Introduction
Human trafficking can be defined as a conduct of moving people within or across borders through the use of force or deception with a sole intention of exploiting them. Normally, people of certain aspects of vulnerability are the major victims of trafficking. These people undergo various forms of exploitation such as forced labor, sexual abuse, servitude, prostitution or sexual abuse. The women trafficking business has become an industry that generates millions of dollars in foreign exchange across the world. These acts are mostly used for sexual fulfillment and other forms of slavery. In fact, the most common form of slavery today is trafficking women for sexual practices (Tavakoli 78).
Thesis Statement
This paper aims at exploring some of the issues that surround the trafficking of humans, especially women and children to be used as sex slaves and cheap laborers, respectively.
Background
In the past, trafficking was only associated with women prostitution and its main intention was to end the white salve trade. This coincided with the same period in which affirmative action on women had begun taking root. There was more independence and mobility on the part of women. White slave trade suggests that the women trafficking business induces emotions orchestrated by moral panic. With time, the thematic composition of human trafficking changed with regards to the emerging victims. For instance, the ‘International Agreement for the Convention of the White Slave Traffic’ of 1904 was replaced by the ‘National Agreement for Suppression of the Traffic in Women of Full Age’ in 1933. Later on in 1949, the United Nations held a ‘Convention for the Suppression of the Traffic in Persons and the Exploitation of the Prostitution of Others’. The main aim of this convention was to end prostitution. It viewed prostitution as an evil equivalent to the trafficking of persons for the same purposes. Furthermore, prostitution demeans human dignity and their worth besides endangering the community and individual’s welfare. This was a step in the right direction towards protecting and preserving the rights of humans.
Later on in 1970, during the war in Vietnam, reports arose that women trafficking for sex, was on the rise to serve the troops that participated in the conflict. Women were also trafficked for arranged marriages and sex tourism. Such acts induced the United Nations into action in 1979 whereby through the ‘Convention on the Elimination on All Forms of Discrimination against Women’, outlawed women trafficking and their exploitation through prostitution (Mcsherry and Kneebone 71).
All About Trafficking
An international set of laws that address the trafficking offences falls under the Trafficking Protocol and the CEO Convention. This convention handles the traffic crimes that are beyond transnational borders. This together with other international agencies offers serious platforms for addressing trafficking crimes. Most human trafficking crimes occur across boundaries. Trafficking should therefore be classified under international crimes.
The end mission of all human trafficking endeavors is slavery. In fact, most media organizations and activists describe it as modern day slavery. Trafficking for the sake of sex is being referred to as sex slavery. Paradoxically, slavery has been classified as an international crime but not human trafficking. However, trafficking is related to slavery and should therefore be classified as an international crime. This is because it denies an individual autonomy besides prejudicing the dignity of the person being subjected to it (Hua and Nigorizawa 411)
Causes for Women Trafficking
The rise in the frequency of trafficking women for sexual exploitation has been blamed on the vulnerability of women in the society. As much as this claim might be true, there are also other important considerations that contribute to the flourishing of this illegal industry. The first one is the current breakdown in the pertinent institutions that should deal with it. According to the US Department of State, the institutional opposition in key sectors such the judiciary, law enforcement and the legal profession significantly contribute to the rise in the violence against women. It is also important to note that human trafficking normally thrives in countries where there is a major divide between the rich and the poor, or between the original local populations and foreigners. A case in point is Guyana where the indigenous populations continue to languish in poverty at the expense of the foreigners. Most of the casualties of this crime are the poor women and girls. In essence, their vulnerability to trafficking for sexual molestation is at a higher level than that of their male counterparts.
Some countries do not have laws that keep up or comply with the international human rights standards. Guyana, as a state has been hugely criticized for its complacency in implementing. Its laws are instead discriminatory to the indigenous population as it provides very little protection against their exploitation. Foreign companies have so far engaged in the exploitation of the natural resources of the country while polluting land and water supplies. The resultant effect of all these is landlessness and poverty, which further fuels drive for trafficking women (Lutya 67).
Health inequality also plays an important role in fueling human trafficking in poor countries. Little funding is normally availed to indigenous populations for their healthcare programs and services. This is even made worse by lack of sufficient collaboration and coordination between the different health institutions and the Ministry of Health itself. Furthermore, many well trained and qualified health personnel tend to flee from such countries in search for greener pastures. With all these conditions, the people who feel the real impacts of the situation are mostly the women and girls who hail from the lower end of the economic scale. Trafficking, therefore, becomes a necessary evil in escaping the health inequalities from the home countries.
The vulnerability of the women and girls to trafficking for sexual purposes is further compounded by the existence of some cultural factors in countries where these activities thrive in. In these countries, the male gender dominates all aspects of decision making from the family set up to the national level. A country like Guyana, for instance, encourages polygamous practices, which is a major contributing factor to the spread of HIV/AIDs virus. With little awareness amongst the populations, young girls have continued to engage in unprotected sexual activities leading to early pregnancies and the spread of STIs. All these have led to the populations to view their country as unbearable to continue staying in.
People also tend to mistakenly believe that the world outside their national or continental boundaries might provide answers to their problems at home. This is attributed to their lack of exposure to the criminal activities of the outside world. It has also given women and children a false hope in security provision. In comparison with the situation at home, the locals seem to believe in finding soft spots abroad hence increase in trafficking for sexual and provision of cheap labor (Mantini 344).
Conclusion
It has been discovered that human trafficking is a problem that affects the whole world. The most affected people, who are also the victims of trafficking, are children from women who are used for cheap labor and sexual fulfillments respectively. It has come out clearly from the above discussions that lack of education and awareness and the biting poverty levels within the local populations significantly contribute to this menace. Other factors include lack of commitment by country governments to enact relevant legislations that can help curb the problem and stop the current violations of the human rights being experienced in these nations. The national governments and international agencies are therefore called upon to put more efforts toward the reduction of poverty, enactment of human trafficking laws and the protection of human rights against violations. By doing this, they would be ensuring the restoration of human dignity and ending their exploitation in form of trafficking. Countries also need to redesign their human traffic offences policies to comply with those of the international standards to prevent conflicts of interests. It is also important to involve all sectors in addressing the issues to do with poverty, marginalization and discrimination amongst certain sections of the population.
Work Cited
Hua, Julietta and Holly Nigorizawa. "US Sex Trafficking, Women’s Human Rights and the
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Lutya, Thozama Mandisa. "Epi-Criminological Responses to Human Trafficking of Young
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Mantini, L. "Human trafficking of Amerindian women in Guyana: challenges and strategies."
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