Human Trafficking

22 November 2012
Final Paper
Human Trafficking Human Trafficking is one of the biggest forms of hidden organized crime in the world. It is a world we hardly ever hear about. Human trafficking is the fastest increasing criminal industry in today’s world, coming second only to illegal drug-trade. This type of slaver has been traced back to the ancient Mesopotamian and Mediterranean civilization and has continued to grow. But what is human trafficking? “Commonly referred to as "modern-day slavery" it is the illegal trade of human beings for forced labor or for exploitation. Exploitation referring to the using others for prostitution or other forms of sexual exploitation, forced labor or services, slavery, and the removal of organs for the medical black market, and brings an annual revenue of around $30 billion worldwide.”(Polaris Project). Woman and young children living in poverty are the ones who usually fall in the trap of the traffickers. Due to poverty many woman are not educated and are not employed, thus leaving them with no choice but to sell their bodies to provide for their families. “An approximate figure of 17,500 foreigners are trafficked each year in the United States alone, the number of United States citizens trafficked within the United States is even higher.”(Polaris Project). Human trafficking is near-guaranteed death due to the severe threat of HIV and AIDS that people become infected with. Governments around the world are now just beginning to address this problem and have realized just how strong this type of slavery has become. Human Trafficking is one of the oldest crime worlds around. Forms of human trafficking can be traced back to places like ancient Mesopotamia, and Egypt. Egyptians used to ransack villages and kidnap anyone who opposed them. Inevitably those captured would end up in forced labor. This is the process in which the pyramids were built. Some say that the slave trade, in which Africans were captured by slave traders and shipped across the Atlantic to the Americas, was the first modern form of human trafficking. Others argue that the forced labor of children during the 1700s was the real beginning of what is now known as human trafficking. Orphaned children as young as 8 or 9 were forced to work in factories Human trafficking for sexual purposes was first legally recognized by the term 'white slavery '. According to Kristina Kangaspunta ,the Executive Officer of the Applied Research Program of the UNICRI branch of the United Nations, “white slavery ' is obtaining of a white woman or girl- by the use of force, drugs, or by dishonesty- for sex which is unwanted by the woman or girl.”(Kangaspunta). As the world moved into the 19th century, governments began to combat the growing threat of human trafficking. The British were the first to make a law against slavery in 1807, when they passed a law that made the Transatlantic Slave Trade illegal. “In 1820, the United States followed Great Britain 's example by making the slave trade a crime that was punishable by death. In 1899 and 1902, international conferences to talk about white slavery were organized in Paris, France. Then in 1904, an international agreement against the 'white slave trade ' was created, with a focus on migrant women and children.”(Gaspenalli). In 1910, 13 countries signed the International Convention for the Suppression of White Slave Trade to make this form of trafficking illegal. This International Convention led to the creation of national committees to work against the trafficking of white women. However, the first World War halted these efforts, and it wasn 't until 1921 that the fight against trafficking continued. “In June of 1921, a the League of Nations held an international conference in Geneva, in which the term 'white slavery ' was changed to 'traffic of women and children '. This was done to make sure that the trafficking in all countries was dealt with, the victims of races other than those termed 'white ' were recognized, and that male children were also recognized as victims. During this conference, 33 countries signed the International Convention for the Suppression of the Traffic in Women and Children. .”(Gaspenalli). In 1923,the League of Nations had a group of experts carry out two studies on the trafficking of women and children. These studies were created to answer the following questions: “Were there many foreign women selling sex in the countries studied?; was there a demand for foreign women prostitutes, if so , why was there a demand?; what areas of their home countries were these women taken from and did they leave their home country by themselves or did someone help them?; who were the people trafficking these women?; And what countries did these women come from, why did they leave their home countries, and how did they get to where they were?”(Gaspenalli). According to the results of the first study, most of the women came from many different European countries and were sent to countries in South America and Central America, and to Egypt, Algeria, and Tunisia. The second study focused specifically on the sex trafficking between Asia and Europe and America. The results showed that very few Asian women were trafficked to Europe or America, and instead, much of the trafficking victims were Americans and Europeans that were trafficked to Asian countries. Both of these studies showed that the main ways traffickers used to convince women to be trafficked, was the use of force and deception. “In 1949,the United Nations Convention of the Traffic in Persons and the Exploitation of the Prostitution of Others was passed.”(Polaris Project). This was the first convention about human trafficking that was legally binding to the countries that signed it and required the countries to make prostitution illegal. However, like all of the conventions before it, this convention still dealt only with human trafficking that had a sexual purpose. In 2000, the United Nations Protocol against Trafficking in Persons was passed. It made all forms of human trafficking illegal. It also establishes a Cabinet-level federal interagency task force and establishes a federal program to provide services to trafficking victims. “The U.S is also helping countries abroad by providing many anti-trafficking and development programs. Millions of dollars were provided to organizations all over the world to provide programs so human trafficking can be fought. The programs contribute on informing people the dangers of trafficking and strengthening the numbers of non-government organization. The U.S. has assisted countries to enact anti-trafficking legislation, trained law enforcement officials, prosecutors, border guards and judicial officers on detecting, investigating, and prosecuting traffickers, and protecting victims and provided start-up equipment for new anti-trafficking police units."(Gaspenalli). “The Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act came out in 2003, dedicated to provide aid to approximately 20,000 victims that are trafficked into the U.S each year. President Bush had signed into law in early January the Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act of 2005.”(Polaris Project). The United Stated had started monitoring people who were being trafficked in 1994, and is continuing to do so until human trafficking is prosecuted. Poverty is the leading cause in human trafficking. It has been documented that poverty leads to a lack of education leading to no employment and that leads to people selling themselves to sex trafficking. By fighting poverty many believe that there will be an end to sex trafficking too. Woman living in impoverished countries will not be looking into sex driven businesses for employment. "Trafficking is inextricably linked to poverty. Wherever privation and economic hardship prevail, there will be those destitute and desperate enough to enter into the fraudulent employment schemes that are the most common intake systems in the world of trafficking." (Mendelson). In Kenya, It has been reported that parents have sent their daughters into town for prostitution because they were desperate for money to feed their families. “More than 1,500 girls under the age of 18 and as young as 12 in Kenya have been reported to be working prostitution in bars.”(Mendelson). It is acknowledged that woman and girls who are trafficked to commercial sex are the ones who will most likely be infected with HIV/AIDS. The threat of the disease among the prostituted woman has not made sex trafficking and prostitution less likely to occur, but has increased the numbers of younger girls being traded. “Clients sense that these younger girls are "virgins" and are uninfected by the virus, making them more popular.”(Lumis & Moore). The United States Agency for International Development reported South America and India are leading with the highest numbers of infected people with HIV/AIDS in the world. South Africa being the first, having 5.1 million living with the disease and India being second by having a rapid increase in numbers of infected woman due to sex trafficking. BBC News reported: "In big red light districts, such as Sonagachi in Calcutta, where at least 10,000 prostitutes make a living, some men continue to insist on sex without condoms, the trafficked girls are forced to oblige. Many come from rural villages and do not know what Aids is before they are sold to pimps, and as they are moved around the country they can unwittingly spread the disease." (McNish).
All in all, human trafficking is a serious crime that not many people are informed about. Young woman and children are forced into this sickening business every day. Dating back thousands of years, human trafficking has constantly been one of the most serious crime world around. Preventing this is extremely difficult as woman and children living in poverty do not know the meaning of human trafficking due to the lack of education. The highest percentage with people carrying the HIV/AIDS virus are woman, and many believe part of this percentage is because of human trafficking. Not many woman and children know the risks they are taking when they sell their bodies to underground crime organizations. Government all over the world should be providing information on human trafficking because no nation is immune from this crime. It spreads like wildfire and should never be underestimated.

Works Cited
Gardner, Thomas J., and Terry M. Anderson. Criminal Law. Belmont, California: Wadsworth Learning, 2012. Print.
Rickerson, Michael. "Human Trafficking." Polaris Project. N.p., 2012. Web. 27 Nov. 2012.
Gaspenalli, Frederick M. "What is Human Trafficking." HumanTrafficking.org. N.p., 12 Mar. 2010. Web. 27 Nov. 2012.
Mendelson, Sarah. "Accountability and Action: USAID’s Counter-Trafficking Policy." US Aid: From the American People. Agency for International Development, 23 Mar. 2012. Web. 27 Nov. 2012.
Lumis, Cynthia, and Gwen Moore. "Combating Human Trafficking." US Aid: From the American People. N.p., 7 Dec. 2011. Web. 27 Nov. 2012.
McNish, Alan. "The 'Modern Slavery ' of Trafficking." BBC News. N.p., 25 Sept. 2012. Web. 28 Nov. 2012.

Cited: Gardner, Thomas J., and Terry M. Anderson. Criminal Law. Belmont, California: Wadsworth Learning, 2012. Print. Rickerson, Michael. "Human Trafficking." Polaris Project. N.p., 2012. Web. 27 Nov. 2012. Gaspenalli, Frederick M. "What is Human Trafficking." HumanTrafficking.org. N.p., 12 Mar. 2010. Web. 27 Nov. 2012. Mendelson, Sarah. "Accountability and Action: USAID’s Counter-Trafficking Policy." US Aid: From the American People. Agency for International Development, 23 Mar. 2012. Web. 27 Nov. 2012. Lumis, Cynthia, and Gwen Moore. "Combating Human Trafficking." US Aid: From the American People. N.p., 7 Dec. 2011. Web. 27 Nov. 2012. McNish, Alan. "The 'Modern Slavery ' of Trafficking." BBC News. N.p., 25 Sept. 2012. Web. 28 Nov. 2012.