Human Trafficking
Ashlee Shoup and Daejha Ray
What is it?
Definition of Organized Crime
-"Widespread criminal activities, such as prostitution, interstate theft, or illegal gambling, that occur within a centrally controlled formal structure (UNODC)."
Definition of Human Trafficking
-"The recruitment, transport, transfer, harbouring or receipt of a person by such means as threat or use of force or other forms of coercion, of abduction, of fraud or deception for the purpose of exploitation.
The definition on trafficking consists of three core elements:
1) The action of trafficking which means the recruitment, transportation, transfer, harboring or receipt of persons
2) The means of trafficking which includes threat of or use of force, deception, coercion, abuse of power or position of vulnerability
3) The purpose of trafficking which is always exploitation. In the words of the Trafficking Protocol, article 3 "exploitation shall include, at a minimum, the exploitation of 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 (UNODC)"
Statistics
-85% of sex trafficking and 60% of labor trafficking victims are women
2008-2012 there has been a 259% increase in reports
-In 5 years there has been over 9,000 report unique cases of human trafficking
-41% of sex trafficking and 21% of labor trafficking are U.S. citizens
Family Effects
-Families are worried about their loved ones when they are abducted, and worry about their safety and well-being. They go through the mental anguish of pondering what happened and if they are alive. They will blaim themselves for not being able to protect
their safety and well-being. They go through the mental anguish of pondering what happened and if they are alive. They will blame themselves for not being able to protect their family member.
-Sometimes though, the families are the ones that put the person into human trafficking. Families can sell, usually their daughters, into the market for money. So families can add to the growth of this market by submitting their young into it, instead of protecting them from it.
Citations
"Human Trafficking." Polaris Project. Polaris Project, n.d. Web. 4 Feb 2014.
"The Slave Next Door: Human Trafficking and Slavery in America Today." Publishers Weekly 4 May 2009: 40+. General OneFile. Web. 4 Feb. 2014.
UNODC, . "Human Trafficking." United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime. UNODC, n.d. Web. 4 Feb 2014.