International Sex Slavery

Human Trafficking: A Global Issue

    Imagine walking down a crowded road in Thailand. It's broad daylight, and the sun is shining brightly overhead. You'd arrived here on your honeymoon a few days ago with your new, loving husband. You awoke this morning with the desire to browse the tiny shops located along the street of the hotel in which you are staying; your husband, tired from a long night, decided to stay inside; so, here you are browsing the streets for something you think your mother would like. While walking along you notice a man following you, you start to worry but don't pay much attention to it. All of a sudden you're grabbed from behind and dragged toward a black, beat up car; you begin to scream for help but no one even flinches to the sound of your shrieking cries. You feel a sharp, shooting pain on the back of your head and everything fades... You awake to find yourself in a dark, damp room surrounded by many others in torn, filthy clothes, their eyes gazing at you with a look of emptiness and helplessness. There is an awful, stale smell in the air that causes bile to rise in your throat; you force it down, not wanting to draw more attention to yourself. You hear the creak of a door, a tall, tan-skinned man enters the room and pulls you to the feet by your hair and drags you out of the room. He throws you to the floor causing you to land at the feet of an older, well-dressed man who examines you as you lie there, tears streaming down your face. The well-dressed man says to the other, "She's perfect." The well-dressed man leaves the room while the other man pulls you to your feet and leads you to a bathroom. He makes you shower and then leads you to a bedroom which is only furnished with a king sized bed. He tells you to go lay on the bed; you say no and he punches you in the face knocking you to the floor, he tells you to go and you begin to move slowly to the bed. In enters the other men, you close your eyes and drift into another world not wanting to be aware of the events that are about to happen.
    This event was an example of "human trafficking", the selling of a woman to please the needs of another against her will. Defining human trafficking is difficult because there is no "universally accepted definition of trafficking". The UN defines human trafficking as:
    the recruitment, transportation, transfer, harboring or receipt of persons, by means of threat or use of force or other forms of coercion, of abduction, of fraud, of deception, of 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. Exploitation shall include, at a minimum, . . . the prostitution of others or other forms of sexual exploitation, forced labor or services, slavery or practices similar to slavery, servitude or the removal of organs (UN, 2000, art. 3).(Globalization and Human Trafficking)

    Some say that in order for it to be trafficking a national border has to be crossed while others believe it occurs even if there is no crossing of a national border. This conflict of providing a clear definition for human trafficking results in much confusion when it comes to how governments and nongovernmental organizations respond. External trafficking is grouped into two groups: 1) countries that supply people (senders) and 2) countries that receive the people (receivers).  There are countries that do both, such as Thailand (Globalization and Human Trafficking).
    Though human trafficking can be the supply of human beings for marriage, domestic work, sweat shop labor, and much more, prostitution is the best and most studied example "over an operational definition of the term" (Globalization and Humanization).  Prostitution arouses much concern because it is usually an illegal activity that carries stigmas, making it more difficult for those enslaved to escape; it is likely to involve those who are most vulnerable, women and children. While some say prostitution is a rational choice by some, others say it is not because more often than not it is forced upon a person who has no alternative for economic survival. When put into a trafficking situation women are more likely to be victims because traffickers know how to exploit women's vulnerabilities. For example:
    Foreign women may agree to enter another as entertainers, but then find themselves functionally helpless in a country with a culture far different from their own, where they are subject to economic pressures and race and gender oppression that may drive them without overt coercion into the sex trade. (Globalization and Human Trafficking)

    Some traffickers make women believe that they are trying to help them achieve a better life than the one they already have; they know that women are vulnerable in this situation and that they will be able to persuade women to trust in them and accept their offer. This situation somewhat goes along with the "Push" and "Pull". The push factor is where people are pushed out of countries that are lacking economically into a country that has a more prosperous economy. Women take advantage of the opportunity to move to a better place where they can work and earn more than they are now, and hopefully they'll be able to send some home to their families. These factors are also used for attaining cheap labor. Traffickers use these recruitment tools to attract their victims who are usually poor and uneducated.
    Corruption plays a part in human trafficking, it enables the traffickers to operate successfully, whether it is the corruption of bribes to public officials or officials with criminal networks; those holding key positions use their authority to provide protection to those engaged in these crimes.  Traffickers’ success depends mainly on the ability to get their cargo across borders and by utilizing the corrupt officials they are able to do this, making the business of human trafficking flourish.  It is hugely profitable with global estimate profits of "$32 billion annually". Trafficking is the second leading illegal enterprise in the world. While this is a global problem it is also a major domestic problem. It is estimated that the US receive between 15,000 and 50,000 internationally trafficked victims per year (Globalization and Human Trafficking). Three percent of humanity are living in conditions that amount to slavery, that is approximately 200 million people, whether they be involved in trafficking or other enslavement situations (Global Stratification).
    A question that always arises is "how does no one recognize those who are victims of trafficking?" Traffickers usually achieve the subservience of their victims through psychological coercion, physical violence, and threats. The assailants know that the victims have little or no access to social or legal protection, even when the traffickers have no law enforcement or other officials in their pocket. The victims face much psychological and physical stress due to fear of imprisonment, struggling with a new environment, and many risks (Globalization and Human Trafficking).  These factors make it easier for the traffickers to control their victims. Once a victim is psychologically broken by a trafficker the victim may become loyal to them and help them lure people into the same situation in which the victim is. Victims are often kept in hidden places, such as homes or businesses; therefore, law enforcement, social workers, or others rarely encounter these victims and if they do they usually see them as an illegal alien and have them deported.
    Theories that help to understand human trafficking are those like: the Conflict Perspective and the Interactionist Perspective. The Conflict Perspective states: "A sexual division of labor is a social vehicle devised by men to ensure themselves of privilege, prestige, and power in their relationships with women" (Sociology).   Men see sex as a way of enforcing their power over a woman; they see it as a duty that is meant to be performed for them. Relating this theory to human trafficking, traffickers know that men need to show that they have power over some.  He who pays for a sex slave is trying to find a way to make himself in control, by paying for the woman and making her perform sexual duties, he has feels that he achieves this. The Interactionist Perspective states: "Gender inequality persists because of the way we define men and women and their appropriate roles in society" (Sociology).  This theory helps to show why men believe they are superior to woman. Society portrays men as being of higher standing and being in control. Traffickers, being mainly men, believe that they have power over other individuals such as women and children, which helps to understand why the rate of those trafficked is much lower when it comes to men. When it comes to gender inequality no nation treats their women as well as its men, not even the U.S., yet woman around the world do better than those in some U.S. areas. "The gender expectations emphasize passivity for women and assertiveness for men in sexual encounters" (Essentials).  Women are brought into a world that tells them to be passive and let men be in control, so when faced with a situation such as human trafficking, women are more vulnerable because they are easily subdued, especially if they are poor or colored (Essentials).
    Human trafficking poses many consequences on society as a whole because it strengthens the hand of organized crime, which can put the entire security of a society at risk. The high profits of trafficking help to "fuel other crimes such as, drug trafficking, money laundering, and document forgery" (Globalization and Human Trafficking).  It causes governments to become weakened due to the corruption of officials, and the rule of law becomes undermined causing a disruption in social order. It always limits the opportunities of the victims; they are not given the chance at an education or the ability to further their occupational skills causing the productivity of the workforce to diminish.
    There are those who are trying to put a stop to human trafficking, but it requires "a global and regional coalition of countries and nongovernmental organizations" (Globalization and Human Trafficking).  The global effort to end trafficking consists of three strategies: prevention, prosecution, and protection. Prevention is a way to combat human trafficking while providing educational outreach programs to alert people all over the world to the ploys traffickers use to lure victims. The next strategy is Prosecution which is breaking up trafficking networks and imprisoning traffickers, which will stop recruitment and movement of victims. Though this is the most difficult step due to countries with weak governments and corrupt legal systems, and even in those countries where prosecution and conviction are favorable, there has been little to no change (Globalization and Human Trafficking).  The final strategy is that of Protection which first requires the identification of trafficking victims. Social workers, law enforcement agents, healthcare workers, and others need to be informed on how to identify those being subjected to trafficking. The harms due to trafficking also require the victims to be attended to and cared for and for psycho-educational programs to be constructed to help them rebuild themselves (Globalizations and Human Trafficking).
    Human trafficking is a global issue that must be stopped. It is a crime that causes harm to the whole society, not just the victim, though the victim does suffer in worse ways than society. If allowed to continue, trafficking will cause the structure of many societies to diminish, leaving entire countries vulnerable to the influence of traffickers. More attention needs to be brought to this issue, so that the entire population is aware of what is happening in their own backyard.

Works Cited:

Anderson, Margaret L., and Howard F, Taylor. Sociology: The Essentials. 4th ed. Belmont, CA: Thomas Learning, Inc, 2007.

Hughes, Michael, and James W. Vander Zanden. Sociology: The Core. n.d. 1 Dec. 2008 <http://www.scribd.com/doc/4474695/The-Sociological-Perspective>.

Chapter 9: Global Stratification. 2 Dec. 2008 <http://74.125.95.132/search?q=cache:LsFFNfLqZ3oJ:info.rowancabarrus.edu/media/20749/lecture_ch09.ppt+human+trafficking+in+US%3D+sociological+perspectives&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=15&gl=us&client=safari>.

Jones, Loring , David W. Engstrom, Tricia Hilliard, and Mariel Diaz. "Globalization and Human Trafficking." Journal of Sociology and Social Welfare 34.2 (2007). Ebsco. Missouri State University. 2 Dec. 2008 <http://web.ebscohost.com/ehost/detail?vid=3&hid=113&sid=cfe5d731-8b09-46ea-88eb-bafcfdcbf26f%40sessionmgr104&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3d%3d#db=aph&AN=25301792>.