Human trafficking by its very definition is synonymous to slavery. In fact, it is commonly known as modern day slavery. However its definition according to the Victims Trafficking Protection Act of 2000, human trafficking is the enrollment, harboring, transporting, distributing, or getting a human being for work through the use of force, con, or intimidation for the purpose of unintentional labor or slavery. It is a major issue that concerns human health and a crime that cross transnational lines. Human trafficking is often confused with human smuggling that is when a smuggler sneaks a group of people across the border on a financial basis. This relationship last as long as the journey. The difference lies in the exploitation that occurs in human trafficking. It is also common for smuggling to turn to trafficking after the victims reach the destination. The reason it continues is because trafficking is hard to track after it is already in the country, and the victims are scared to report it for fear of deportation.
Understanding Human Traffic in the United States
It is however not known the extent through which human trafficking has spread throughout the countries especially in the United States. One might wonder how human trafficking is conducted. In most cases, the victims are lured by false pretense. In one such case, for instance, the victim was lured from a third world country to go work in the United States where they are promised better conditions like better pay and a decent place to live. On arrival to the United States, their documents are confiscated, therefore, ensuring they cannot go back. They are, therefore, subjected to labor that is unfit for human beings and paid very little for their efforts. They are then mistreated in ways that demeans and strips them off their dignity.
This concept of human exploitation and abuse of even the very basic human rights is what is likened to slavery. Subjecting a person by any means whatsoever for personal gain violates the Victims Trafficking Protection Act. Even with the extremity of this activity on American soil, they still tend to get very little public outrage or media coverage. Some of the confusing facts about human trafficking are that it does not necessarily mean that one must be transported from country to country and that the victims must be snuck into the country either by legal or illegal means. Human trafficking happens within the borders of the country as much or more than it happens across country lines.
However, measures are being taken to stop international human trafficking. Wealthy countries have put in place measures that have in turn contributed greatly to the fight against human trafficking. Even with regulations that have made it very easy for movements of people and commodities in and out of the country for trade, restriction within immigration facilities have made human trafficking harder than it ever was. Heightening of these measures has ensured that populations moving from poor countries are having difficulties entering the country. This coupled with the fact that there are physical barriers; it is almost but not possible for these populations to enter Western countries.
Immigration Crime and Victimization
The regulations that have been put in place have had both a positive and a negative effect. While it is harder for people to enter the country illegally, those that enter the country are under more threat to be forced into slavery by coercion or debt bondage. This is because those that own the trafficking networks know that the illegal aliens are under constant fear of deportation if they were found out. In fact, cases where immigration cases makeup for more than a half of all federal cases within the United States.
Even with the role of the immigration regulation in the increase of human trafficking, it does not mean that the act against human trafficking has ultimately failed. There are a significant number of victims rescued from slavery due to this act and the larger number of traffickers nabbed by the net cast by the Victims Trafficking Protection Act. However, the biggest achievement of this act is that it has increased the awareness levels of international trafficking. However, in order to be more effective, regulations need to be put in place so that immigration practices work in tandem with the Victims Trafficking Protection Act instead of against it. If these regulations are to remain within the borders, it will be difficult if not impossible to stop trafficking within international borders.
Not all regulations act against Victims Trafficking Protection Act. Some in help reduce the number of crime and protects people. First, it is more likely that crimes from immigration are not due to the regulations themselves but due to the perceptions of people about immigration. For instance, due to the perception of the crime associated with immigration, more and more vigilante groups have taken to guarding the border.
Tensions and Tradeoffs: Protecting Trafficking Victim
Severe regulations within the borders have made the immigrants look for more remote and dangerous places where they can cross into the country. This has increased the number of deaths from diseases dehydration and heat strokes among the immigrants. This is proven by the fact the number of deaths has increased significantly when compared to the decreasing number of apprehensions by the border patrol.
Those immigrants that make it to the country without much incident are, of course, prone to modern-day slavery where they are exploited without much they can do for fear of deportation. When the victims of modern slavery enter the United States or any other country where they are forced to labor or forced in the commercial sex industry, a fresh set of problems starts for them. This is especially the case when it comes to women and the effect comes mainly in three forms; physically, sexually and emotionally. It is important to note that the effects on these three faucets are different for the group of women who have been trafficked internationally and those that have been trafficked domestically. One such difference is that the women that have been trafficked domestically suffer from poorer health when compared to those that have been trafficked internationally.
Health Outcomes Among Women Trafficked for Sex
The estimates of how much trafficking is done in the United States is not clear due to how well the crime is hidden from the public eye. However, it is alleged that most of the trafficking is done into the United States from other countries. Over 80 per cent of the victims of trafficking are women and children and of this number approximately 70 per cent are trafficked for sexual exploitation. Most of the victims of sexual trafficking are women to the extent of 94 percent and of this number, just under 50 percent were under the age of 18. This numbers show how major sexual trafficking is like a branch of human trafficking.
Since the getting hold of the victims of abuse is so hard, researchers get the facts from victims of prostitution since the effects of the lifestyle these two groups lead are more or less the same. The first issue that affects the health of these women is poor nutrition. For the women trafficked for sex, they live in squalid conditions with little or no food whatsoever. Another issue affecting the health of these women is the poor working conditions that they are subjected to. The third factor that affects these women is the fact that they are constantly exposed to infectious illnesses especially the sexually transmitted kind.
The last two issues are most sensitive because of the nature of work that the women are subjected to. It is common to hear women who are victims of sex trafficking report physical and sexual abuse. They suffer from mental degradation since they almost always live in confined spaces for fear of further abuse.
As much as the trauma caused by the physical abuse is known, it is rarely mentioned how it affects the health of the woman. In most cases what are mentioned are the sexually transmitted diseases for the risk they pose due to rate of transmission. In fact, sex trafficking is named as one of the factors that has led to the transmission of HIV and AIDS. It is however important to note that women who are victims of trafficking suffer a great deal from posttraumatic stress disorder, mood disorders, anxiety among a host of other emotional ailments. Among the physical conditions that these women face include back, stomach and pelvic pains and memory loss. In addition to these problems, due to the nature of trafficking, they do not have easy access to medical facilities. These facilities are fundamental if this group is to have any chance of managing their failing health status. Another issue that add significant emotional trauma to the women is that almost half of them report having become pregnant in the cause of the sexual abuse.
The health issues that the women face are hardly given the recognition they deserve. This is probably because when it comes to human trafficking, most of the focus is on the labor side of it not the health part of it. The reason for this is the stigma that is associated with prostitution and the trafficking in itself is very alluring to the media.
The Celebritization of Human Trafficking
Another factor that has made the issue of sexual takes the front seat and the health of the victims the back seat is the fact that celebrities have taken a stand against human trafficking. Having celebrities involved can be a metaphorical double-edged sword. Their contribution can be positive, have no effect at all or even negate progress made. Since the majority of them are not experts on the topic, human trafficking is covered by the media majorly for the sake covering the celebrity not the issues at hand. This is reductive since it shifts the focus away from the issues that need the attention. Involving celebrities has its advantages that include rising massive awareness and funds that are desperately needed. However, involving them in most cases does more harm than good.
The major area in which they affect policy negatively is when they stray from their mandate of raising awareness to that of influencing policy. Since they are not experts on the topic, they tend to offer advice on policies that affect the fight against human trafficking negatively. The reasons that the celebrities have so much clout is that they audience feel more affiliated to what they say more than what actual experts say on the topic. This means that any error they make is subject to assimilation by the audience. In addition, celebrities raising awareness cast them as the savior of the victims of human trafficking. This in turn draws attention from the issue at hand and is focused on the celebrities instead.
It is already established that the main reason that celebrities are used is for merely raising awareness. Even so, problems can arise from this fact. In a bid to “spread awareness”, some of these celebrities rarely use their own money for travel expenses. This goes to the extent that the celebrities even fail to donate money to charities that they establish. Raising awareness therefore provides a channel where desperately needed funds are lost.
There are a few celebrities who can be termed as both celebrities and experts in the field of human trafficking. These few can and have positive influences in the cause they are trying to put in the public arena. Most of the other celebrities are more likely to take a stand for the sake of the narrative. Policy makers use them for their own personal gain and in turn it backfires and affects the victims instead.
