We may have heard the words very often or very little, but it is the increasing fact happening every day throughout the world; and it is probably be the second largest criminal activities in the world. Let me try to clarify the point.
What is Human Trafficking?
Human Trafficking means the involvement of use of force, fraud or compulsion to acquire some kind of labour or commercial sex act. Millions of men, women, children are trafficked throughout the world. It may happen in any community, and victims may be of any age, gender, race or nationality. Human traffickers could use manipulation, violence, false promise of well-paid job, false love relationship to attract victims into the trafficking situations.
The victims actually face hurdle to seek help due to language barriers, fear of traffickers, fear of law enforcement; thus making human trafficking as a hidden criminal activity. Traffickers use to tap their victims who are susceptible to variety of reasons like financial hardship, emotional trauma, psychological problem, lack of social safety, affected by natural disaster or affected by political instability. Most of the victims cannot realize themselves as victims just because of passing through mental and physical trauma; and so they do not even ask for help in spite of getting contact with common people.
Human trafficking is the fastest growing criminal industry in the world with a minimum of 27 million individuals living in slavery-like conditions throughout the world. Traffickers use seaports, airports and other common transport systems to abduct their targeted people every day.
Read: Bengal remains at the top of the UN list of missing Women and Kids
Types of Human Trafficking
There are 3 most common types of human trafficking is described in the list of United Nations – Sex Trafficking, Forced Labour and Debt Bondage.
Sex trafficking is a thing that directly affects women and children, and associate them forcefully to participate in commercial sex activities. 80% of the total trafficked victims are used to be women and girls. In USA, nearly 1 million children get involved into the commercial sex trade.
Human trafficking generally includes women forced into prostitution. Survivors of trafficking also incorporate men and children, and these survivors are exploited in any ways and means. Victims may be forced to do any of the following types of activities:
Domestic Servitude
Agricultural Work
Manufacturing
Janitorial Services
Hotel Services
Construction
Health and Elder Care
Hair and Nail Salons
Prostitution
Strip Club Dancing
Forced labour is known as involuntary servitude. It is the larger section among the victims that are being trafficked. Debt bondage is another form of human trafficking which you can call as bonded labour. An individual is forced to work in order to reimburse a debt, but the terms of repayment are not clearly defined. People from any country or group are unprotected to human trafficking.
What a Survivor needs
It is observed that survivors are often forced, misled with the condition they are trapped. Survivors may experience tremendous mental and physical trauma, basic communication and language problems as well. However, The United Nations and the Government of USA have set their aim to end this heinous crime and also have taken several measures to meet the needs of human trafficking survivors.
Evidence of Human Trafficking
You can find several evidences in a person who is trafficked such as –
- Some signs may be observed that their movement is controlled
- They may false identity or travel documents
- They actually do not know their home or workplace address
- Have no access or control to their earnings
- They are not able to negotiate working conditions
- Work excessively with prolonged hours
- Have very little or no social interaction
- Have limited contact or no contact with their families
- They have limited interactions with people outside of their immediate environment
- Feel that they are bonded labour
Several examples of human trafficking are there in our society. In some cases victims were being trapped while searching for job; in some cases they were offered lucrative jobs observing their financial crisis; some of them automatically get trafficked after having lost everything in natural calamity or instability cause by socio-political condition etc.
So, human beings are trafficked by any means in any country and in any time; big rackets are running in various countries, they are inter-connected and their networks are very strong. Though administrations of different countries are working with their own strategies, but people need to stay alert on what is happening in their surroundings.
