Human Trafficking is an Unaddressed Worldwide Tragedy

We, the world of civilized humans, all bear the responsibility of putting an end to this holocaust of mutilation of body, soul, and emotions of our women and children in the sex slave industry.‏

Photo courtesy: Coalition Against Trafficking in Women

(SALEM, Ore.) - Bringing attention to human slavery and trafficking should not be a difficult task. People should be completely shocked and appalled that this problem has been allowed to grow completely out of control. Governments, including the United States, devote far too little in the way of time and resources to it. Many people say that is because too many government employees are part of trafficking and slavery. That makes fighting it all the more difficult if it is the case.

Human trafficking is defined by Wikipedia as the recruitment, transportation, harboring, or receipt of people for the purposes of slavery, forced labor (including bonded labor or debt bondage) and servitude.

This is estimated to be a $5 to $9 billion-a-year industry. Wikipedia cites The Council Of Europe saying, "People trafficking has reached epidemic proportions over the past decade, with a global annual market of about $42.5 billion".

Victims typically fall into the clutches of traffickers who use the tools of coercion, deception, fraud, abuse of power, or outright abduction. Threats, violence, and economic leverage such as debt bondage can often make a victim consent to exploitation, Wikipedia explains.

Exploitation includes forcing people into prostitution or other forms of sexual exploitation, forced labor or services, slavery or practices similar to slavery, servitude or the removal of organs. For children, exploitation may also include forced prostitution, illicit international adoption, trafficking for early marriage, or recruitment as child soldiers, beggars, for sports, or for religious cults.

A human trafficking awareness poster from the Canadian Department of Justice.

The latter is brought into focus in the recent movie "The Kite Runner" which depicts the life of a boy who was literally "bought" from an orphanage, only to be sexually abused by members of the Taliban.

Individuals Call for Justice

One advocate who works for the Palm Beach Sheriff's Office in Florida, Betty Dehnert, says the civilized people of earth have absolutely no clue about this industry.

"The Global sex slave industry is controlled by large organized crime, gangs, and supported by the Governments of many countries that benefit from the money involved. This is money that is circulated around the world at the expense of innocent women and children being sold into slavery for sex."

Billions of dollars could be applied to this problem, and it could be turned around. To say that we squander our money in this nation is a vast understatement. Hundreds of billions spent to kill people in Iraq, tax cuts for the poor, huge amounts of corporate welfare, endless support from U.S. taxpayers for Israel, and yet we spare only a pittance toward investigating human trafficking.

As our economy worsens, this problem will rise exponentially. Illegal money and crime will not be affected by the financial downfall of the United States. Yet American citizens are not immune from sexual slavery, and trafficking. Talk about legitimate fears, it happens every day in other places where their economies are severely depressed, like Mexico.

Betty Dehnert in Florida says she does not understand why the SO CALLED sophisticated Governments of this world can take such as lackadaisical attitude.

"The most disturbing response that I typically hear people retort when they do become aware of this holocaust is 'Oh it’s the oldest profession in the world, it will always be around'. I would like to applaud, and support with my own money, groups such as the not for profit human rights organization the 'CATW', that work diligently to get laws passed through the U.N. to fight this industry from becoming the biggest industry on the face of the earth."

In the United States, trafficking laws are prosecuted at the federal level. The overwhelming majority of states do not have laws against human trafficking. One example cited by Wikipedia is that in Maryland it is a felony to have sex with a minor, but only a misdemeanor for making it available to those who wish to have sex with a minor.

The laws of the U.S. have seen some improvements in recent years. One example is the Victims of Trafficking and Violence Protection Act of 2000, which allows for greater statutory maximum sentences for traffickers, provided resources for protection of and assistance for victims of trafficking and created avenues for interagency cooperation. It also allows many trafficking victims to remain in the United States and apply for permanent residency under a T-1 Visa. The act also attempted to encourage efforts to prevent human trafficking internationally, by creating annual country reports on trafficking and tying financial non-humanitarian assistance to foreign countries to real efforts in addressing human trafficking.

According to Wikipedia, the United States Department of State has a high-level official charged with combating human trafficking, the Director of the Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons ("anti-trafficking czar"). The current director is Mark P. Lagon.

Yet, international NGOs such as Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International have called on the United States to improve its measures aimed at reducing trafficking. It has been recommended that the United States more fully implement the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, especially Women and Children and for immigration officers to improve their awareness of trafficking and support the victims of trafficking.

The Coalition Against Trafficking in Women-International (CATW) is a non-governmental organization that promotes women's human rights by working internationally to combat sexual exploitation in all its forms.

Founded in 1988, CATW was the first international non-governmental organization to focus on human trafficking, especially sex trafficking of women and girls. CATW obtained Category II Consultative Status with the United Nations Economic and Social Council in 1989.

The group states that it is a fundamental human right to be free of sexual exploitation in all its forms. Women and girls have the right to sexual integrity and autonomy.

Projects Underway

One program The Coalition Against Trafficking in Women maintains is intended to curb male demand for prostitution. The group draws a parallel between prostitution and trafficking. It seems fair to consider that this is the case in many parts of the world. It is also true however, that places like the state of Nevada in the U.S. where prostitution is legal, have far lower rates of abuse and sexually-transmitted diseases that places where it is illegal.

One of CATW's goals is to combat sex trafficking and prostitution by discouraging the demand. They say it is important to challenge the men who buy women for the sex of prostitution through various measures, including education of boys and men and support of enforcing laws against buyers.

They also believe it is important to publicize a chart of "global good practices," illustrating police and community actions taken against male "customers."

Many police departments have creatively used local legislation to arrest, charge, and prosecute the men. Some have seized men's cars, which is obviously controversial, and others have utilized techniques of 'naming and shaming' in which men's names are published in the newspapers or on the internet when they are caught in the act of soliciting women in prostitution. Other police forces have aired surveillance videos of male buyers, caught in the act of soliciting women in prostitution, on a special TV show.

One thing that is extremely important to remember, is that the problems of human trafficking involve boys also. Get involved, write your Congressmen and Senators and demand action. Join groups, hold rallies, try to be proactive in whatever way you can imagine.

For more information, visit: Coalition Against Trafficking in Women

Wikipedia's page on Human Trafficking