“To terrify children with the image of hell, to consider women an inferior creation—is that good for the world?”
― Christopher Hitchens
Humans have walked on this planet for a long time now. We’d undergone various transitions and evolution not only physically, but also socially. Every individual has the right to have free will and make their own life choices. It’s unimaginable for a person to have their rights snatched away due to some circumstances.
In the earlier days, humans have dominated each other based on race, gender, color, etc. to establish superiority among their kind. As time flew by, revolts and revolutions took place to fight against injustice, to sustain peace, harmony, and equality.
Nowadays, society has advanced by accepting changes and treating their kind with dignity. Yet, it’s still not the end to social evils. A social evil is not a natural evil because it is brought about by the choices of individuals, such as discrimination, rape culture, human trafficking, etc.
The most prevailing and concerning issue is Human Trafficking. According to United Nations (UN), human trafficking means, the recruitment, transportation, transfer, harboring, or receipt of a person by improper means, such as force, abduction, fraud, or coercion, for an improper purpose including forced labor or sexual exploitation.
FACTS ON HUMAN TRAFFICKING:
1. 21 million people are trafficked-
It’s estimated that around 21 million people are trafficked or exploited. The medium of exploitation is labor, forced marriage, prostitution, and organ removing/smuggling. This term is also coined as “Modern-day slavery”. On social justice day(20th February 2015), United Nations(UN) highlighted human trafficking as “the hidden figure of crime” since it’s a mode of exploitation that mostly goes unnoticed. Countries such as Russia, Iran, Venezuela, Belarus, and China are among the worst-hit countries declared by the UN.
2. 68% of people come under forced labor exploitation-
From the above estimation, 68% of people come under forced labor exploitation, 22% are forced to work as sex workers while the rest 10% fall under state-imposed labor. Since it’s a controversial fact that the sex industry brings in really good revenue, naive people and especially children are forced into this business. The laborers are forced to work for wealthy people and in dangerous sites, as it’s their only source of income.
3. 90% of these people belong from rural backgrounds-
Globally, it’s figured that around 72% of exploited individuals are women and children and 28% are men. Around 90% of these people belong from rural backgrounds who are promised employment and a decent amount of remuneration. False promises are ways in which traffickers’ bait and enslave their victims, both adults and minors. Indigenous populations and those who live in abject poverty are economically and politically marginalized.
4. Revenue up to 150 billion dollars annually-
It’s accounted that forced labor makes revenue up to 150 billion dollars annually through illegal profits. According to sources, two-third of the profits are gained by sexual exploitation and one-third is gained from construction site laborers. They are forced to work under the threat of violence for no pay. These slaves are treated as property and exploited to create a product for commercial sale. Forced labor is the type of enslavement used across the world to produce many products in our global supply chains and illegal profits are gained out of it.
5. India tops the list with 14 million human traffic victims-
India is among the most prevalent countries with regard to modern-day slavery. It tops the list followed by China with 3.2 million victims and Pakistan with 2.1 million victims. Around 14 million of the population are under the threat of human trafficking and exploitation in India. Metropolitan cities like Mumbai, Delhi, Kolkata, and Chennai are among the red-light cities with the underlying threat of human trafficking. Mumbai is considered as one of Asia’s biggest sex trafficking hub.
6. US records 1500 cases of human trafficking –
In The US, the predominant form of human trafficking is sex trafficking. This year, around 1500 cases of human trafficking were recorded out of which, 950 cases were of sex trafficking. Many times, people from lower communities are offered false employment opportunities in major cities. Around 500,000 people are trafficked from Asian countries like the Philippines, New Zealand, also from Southern America to the USA.
7. 78% victims suffer from physical and psychological impact-
Sex trafficking has devastating consequences for the trafficked individual. Females are threatened, sexually abused, and drugged in order to keep their mouth shut while being forced into sexual engagement with clients who pay them for the service. Records show that around 78% of victims suffer from long-lasting physical and psychological trauma, diseases (HIV/AIDS), drug addictions, malnutrition, and social ostracism.
8. Most of the human trafficking system is run online on social media-
Scholars and Advocate report that most of the human trafficking system is run online on social media to recruit advertise and target people with fraudulent schemes. These schemes are made to lure people and eyewash them with the promise of employment and a fair amount of remuneration. Unfortunately, innocent people fall for the trap and are made to either sell their organs or their sexuality.
9. 90% of the laborers are exploited to gain profits –
The fishing, textile, construction, mineral, and agriculture industries are particularly laced with forced laborers. The private economy, businesses, and individuals seeking to create a profit exploit 90% of the world’s forced laborers, meaning that the desire to produce a profit is the largest motivating force behind the institution of slavery. Their employment is a different form of exploitation, though related to a similar desire to generate profit.
10. 50 million girls are forced to get married-
According to International Research, worldwide, around 50 million girls are forced to get married under the age of 18. This is most commonly seen in impoverished parts of Africa, South Asia, and Russia. There are also unnoticeable cases in parts of Northern America and European countries. This is one of the underlying modes of sex trafficking. Sometimes called servile marriage, forced marriage also occurs when a wife is forcibly transferred to another in exchange for some type of payment or when a widow is given no choice and inherited by one of her husband’s male relatives, or even as a part of traditional custom.
Organizations supporting Human Traffic Survivors:
Cumulative people/ communities or organizations have come forward to safeguard the survivors and provide them with proper care. Organizations such as UNICEF, FAIR girls, Stop the Traffik, etc. have taken the initiative to provide them with proper employment with wages, advocacy, foster care for children below the age of 18, funded education, etc.
For further details visit https://www.unicefusa.org/mission/protect/trafficking
As the world progressed, society and communities began to realize the threat of this social evil. The perpetual increment within the cases struck as a shock; the UN decided to take initiatives alongside the help of the countries across the globe. The inspiration to come up with solutions is to have a proper insight of the issue which many fail to do.
Consecutive measures are taken to combat human trafficking, organ smuggling, illegal sexual industry, and other forms of organized crime. It should be emphasized that this evil is extremely on the flip side of the norm and is practiced for the sheer desire of earning income and therefore the mentality that they’re superior over the indigenous community. While moving people is an intrinsic part of trafficking, this might occur within as well as across borders, and it may spread into many forms.
Albeit there are cases where people are tricked and deceived, but there also are instances to be considered where an individual may even willingly transport themselves into a situation of exploitation to assist their family financially. But unlike those that pay to be smuggled into another country, victims of trafficking have no prospect of creating a better life for themselves.
Such an offense must be put to an end to maintain the integrity in this world. We must believe in a world where vulnerable people are provided with opportunities to provide for their families in safety and dignity, including safe migration mechanisms. We should ensure that people have the right to move to look for jobs to provide for their families without stigma and that every human being is protected – regardless of their immigration status.
