Not My Life By Robert Bilheimer: Documentary Analysis
From the documentary titled “Not My Life” by Robert Bilheimer, there is a summary of how slavery and human trafficking are still a major problem today. Many people are forced to work under threat of coercion that involves hard labor without returns. Most of the affected are women and children who are considered easy targets because of their perceived weakness by society (Bilheimer, 2011). Many studies have found it hard to estimate the exact number of people affected since most of these crimes are hidden.
I was surprised most by the fact that many of the human traffickers commit heinous crimes and when caught, they get light sentences and are also sometimes released early. This is surprising because human trafficking is a serious crime considering
human life is at stake. According to Bilheimer (2011) these criminals relish in the idea of doing business where the legislation is not keen on such crimes which presents a low-risk business opportunity. There is a serious lack of effective legislation to prosecute human traffickers and buyers. This legislation should be one that focuses on making the criminal business riskier by ensuring that those who are caught get punished severely. The potential barriers to enhancing these legislations on a global scale include the fact that there is a high demand for cheap labor. Another barrier is the motivation that potential human traffickers acquire from the criminal business since the returns are quite high.
Paris (2007) suggests that the main reason for the government of Cambodia not enacting laws against buyers is that most of them are foreigners who are outside its jurisdiction. One of the key markets where Cambodian slaves are taken is China where they are forced into labor under force pretenses of good jobs. It is however explained in the documentary that human trafficking, exploitation, and abuse are things that can be eradicated if enough effort is applied.
References
Bilheimer, R. (2011. November 1). Not my life [Video file]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8n1GbsdF5to&t=230s
Paris, C. (2007). Modern day slavery: human trafficking revealed. Ocala, Fla: Claddagh Ltd. Publishing
I was surprised most by the fact that many of the human traffickers commit heinous crimes and when caught, they get light sentences and are also sometimes released early. This is surprising because human trafficking is a serious crime considering
human life is at stake. According to Bilheimer (2011) these criminals relish in the idea of doing business where the legislation is not keen on such crimes which presents a low-risk business opportunity. There is a serious lack of effective legislation to prosecute human traffickers and buyers. This legislation should be one that focuses on making the criminal business riskier by ensuring that those who are caught get punished severely. The potential barriers to enhancing these legislations on a global scale include the fact that there is a high demand for cheap labor. Another barrier is the motivation that potential human traffickers acquire from the criminal business since the returns are quite high.
Paris (2007) suggests that the main reason for the government of Cambodia not enacting laws against buyers is that most of them are foreigners who are outside its jurisdiction. One of the key markets where Cambodian slaves are taken is China where they are forced into labor under force pretenses of good jobs. It is however explained in the documentary that human trafficking, exploitation, and abuse are things that can be eradicated if enough effort is applied.
References
Bilheimer, R. (2011. November 1). Not my life [Video file]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8n1GbsdF5to&t=230s
Paris, C. (2007). Modern day slavery: human trafficking revealed. Ocala, Fla: Claddagh Ltd. Publishing