terrible Facts About Human Trafficking

Human trafficking is the trade of humans for the purpose of forced labor, commercial sexual exploitation, or sexual slavery. It can occur within a country or trans-nationally. It is condemned as a violation of human rights by international conventions. Human trafficking is the third-largest crime industry in the world. It is also the fastest-growing activity of transnational criminal organizations.

Africa and Asia generally have more cases of trafficking for forced labor while sexual exploitation is frequently found in Europe and in the Americas. Human trafficking for organ removal has been detected in 16 countries around the world.

Click here to read about gangs that are involved in trafficking.

1. The Causes That Led to Human Trafficking

There are a number of things that fuel trafficking which include unemployment, social norms that discriminate against women, and poverty. As well as globalization, and institutional challenges.

Globalization opened up national borders which has increased the rise of human trafficking around the world. The economic impact of globalization has pushed people to make the decision to migrate and be vulnerable to trafficking. The rise of Internet technology has also facilitated human trafficking. Some online sites and social networks are being used by traffickers in facilitating sex trafficking.

2. Annual Trafficking Persons Reports

Canuckguy et al., CC0, via Wikimedia Commons

In 2018 and 2019, the U.S. State Department declared that Belarus, Russia, Iran, and Turkmenistan are among the worst countries when it comes to providing protection against human trafficking and forced labor.

3. The Trafficking Cases In Singapore

Singapore has been labeled as a popular destination for human trafficking with women and girls from Thailand, India, the Philippines, and China. In 2019, Indian nationals were convicted for exploiting migrant women. This was the first conviction in the state.

4. Child Trafficking and Forced Labor

Alberto …., CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Child trafficking involves the recruitment, transportation, and harboring of children for the purpose of exploitation. Child exploitation may involve commercial sexual exploitation and forced labor. Child labor is a form of work that may be hazardous to the mental, physical, spiritual, and moral development of children.

5. Most Women Are Tricked Into The Industry

Forced labor in the sex industry has affected 4.5 million people worldwide. Most of the victims find themselves in an abusive situation that makes escaping both difficult and dangerous.

Trafficked women and children are often promised work in the domestic or service industry but are taken to brothels instead. Their passports and identification papers are often confiscated and in some cases, they are promised their freedom after earning their purchase price.

6. Forced Marriage Is A Form of Human Trafficking

בר 100, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Forced marriage is a marriage where one or sometimes both participants are married without their consent. Servile marriage is a marriage involving a person being sold into that marriage. In countries like Southeast Asian neighbors women are moved to China and forced to marry Chinese men.

7. Forced Labor is The Least Known Form

Debt bondage is the most widely used method of enslaving people. It is a situation in which people are forced to work against their will. Usually, it is under the threat of violence but sometimes it is because of built-up debts. Forced labor can include agricultural labor, food service, and other service industry labor.

Read about gangs involved in trafficking here.

8. Organ Trade Has Become Very Common

In most cases, the victim agrees to sell an organ in exchange for money. This has become a frequent solution for struggling neighborhoods. On other occasions, the victim may have the organ removed without their knowledge. Migrant workers, homeless people, and illiterate persons are vulnerable to this form of exploitation. Organ trafficking is a lucrative trade because, in many countries, the waiting lists for patients who need transplants are very long

9. Trafficking Has Become The Modern-day Slavery

According to the International Labour Organization, an estimated 21 million victims are trapped in modern-day slavery. Among them, 14.2 million were exploited for labor, and 4.5 million were sexually exploited. The profits were $34 billion in construction and $99 billion from commercial sexual exploitation. 

Click here to read about gangs involved in the trafficking business.

10. The Long Waiting Lists For Organs Has Contributed

In Europe and the United States, the long waiting lists for organs have created a thriving international black market. Traffickers harvest organs especially kidneys to sell for large profits. Victims often come from poor and rural communities.

11. Vulnerable Groups are The Most At-Risk

TransIphis, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

The annual Trafficking in Persons Report by the U.S. State Department. The report stated that refugees, migrants, LGBTQ individuals, and people with disabilities were the most at risk for human trafficking. However, the United Nations shared that women and children were at risk for human trafficking.

12. The Psychological Impact On The Victims

Victims are exposed to high amounts of psychological stress which are induced by threats, physical and emotional violence, and fear. The tactics that are used by perpetrators are recruitment, initiation, and indoctrination. The initiation phase leads the victims into various trafficking industries. Perpetrators almost always take advantage of family dysfunction, a history of childhood abuse, ad homelessness. They use this technique to psychologically manipulate women and children into the trafficking industry.

In some instances, the victim is kept in isolation and exposed to large amounts of alcohol which leads to depression anger, sleep disturbances, PTSD, guilt, rage, and self-blame. This can also lead to the victim falling into the hopeless mental state of learned helplessness.

13. There Are Numerous Effects of Trafficking On Children

Children are vulnerable to these developmental and psychological consequences due to their age. Perpetrators often destroy the physical and mental health of children in order to gain complete control. Children who grow up in such environments exhibit antisocial behavior, self-harm, distrust of adults, over-sexualized behavior, and dissociative disorders.

14. It is Integrated into Legal Businesses

The tourism industry as well as hotel and airline operations and entertainment businesses have been involved in trafficking cases in one way or another. This is because organized criminal groups invest in legitimate businesses to conceal the profits earned from human trafficking. 

15. The Overview of Annual Victims

Genetics4good, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

It is noted that children comprise one-third of all victims and women make up more than half. These are only the recorded number of children and women missing. 

All in All, children and women have been the main target of human trafficking for a long time. However, men have also been victims of human trafficking. Each year an estimated 600,000 to 800,000 men have been trafficked across international borders. Human trafficking is a horrible business that has spread worldwide making it unsafe for communities and neighbours. The only thing that reduces the number of victims is awareness.

Read about gangs involved in trafficking here.