International Human Trafficking
Human Trafficking and International Law
Slavery was the first form of Human Trafficking in the world and even though it was abolished in 1865, different forms of slavery still linger today. Human Trafficking takes many forms; from sex trafficking to labor trafficking. In the past this issue was highly overlooked, but according to Farrell (2014) the problem has received growing coverage in the media; anti-trafficking activism has skyrocketed; and most countries have created new policies, laws, and enforcement mechanisms to tackle the problem.
Research has proven that social inequality, poverty and limited jobs were and remain the main drivers of both migration and trafficking in Eastern Europe (Akee et al. 2007; Anastasijevic 2008; Aronowitz 2001; Bruckert and Parent 2002; Cameron and Newman 2008; Chand 2008; International Organization for Migration [IOM] 2006). In addition to these socioeconomic conditions, other factors (illiteracy, corruption, and certain policies and laws) increase migrants' vulnerability to fraud, trafficking, and exploitation (Demir 2003; Pizarro 2008; Rajbhandari 2008; Shahinian 2008). Belarus, Bulgaria, Moldova, Romania, Russia, and Ukraine are among the most important source countries of human trafficking within Europe, according to …show more content…
Europol (2009) and the International Labor Organization (2005). Simon (2010) wrote that the US is one of the top 10 destinations for human trafficking. Thousands of people are trafficked into the country each year. There have been reports of trafficking in over 90 US cities. Finally, the US is the most frequent destination for victims trafficked from Latin America and the Caribbean, and one of the top three destinations for persons trafficked from Asia.
This paper will take an in-depth look at Human Trafficking and International Laws as they relate to the United States and Europe. It will give an in-depth understanding of what Human Trafficking is, and who is most at risk.
Human Trafficking
In order to understand Human Trafficking, we must first know what Human Trafficking is and the background information that comes with it.
According to Farrell (2014) the definition of human trafficking in federal law and most state laws is premised on the denial of a person’s liberty as opposed to their actual movement. A person is found guilty of human trafficking when they recruit, harbor, transport, provide, or obtain a person for labor or commercial sex through the use of force, fraud, or coercion. Farrell (2014) notes that the federal law and some state laws specify that if the victim engaging in commercial sex is under the age of 18 it is not necessary to prove the elements of force, fraud, or
coercion.
The International Labor Organization considers "bonded labor" a form of "forced labor" (Derks 2010). An alternative position recognizes that incurring a debt to a broker or employer is a staple of labor migration for resource-poor migrants and that these relationships exist on a continuum (Busza 2004; Sandy 2009). Farrell and Pfeffer (2014) noted that the key variables are the specifics of the contractual agreement, the working conditions, and the consequences of non- repayment.
The Palermo protocol, defines Human Trafficking in a much broader term: Trafficking includes "the abuse of power or of a position of vulnerability, or of the giving or receiving of payments or benefits to achieve the consent of a person having control over another person, for the purpose of exploitation" (UNODC 2004, 42).
Most people believe that Sex Trafficking is the only form of Human Trafficking and because of this; Labor Trafficking and Debt Bondage are often ignored. The U.S. government defines a bond or debt as "a form of coercion" and as a "threat of financial harm" if not repaid (U.S. Department of State 2012, 34). Farrell and Pfeffer (2014) stated that labor under fraudulent circumstances can be quite harsh and manifests itself in unfair deductions from wages, lack of pay altogether, confiscation of passports, inhuman working and living conditions, deprivation of liberty (e.g., preventing workers from leaving the workplace or making phone calls), beatings, and sexual assault.
By establishing an understanding of human trafficking, we now know what it is and what the main two branches of Human Trafficking are. This information will help us take a deeper look into who is most at risk for Human Trafficking.
Who is most at risk?
Next, we must take a look at which individuals are most at risk for being influenced into human trafficking. According to Petrenov (2014), the victims of Human Trafficking are often found to have very little education and were often illiterate, unemployed, with little or no income. The main way to recruit victims with such backgrounds is by promising material benefits.
The experiences of labor migrants who are victims of Human Trafficking have usually been thoroughly deceived about working conditions (e.g., pay, hours, amenities) at the destination, have their belongings and passports confiscated. They are often confined to the workplace, are charged unexpected fees for services, experience unfair debt inflation, are physically or sexually abused, and so on (Farrell 2014). Sheldon Zhang's article in Policing Human Trafficking Cultural Blinders and Organizational Barriers examines 826 Mexican labor immigrants to San Diego County, California. About one-third of the migrants had been victims of trafficking as defined by U.S. law, and around half had been subjected to some form of abuse during employment. The study disaggregates victimization by employment sector and finds that construction, food processing, and janitorial/cleaning work registered the highest rates of abuse during transit and at the work site.
The International Labor Organization estimates 1.5 million victims of forced labor and human trafficking are in the United States, Canada, and Western Europe (ILO 2012). Those most vulnerable to trafficking for sexual exploitation are young women, while those vulnerable to trafficking for forced labor include both young and middle-aged men and women who are unemployed and have little or no education (IOM 2006). Mai (2011) conducted a study of ninety migrant male minors who sold sex in eighteen European cities concluded: "By selling sex, most interviewees were able to work and earn money, live on their own, send money home, and live comfortably.” Many of the migrant males preferred to sell sex because it was less visible to the authorities than other kinds of work and because it provided them with a "social interaction where they are valued and desired" in contrast to other arenas where "they feel undesirable and marginalized. Farrell and Pfeffer (2014) noted that these youths would be ipso facto trafficking victims by law, however, due to their status as minors assisted by middlemen.
Now that we know what individuals are at high risk for Human Trafficking we can review International laws as they apply to Human Trafficking and how the United States and Europe have addressed the issue.
International Law and United States vs Europe. The United Nations, which is composed of different countries around the world, established protocols and regulations in regards to Human Trafficking. The United States and Europe are most commonly viewed as super powers that have both set laws in order to deter Human Trafficking. Establishing an understanding of both countries laws and the United Nations protocol for Human Trafficking is significant to the reader because they will learn what actions each country/ Organization take to stop this major issue.
Bressan (2012) stated that the UN Anti-Trafficking Protocol provided a tripartite definition of human trafficking which divided it between: i. the action element, i.e. what is done (e.g. recruitment, transportation); 2. the means element, i.e. how it is done (e.g. violence, fraud); 3. the purpose element, i.e. why it is done (e.g. sexual exploitation, removal of organs).
CdeBaca (2011) wrote that in 2000 the United States enacted the Trafficking Victims Protection Act. This updated the federal antislavery statutes to include victims who are enslaved through psychological manipulation, even if there was no physical coercion. Congress introduced new criminal statutes to better capture the features of this newly defined slavery: one focuses on sex trafficking, another on forced labor. The new trafficking statutes made it illegal to provide or obtain the labor or services of a person by placing them in fear of serious harm.
The first state anti- trafficking laws were passed in 2003 in Washington and Texas, and some states did not pass legislation until after 2010 (Farrell 2014; Pfeffer 2014). According to Farrell and Pfeffer (2014); activists, government officials, and some scholars believe that human trafficking has reached epic levels worldwide--victimizing "millions" of people every year. In 2002 the U.S. government stated that as many as four million people worldwide were "bought, sold, transported, and held against their will in slave-like conditions" (U.S. Department of State 2002, 1).
During the Bush presidency of 2005, sex trafficking was privileged over labor trafficking. The 2005 TIP Report declared that "the majority of transnational victims are trafficked into commercial sexual exploitation" (U.S. Department of State 2005, 6). When Obama took office the State Department decided to take the opposite position. The 2010 TIP Report states that "the majority of human trafficking in the world takes the form of forced labor. Sex trafficking comprises a smaller but still significant portion of overall human trafficking" (U.S. Department of State 2010, 8--9).
The Council of the European Union has taken a strong leadership role in trafficking. They first coordinated criminal directive that each participating member state strengthen its criminal laws, protect victims more thoroughly, and proactively prevent trafficking (CdeBaca 2011). The European Union appointed a trafficking coordinator who is responsible for making sure each member state is living up to international legal standards on trafficking. The Trial Chamber defines trafficking as “the restriction or control of an individual’s autonomy, freedom of choice or freedom of movement; the accruing of some gain to the perpetrator.” Further indications of enslavement include exploitation; the exaction of forced or compulsory labor or service, often without remuneration and often, though not necessarily, involving physical hardship; sex; prostitution; and human trafficking (CdeBaca 2011).
Trafficking in human beings became a felony offense under the Bulgarian Criminal Code in 2002. Article 159a defines a human trafficker as: "Anyone who recruits, transports, conceals, or admits particular individuals or groups of people with the purpose of using them for sexual activities, forced labor, removal of bodily organs, or keeping them in forceful subjection, regardless of their consent.” Bulgarian law does not regard the consent of the victim as a relevant factor, which is the same as laws in Hungary and Kosovo, where human trafficking is a felony regardless of the victims consent (Dikov 2012).
The European Union established criminal offences and set minimum sentences that set precedent over national criminal laws. The recent anti-trafficking Directive 2011/36/ EU is the first agreement between the Council and the European Parliament in the area of substantive criminal law since the above-mentioned treaty came into force (Bressan2012). Finally, Bressan (2012) noted that the overall goal of the preamble is the further approximation of separate law and penalties in this field, ensuring the prosecution of traffickers, giving better protection and assistance to trafficked people, and favoring prevention. The anti-trafficking Directive was an important step towards establishing more effective rights for victims through binding European Union rules.
Conclusion. This paper took an in-depth look at Human Trafficking and International Laws as they relate to the United States and Europe. It gave an in-depth understanding of what Human Trafficking is and who’s most at risk. Although Human Trafficking is still a major problem throughout the world, the United Nations, United States and Europe have taken the necessary steps to minimize trafficking and eventually stop it all together.
Slavery was the first form of Human Trafficking in the world and even though it was abolished in 1865, different forms of slavery still linger today. Human Trafficking takes many forms; from sex trafficking to labor trafficking. In the past this issue was highly overlooked, but according to Farrell (2014) the problem has received growing coverage in the media; anti-trafficking activism has skyrocketed; and most countries have created new policies, laws, and enforcement mechanisms to tackle the problem.
Research has proven that social inequality, poverty and limited jobs were and remain the main drivers of both migration and trafficking in Eastern Europe (Akee et al. 2007; Anastasijevic 2008; Aronowitz 2001; Bruckert and Parent 2002; Cameron and Newman 2008; Chand 2008; International Organization for Migration [IOM] 2006). In addition to these socioeconomic conditions, other factors (illiteracy, corruption, and certain policies and laws) increase migrants' vulnerability to fraud, trafficking, and exploitation (Demir 2003; Pizarro 2008; Rajbhandari 2008; Shahinian 2008). Belarus, Bulgaria, Moldova, Romania, Russia, and Ukraine are among the most important source countries of human trafficking within Europe, according to …show more content…
Europol (2009) and the International Labor Organization (2005). Simon (2010) wrote that the US is one of the top 10 destinations for human trafficking. Thousands of people are trafficked into the country each year. There have been reports of trafficking in over 90 US cities. Finally, the US is the most frequent destination for victims trafficked from Latin America and the Caribbean, and one of the top three destinations for persons trafficked from Asia.
This paper will take an in-depth look at Human Trafficking and International Laws as they relate to the United States and Europe. It will give an in-depth understanding of what Human Trafficking is, and who is most at risk.
Human Trafficking
In order to understand Human Trafficking, we must first know what Human Trafficking is and the background information that comes with it.
According to Farrell (2014) the definition of human trafficking in federal law and most state laws is premised on the denial of a person’s liberty as opposed to their actual movement. A person is found guilty of human trafficking when they recruit, harbor, transport, provide, or obtain a person for labor or commercial sex through the use of force, fraud, or coercion. Farrell (2014) notes that the federal law and some state laws specify that if the victim engaging in commercial sex is under the age of 18 it is not necessary to prove the elements of force, fraud, or
coercion.
The International Labor Organization considers "bonded labor" a form of "forced labor" (Derks 2010). An alternative position recognizes that incurring a debt to a broker or employer is a staple of labor migration for resource-poor migrants and that these relationships exist on a continuum (Busza 2004; Sandy 2009). Farrell and Pfeffer (2014) noted that the key variables are the specifics of the contractual agreement, the working conditions, and the consequences of non- repayment.
The Palermo protocol, defines Human Trafficking in a much broader term: Trafficking includes "the abuse of power or of a position of vulnerability, or of the giving or receiving of payments or benefits to achieve the consent of a person having control over another person, for the purpose of exploitation" (UNODC 2004, 42).
Most people believe that Sex Trafficking is the only form of Human Trafficking and because of this; Labor Trafficking and Debt Bondage are often ignored. The U.S. government defines a bond or debt as "a form of coercion" and as a "threat of financial harm" if not repaid (U.S. Department of State 2012, 34). Farrell and Pfeffer (2014) stated that labor under fraudulent circumstances can be quite harsh and manifests itself in unfair deductions from wages, lack of pay altogether, confiscation of passports, inhuman working and living conditions, deprivation of liberty (e.g., preventing workers from leaving the workplace or making phone calls), beatings, and sexual assault.
By establishing an understanding of human trafficking, we now know what it is and what the main two branches of Human Trafficking are. This information will help us take a deeper look into who is most at risk for Human Trafficking.
Who is most at risk?
Next, we must take a look at which individuals are most at risk for being influenced into human trafficking. According to Petrenov (2014), the victims of Human Trafficking are often found to have very little education and were often illiterate, unemployed, with little or no income. The main way to recruit victims with such backgrounds is by promising material benefits.
The experiences of labor migrants who are victims of Human Trafficking have usually been thoroughly deceived about working conditions (e.g., pay, hours, amenities) at the destination, have their belongings and passports confiscated. They are often confined to the workplace, are charged unexpected fees for services, experience unfair debt inflation, are physically or sexually abused, and so on (Farrell 2014). Sheldon Zhang's article in Policing Human Trafficking Cultural Blinders and Organizational Barriers examines 826 Mexican labor immigrants to San Diego County, California. About one-third of the migrants had been victims of trafficking as defined by U.S. law, and around half had been subjected to some form of abuse during employment. The study disaggregates victimization by employment sector and finds that construction, food processing, and janitorial/cleaning work registered the highest rates of abuse during transit and at the work site.
The International Labor Organization estimates 1.5 million victims of forced labor and human trafficking are in the United States, Canada, and Western Europe (ILO 2012). Those most vulnerable to trafficking for sexual exploitation are young women, while those vulnerable to trafficking for forced labor include both young and middle-aged men and women who are unemployed and have little or no education (IOM 2006). Mai (2011) conducted a study of ninety migrant male minors who sold sex in eighteen European cities concluded: "By selling sex, most interviewees were able to work and earn money, live on their own, send money home, and live comfortably.” Many of the migrant males preferred to sell sex because it was less visible to the authorities than other kinds of work and because it provided them with a "social interaction where they are valued and desired" in contrast to other arenas where "they feel undesirable and marginalized. Farrell and Pfeffer (2014) noted that these youths would be ipso facto trafficking victims by law, however, due to their status as minors assisted by middlemen.
Now that we know what individuals are at high risk for Human Trafficking we can review International laws as they apply to Human Trafficking and how the United States and Europe have addressed the issue.
International Law and United States vs Europe. The United Nations, which is composed of different countries around the world, established protocols and regulations in regards to Human Trafficking. The United States and Europe are most commonly viewed as super powers that have both set laws in order to deter Human Trafficking. Establishing an understanding of both countries laws and the United Nations protocol for Human Trafficking is significant to the reader because they will learn what actions each country/ Organization take to stop this major issue.
Bressan (2012) stated that the UN Anti-Trafficking Protocol provided a tripartite definition of human trafficking which divided it between: i. the action element, i.e. what is done (e.g. recruitment, transportation); 2. the means element, i.e. how it is done (e.g. violence, fraud); 3. the purpose element, i.e. why it is done (e.g. sexual exploitation, removal of organs).
CdeBaca (2011) wrote that in 2000 the United States enacted the Trafficking Victims Protection Act. This updated the federal antislavery statutes to include victims who are enslaved through psychological manipulation, even if there was no physical coercion. Congress introduced new criminal statutes to better capture the features of this newly defined slavery: one focuses on sex trafficking, another on forced labor. The new trafficking statutes made it illegal to provide or obtain the labor or services of a person by placing them in fear of serious harm.
The first state anti- trafficking laws were passed in 2003 in Washington and Texas, and some states did not pass legislation until after 2010 (Farrell 2014; Pfeffer 2014). According to Farrell and Pfeffer (2014); activists, government officials, and some scholars believe that human trafficking has reached epic levels worldwide--victimizing "millions" of people every year. In 2002 the U.S. government stated that as many as four million people worldwide were "bought, sold, transported, and held against their will in slave-like conditions" (U.S. Department of State 2002, 1).
During the Bush presidency of 2005, sex trafficking was privileged over labor trafficking. The 2005 TIP Report declared that "the majority of transnational victims are trafficked into commercial sexual exploitation" (U.S. Department of State 2005, 6). When Obama took office the State Department decided to take the opposite position. The 2010 TIP Report states that "the majority of human trafficking in the world takes the form of forced labor. Sex trafficking comprises a smaller but still significant portion of overall human trafficking" (U.S. Department of State 2010, 8--9).
The Council of the European Union has taken a strong leadership role in trafficking. They first coordinated criminal directive that each participating member state strengthen its criminal laws, protect victims more thoroughly, and proactively prevent trafficking (CdeBaca 2011). The European Union appointed a trafficking coordinator who is responsible for making sure each member state is living up to international legal standards on trafficking. The Trial Chamber defines trafficking as “the restriction or control of an individual’s autonomy, freedom of choice or freedom of movement; the accruing of some gain to the perpetrator.” Further indications of enslavement include exploitation; the exaction of forced or compulsory labor or service, often without remuneration and often, though not necessarily, involving physical hardship; sex; prostitution; and human trafficking (CdeBaca 2011).
Trafficking in human beings became a felony offense under the Bulgarian Criminal Code in 2002. Article 159a defines a human trafficker as: "Anyone who recruits, transports, conceals, or admits particular individuals or groups of people with the purpose of using them for sexual activities, forced labor, removal of bodily organs, or keeping them in forceful subjection, regardless of their consent.” Bulgarian law does not regard the consent of the victim as a relevant factor, which is the same as laws in Hungary and Kosovo, where human trafficking is a felony regardless of the victims consent (Dikov 2012).
The European Union established criminal offences and set minimum sentences that set precedent over national criminal laws. The recent anti-trafficking Directive 2011/36/ EU is the first agreement between the Council and the European Parliament in the area of substantive criminal law since the above-mentioned treaty came into force (Bressan2012). Finally, Bressan (2012) noted that the overall goal of the preamble is the further approximation of separate law and penalties in this field, ensuring the prosecution of traffickers, giving better protection and assistance to trafficked people, and favoring prevention. The anti-trafficking Directive was an important step towards establishing more effective rights for victims through binding European Union rules.
Conclusion. This paper took an in-depth look at Human Trafficking and International Laws as they relate to the United States and Europe. It gave an in-depth understanding of what Human Trafficking is and who’s most at risk. Although Human Trafficking is still a major problem throughout the world, the United Nations, United States and Europe have taken the necessary steps to minimize trafficking and eventually stop it all together.