The so-called “oldest profession in the world,” prostitution, continues to this day. For as long as the concept of exchange of goods and services has existed, prostitution has flourished. However, in the globalized age, a newer and more insidious trend has emerged in the world of prostitution. In order to provide enough sex workers for clients, this occupation requires a continuous inflow of women, and sometimes children, both male and female. Some demand for prostitutes is met by children of those already in this profession. But the main supply comes from victims of human trafficking who are brought into the trade, which takes place in three stages: recruitment, movement and exploitation.
In common parlance, human trafficking refers to trading of human beings for illegal purposes, usually prostitution. This term especially refers to the issue of trafficking in women and children for purposes of prostitution, but it includes other reasons as well.
The worldwide statistics about human trafficking are astounding. Some 800,000 people are trafficked across borders annually. Women and children suffer from abductions and sales much more than men, because of they are being used in the sex trade. Approximately eighty percent of individuals sold into slavery around the world are women and children. The remainder are often used as military recruits and manual laborers. As evidence shows, human trafficking is sadly very common. (Unknown, 2013).
The social perspectives of human trafficking are divided into three categories: structural functionalism, conflict perspective, and interactionism. Structural functionalism suggests that two terms should be used to describe human trafficking. These terms are social stability and social instability. When social stability exists, the low status people are trafficked as slaves to work for either nothing or low wages. These jobs include construction work, agricultural work, and other extremely lower paying jobs. Under conditions of social instability, people are easily convinced to leave the relative poverty of their homes and travel to new places in search of employment (Farrell, 2011).
Under the conflict theory perspective, human trafficking happens among people who have different levels of power and status. Because of the lack of job opportunities and government help fulfilling poor people’s basic needs, they explore for better opportunities. Then they become the prey of heartless people who lure them with false promises and then abuse them. People with low social status are easy targets for traffickers to trap in order to keep their business going, as they are willing to take risks that others are not (Farrell, 2011).
Under the interactionism schema, people participate in human trafficking because it’s an easy way to satisfy their basic needs and to get ahead in life by either selling their own bodies or those of their women and children. These trafficked human beings are transported to other countries in order to provide all kinds of services. This kind of trafficking usually starts within small networking groups, who do such activities as recruitment, transportation etc.
Companies can avoid the risk of engaging in human trafficking by taking steps to make it harder for traffickers to traffic people using their products, premises or services and by helping to raise awareness of the problem. Some other steps include adopting and implementing corporate policies with commitments to respect human rights, labor standards and avoiding corruption.
The exigencies of human trafficking can be seen in the victims. They suffer from extreme stress, physical and sexual violence, and hazardous work. Victims are less psychological table, their fear levels are elevated, and they suffer from severe trauma. These health risks and barriers to services for trafficked human beings are like those experienced by other marginalized groups.
Human trafficking is a devastating type of crime. Women and children who are kidnapped by human traffickers are often forced to work, either in terrible conditions for little pay or in functional sexual slavery (Farrell, 2011). Women and children who are forced into prostitution may face health issues like HIV/AIDS or other sexually-transmitted infections, and have little access to health care (United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, 2000).
Human trafficking is a practice that thrives in secret, in the dark underbelly of society where laws do not easily extend. However, the sad reality is that, as reported by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (2000), human trafficking and the related criminal element exists and thrives all the major cities around the globe, with few, if any, exceptions. There are steps that can be taken to alleviate the power that human traffickers have; some of these steps are relatively simple, like refusing to purchase so-called “knock-off” goods. Every year, according to some research, the human trafficking industry makes more than $32 billion US dollars, more than half of which is made in industrialized nations (Unknown, 2013). To fight against human trafficking and human traffickers, individuals must stand firm against human trafficking and refuse to engage financially with the industry. Only then can the practice of human trafficking be slowed or even stopped completely.
References
Farrell, C. (2011). Human trafficking. Edina, Minn.: ABDO Pub..
Fowke, M., Aronowitz, A., Sarrica, F., Albert, S. and Symalzek, J. (2006). Trafficking in Persons: Global Patterns. [report] New York: United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime.
Haerens, M. (2012). Human trafficking. Detroit: Greenhaven Press.
United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (2000). What is Human Trafficking?. [online] Retrieved from: http://www.unodc.org/unodc/en/human-trafficking/what-is-human-trafficking.html [Accessed: 4 Sep 2013].
Unknown. (2013). Human Trafficking Statistics. [e-book] Washington D.C.: Polaris Project. Available through: Change and Inspiration http://www.cicatelli.org/titlex/downloadable/Human%20Trafficking%20Statistics.pdf [Accessed: 4 Sep 2013].
