Question

Discuss, explain, and elaborate on the various ways that human trafficking is like slavery.  What implementations should be made at the state and federal level to reduce victimization due to human trafficking? Explain and elaborate.

Answer 1

Human trafficking involves recruitment, harbouring or transporting people into a situation of exploitation through the use of violence, deception or coercion and forced to work against their will.

In other words, trafficking is a process of enslaving people, coercing them into a situation with no way out, and exploiting them.

People can be trafficked for many different forms of exploitation such as forced prostitution, forced labour, forced begging, forced criminality, domestic servitude, forced marriage, and forced organ removal.

During National Slavery and Human Trafficking Prevention Month, we’re raising awareness about these unspeakable crimes in the hopes that one day we will no longer have to.

1. Slavery and human trafficking can mean two different things:

Modern-day slavery involves exploiting people, often through forced labor or sex. Human trafficking is when a person is recruited, harbored, provided or obtained for the purposes of exploitation -- often sold as an object. Trafficking victims, two-thirds of whom are women and girls, are recruited by means of threat and are often sent into the sex trade or forced to get involved in manual and servitude work, according to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime.

2. There are more slaves around the world today than ever before in history.

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Though slavery has been banned across the globe, more than 29 million people are living in slavery, the greatest number in history. Some 15,000 people are being trafficked each year right here in the U.S. for purposes of forced labor or sexual exploitation.

And they're working for you. Even if your shelves are lined with fair-trade and locally produced items, there’s a good chance that a number of slaves have contributed to making the food you eat, the clothes you wear and the laptop on which you’re reading this story, according to Slavery Footprint. Find out how many slaves you employ by taking the Slavery Footprint quiz and then learn how you can urge major retailers to be more transparent.

3. Sex trafficking victims are often treated like criminals.

Trafficking laws vary from state to state, with victims often being arrested and treated like criminals, reinforcing their belief that the police can’t be trusted. Advocates are calling for a “Uniform Law,” one that will allow all agencies to properly identify victims, provide rehabilitative services, and prosecute traffickers.

Forced laborers are making some of your favorite things.

There’s a good chance that the Christmas decorations you recently packed away and the shoes you’re wearing right now were made by slave workers. But there’s an easy fix for that. The U.S. Department of Labor has devised a list of countries and the items they export that are produced by child and forced laborers. Peruse the list so you can effectively change the way you shop.

But there’s another component to the fight against human trafficking you should know about: what governments are doing to prevent and address the issue in their own countries and around the world.

In general, government intervention varies—while some countries are creating policies that work for their cultures, others are lagging behind with no counter-trafficking laws at all. There are also some international standards: In 2003, the UN Protocol to Prevent, Suppress, and Punish Trafficking in Personsestablished a universal trafficking definition and set a goal for countries to prevent and combat trafficking and assist victims. Similarly, the U.S. Department of State’s “Trafficking in Persons Report” offers suggestions for nations to comply with the “minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking.”