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Human Trafficking: Root Cause and Implications
Suzette Harrigan
AIU Online
Senior Capstone
Professor Hale
8/01/21
Human Trafficking: Root cause and Implications
Introduction
Human trafficking is coercion, fraud, or force to acquire some form of commercial sex act or labor. It is thus the illegal trade of human beings for those purposes. Besides, it is an old tradition and practice that has persisted over the years. Human trafficking is a global threat, with millions of men and women facing the risk of potentially being trafficked. However, what remains rather unclear is the cause of this inhumane act and its implications. This research paper will endeavor to answer those questions and bring them to light.
Causes of Human Trafficking
The root cause of human trafficking is to exploit women against their free will (Naik, 2018). The exploitation is majorly in the form of subjecting them to forced labor or commercial sex. In India, for instance, the most vulnerable group of people to human trafficking are women and girls, ranging from children, teenagers, orphans, and women. There are high poverty levels in India, a lack of education and employment, weak and porous border immigration security services, and many social problems. Human trafficking is also a social problem in Nigeria (Oluniyi, 2012). Consequently, the victims become more vulnerable, and the number of orphans increases. The result of this is that many women and girls fall prey to predators who promise them a better hope and future, voluntarily and involuntarily.
One of the major reasons for the human trafficking and exploitation of women is gender discrimination. Women are considered lesser and weaker beings. The assumption upheld by most people is that they can be manipulated and exploited in any way, with utterly no consequences held against the perpetrators. However, this problem can be solved through women’s empowerment (Naik, 2018). Women can be empowered to know and fight for their rights through women’s education. If that can be well emphasized and implemented, then women’s discrimination, trafficking, and exploitation can reduce or cease.
Human trafficking also has its roots in the economic demand of its victims. The high economic demand for cheap labor has necessitated increased human trafficking to satisfy the high demand for cheap labor. Unfortunately, in recent times, women have often fallen victim to this inhumane act unknowingly through such processes as immigration. It is fuelled by minimal knowledge on recruitment processes, desire to get quick and easy migration, and the prevalence of human traffickers globally who hoodwink young girls and women with false and empty promises into human trafficking networks (Naik, 2018). Accordingly, these poor victims find themselves in prostitution centers, forced or bondage labor.
However, there is a solution to this problem. Governments can implement strict labor and employment laws and regulations where workers are sourced legitimately and are duly and fairly compensated for their services. Human traffickers can also be brought to justice and be appropriately punished for their inhumane acts. As a result, human traffickers will become fearful of the harsh consequences of their actions, lowering or eliminating human trafficking incidences. Anti-human trafficking NGOs and projects have also set up human trafficking awareness campaigns to sensitize unsuspecting victims on how not to fall, victims of human trafficking and police and immigration officers, how not to enhance it (Timoshkina, 2014). As such, human trafficking is being addressed from all corners to ensure its decrease or extinction.
Implications of Human Trafficking
The consequences of human trafficking are undoubtedly enormous, fatal, and detrimental to the victims. These implications have caught the attention of most human rights activists and humanitarian organizations globally. The first of these consequences is Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), caused by violence and coercion, not to mention the utter disregard and abuse of the victims’ dignity and human rights. In a study carried out amongst 1,015 human trafficking survivors (children, adolescents, and adults) in Cambodia, Thailand, and Vietnam, female victims of human trafficking subjected to physical and sexual abuse had a 50% prevalence of PTSD. Those who experienced both family and personal threats recorded a 96% prevalence of PTSD (Iglesias-Rios et al., 2018). PTSD is a ghost these victims and survivors have to face almost every single day of their lives. However, PTSD can be treated through counseling and medical intervention from trained professionals in mental health and trauma counseling.
Secondly, the prevalence of HIV/AIDS globally has been significantly fueled by human trafficking. The majority of girls and women trafficking are forced into commercial sex. Those unwilling to be exploited sexually are often raped by one or many males due to “initiation” or “intimidation.” That notwithstanding, they are also forced into high-risk sex, for example, sexual intercourse without condoms, gang rape, or anal sex. Unfortunately, this is a schedule they have to abide by daily, with numerous men to serve sexually, mostly with minimal or no financial returns (Naik, 2018). Hence, if one of the men they have sex with is HIV/AIDS positive, they transmit it to the girls and women, who in turn transmit it to other men and sexual predators, who again transmit it to their sexual partners and spouses. The chain can go and on, consequently leading to escalated levels of HIV/AIDS transmissions. Bringing to justice sex predators and those running prostitution centers can help minimize this problem, combined with more sensitization for protected sex, be it voluntary or otherwise.
Another implication of human trafficking to its victims is anxiety. In research done in Cambodia, Vietnam, and Thailand, comprising 1,015 human trafficking survivors, an anxiety prevalence of 68% was recorded among females who had experienced sexual and physical violence. The prevalence was far greater than females who had not experienced any form of sexual or physical violence. Depression is another effect of human trafficking. In the same research, girls and women who had faced personal and family threats had a 42% higher prevalence of depression symptoms than females without such threats. The females who had experienced physical and sexual violence also recorded a 57% higher prevalence of depression than those who had not experienced sexual and physical violence (Iglesias-Rios et al., 2018). These statistics are an indication of the proneness to anxiety and depression of human trafficking victims and survivors. However, these issues can be addressed medically through the prescription of anti-depressants and anxiety pills and counseling and therapy.
The last, though not least, the implication of human trafficking is the loss of freedom. Freedom is a very fundamental right, cherished and upheld by most people and nations alike. It is arguably, a highly cherished right in the United States. However, every year, about 14,500 to 17,500 children, men, and women find themselves on American soil as human trafficking victims solely for purposes of sexual exploitation and forced labor. Unfortunately, the consequent effect of loss of freedom caused by human trafficking is physical and mental health effects (Richards, 2014). Hence, besides being deprived of their fundamental human right of freedom, the victims of human trafficking are also subjected to mental health and physical problems that they did not otherwise have. The solution to this is that human traffickers should be brought to justice and pay dearly for their crimes. On the other hand, the victims should be offered medical intervention for their physical and mental health problems to ensure their holistic health and recovery.
Conclusion
In short, human trafficking is a practice that has persisted for so long and should be eradicated by all means possible. In as much as its main cause is the exploitation of women sexually and in forced labor, the ends do not justify the means. It is an inhumane act that has left many of its victims and survivors tormented and coping with mental health and physical problems that they did not desire to get. Some are left with permanent scars such as getting untreatable diseases like HIV/AIDS that constantly remind them of the evil that befell them when they landed in the hands of human traffickers and sex predators. In addition, the most unfortunate who fail to withstand the trials and tribulations of human trafficking end up dead and quickly forgotten. If this giant can be brought down in every way possible, then the lives of many girls and women would be saved, and they would live freely, enjoying their freedom and human rights.
References
Bloom, S. L., & Brotherton, S. (2019). The complex mental health consequences of human trafficking: What every provider needs to know. In Routledge International Handbook of Human Trafficking (pp. 215-239). Routledge.
Cypress, B. (2018). Qualitative research methods: A phenomenological focus. Dimensions of Critical Care Nursing, 37(6), 302-309.
Iglesias-Rios, L., Harlow, S. D., Burgard, S. A., Kiss, L., & Zimmerman, C. (2018). Mental health, violence and psychological coercion among female and male trafficking survivors in the greater Mekong sub-region: a cross-sectional study. BMC psychology, 6(1), 1-15.
Kelly, L., & Coy, M. (2016). Ethics as process, ethics in practice: Researching the sex industry and trafficking. In Ethical concerns in research on human trafficking (pp. 33-50). Springer, Cham.
Naik, A. B. (2018). Impacts, causes, and consequences of women trafficking in India from human rights perspective. Social Sciences, 7(2), 76-80.
Oluniyi, O. (2012). Students’ perception of the relative causes of human trafficking in Nigeria. Mediterranean Journal of Social Sciences, 3(3), 493-493.
Rafaela, H. P. (2017). “Minding the gap” in the research on human trafficking for sexual purposes. Romanian Journal of Population Studies, 11(1), 79-92.
Richards, T. A. (2014). Health implications of human trafficking. Nursing for women’s health, 18(2), 155-162.
Timoshkina, N. (2014). Human trafficking: Assumption, evidence, responses. International Journal of Arts & Sciences, 7(4), 409-421.
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