Modern Day Slavery

Imagine one day waking to find that one of your loved ones is nowhere to be found. Imagine living in conditions so deplorable that you are willing to believe anyone who promises you a better life. Imagine being told that you must watch your child closely because her features are desirable to people who exploit children, igniting in you the fear of someone kidnapping her. Find these things unimaginable? Have you experienced any of it?

Welcome to Trafficking in Human Beings, the 21st century’s slave-trade enterprise.

Today, human trafficking is a profitable, booming business that is as sophisticated as any drug smuggling organization and as difficult to prosecute. According to the U.S. Department of State there is an estimated 800,000 people annually subjected to the false hope of a better life and finding themselves in servitude to those who paid their way to “freedom”. Of this amount, “80 percent of victims are female and up to 50 percent are minors” (U.S. Department of State).

The International Organization for Migration (IOM) summarizes Human Trafficking, as defined by the United Nations Convention Against Transnational Organized Crime, into five elements:
1. Recruitment (false job offers, kidnapping, buying persons, etc.)
2. Physical transportation of the trafficked persons
3. Physical or psychological coercion and /or the deception involved in the offer
4. Exploitation of the work of the person as the final objective
5. Absence of informed consent.

IOM explains some of the causes: poverty, unemployment, and lack of opportunity. They also site humanitarian crisis that leads to irregular migration.

Those who prey upon the vulnerable include people in organized crime, prostitution, drugs, even law enforcement officials and military representatives (service members and civilian contractors).

Although the majority of victims are women and children, there are also men subjected to this inhumanity.

Women who are convinced by a recruiter to leave their countries and families for a better life abroad find themselves being sold over and over in prostitution, serving as maids or other menial labor jobs. They are often threatened with physical abuse, told that their families will suffer, or they fear jail or deportation if caught by the police. These acts of intimidation make prosecution difficult.

Minors have been sold for prostitution (perhaps you have heard of the latest vacation attraction – child sex tourism). They have also been drugged and used for begging. Remember written in the first paragraph – watch your daughter because she has features desirable to those who exploit children. This is no joke!

Men have been used as laborers until they have paid off their debt for their one-way trip to hell. Their official documents and pay have been withheld to ensure compliance.

Human Rights Watch reports in 2002 that in Bosnia and Herzegovina the trafficking of women and girls continues to flourish even after the 1996 conflict. Women (defined as females 18 and older) and girls are “held in debt bondage, forced to provide sexual services to clients, falsely imprisoned, and beaten when they do not comply with demands of brothel owners who have purchased them and deprived them of their passports” (Hopes Betrayed: Trafficking of Women and Girls to Post-Conflict Bosnia and Herzegovina for Forced Prostitution, Vol. 14, No. 9 (D) – November 2002). Victims were as young as thirteen.

Here’s the icing on the cake – the local police supported the trafficking of these human beings. All hail those who have sworn to protect and serve!

The final destination of these victims is not some obscure country no one thinks about during the course of the day. No, final destinations include countries that have an impact around the world. TryUkraine.com reports the following countries among the list of end destinations: United States, Israel, Turkey, Italy, Japan, Germany, and Greece. How do you like them apples?

Trafficking does not occur only across borders. It also happens within countries.

Hope is not lost for these victims. There are several nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) and government agencies working to alleviate the world of this oozing wound.

One organization in particular is worth mentioning. Two graduates of Brown University conceived it. The Polaris Project, incorporated in 2002, is dedicated to addressing this issue. Katherine Chon and Derek Ellerman (co-founders) work diligently to train volunteers and police officers about human trafficking, how to prevent it and become victim advocates. They testify before the U.S. Congress and are involved in many states and Japan (through their staff and volunteer network) to ensure laws are established and enforced and victims are helped.

Their project has been referred to “as an important stop on a twenty-first century Underground Railroad” (Brown Alumni Magazine, Jan/Feb 2006). What’s amazing about their efforts is how much they have impacted the process in a short amount of time. They have built a network of “leadership fellows” representing countries around the world.

They manage a research and training website, humantrafficking.org, and provide a 24-hour hotline for victims.

More examples of the fight to combat human trafficking include: the U.S. Trafficking Victims Protection Act; the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) adopting the Declaration on the Fight against Trafficking in Persons; and the Philippine’s National Action Plan.

What can be done? Take the time to assess your own community. The next time you see a young girl walking the streets alone, people working in the fields, putting in a new pool or landscaping someone’s yard – and they can’t speak your native language, pause and ask yourself if that person is suffering. The action you take next can mean a better life for those individuals.

Educate yourself. A great place to start would be the Polaris Project, a local human rights organization or other NGO, and, if you dare in some locations, local law enforcement. Women’s organizations can certainly point you in the right direction if they don’t have the information available.

The following quote was found while reading a blog on the website for the Clinton Foundation – “You must be the change you wish to see in the world” Mahatma Ghandi.

Change must occur locally. Grassroots efforts ensure success. You don’t have to become an international organization.

Best wishes and may you become an agent for change so that humanity can redeem itself.