Essay Example on Global Exploitation of Migrant Workers: Historical Overview

Introduction

It has been evident that there has been exploitation of the migrant workers making it a problem of global proportions. Slavery was known to be a social practice where one human was granted ownership of rights over another human, which led to the beginning of the slavery trade. The concerns for sex trafficking of women started in the late 9th centuries and the early 20th century (Santos, Gomes, & Duarte, 2010). It was in the 19th century that there was the intensification of female migration which was a strategy that was independent and also self-determined (Santos et al., 2010). It continued to create a certain fear of immorality being introduced into the Western countries as it was perceived that the women had migrated to work as prostitutes.

Is your time best spent reading someone else’s essay? Get a 100% original essay FROM A CERTIFIED WRITER!

Save 25%

The notion of prostitutes resulted in racially and sexually based panic which led to a rise in fear of slave trafficking for the whites. The states that joined the convention party agreed to punish individuals that would be involved in the exploitation of prostitution. During the years that followed, there was the preoccupation with sex trafficking. However, in 1980, the feminist movement began to be enlightened about the issue of international trafficking and prostitution but there was no consensus reached about the matter (Santos et al., 2010).

In the modern world, the operation is dependent on the deeply drawn lines that are used to separate humans from the subhuman world. It is in such a way that there is no threat to the human principles where they are not threatened by inhumane practices (Santos et al., 2010). Human trafficking has brought with it issues that cannot be ignored during the formulation of the legislative responses.

Sex Trafficking

It is a form of human trafficking which is mainly for the purpose of sexual exploitation which is inclusive of sexual slavery. The victim of this form of trafficking is forced in many ways to get into a situation of dependency by the traffickers and then is used by these traffickers to offer sexual services to the customers. Sex trafficking affects the victims in that it causes psychological and physical trauma which tends to be a lifelong effect (Santos et al., 2010).

These trafficked individuals get exposed to sexual violence and threats which lead to incidental and other long-term injuries together with psychological damage. The nature of sex trafficking causes substantial mental and physical issues in short amounts of time (Santos et al., 2010). The survivors of the trafficking need a treatment approach that is multidisciplinary which will help them get through the torture they undergo.

Human Trafficking

Human trafficking is more of the trade of humans in exchange for forced labour, sexual slavery or other areas of sexual exploitation. Human trafficking is multidimensional to the reference of violating human rights which are centred on the acts of exploiting a human being (Zimmerman & Kiss, 2017). The United Nations refer to trafficking as recruiting, transporting, transferring, harboring or the receipt of people through a means of threat or other acts of abduction, deception, abuse of power or positions so that one gains control over the victim and they are now able to exploit them (United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime 2016).

Survivors of human trafficking experience various forms of abuse, numerous forms of occupational hazards, poor health consequences as well as dangerous living standards. Exploitation for humans in labour sectors include areas such as agriculture, domestic work, mining, sex work, fishing and manufacturing (Zimmerman & Kiss, 2017). Related risks in terms of abuse include violence, verbal use, confinement, threats, and financial penalties. Occupational hazards for human trafficking are such as chemical hazards, extensive hours, accidents, poor equipment and airborne substances (Zimmerman & Kiss, 2017). Poor living conditions that human trafficking victims are subjected to include areas that are unhygienic, crowded, unsafe, unclean water and also poor nutrition.

Sexual Exploitation

Sexual exploitation results from sexual trafficking. Sexual exploitation is an act that is committed through abuse of the sexuality of another person which is for the purpose of sexual gratification. The victims have less to no control of their activities as the dominating group develops the habit of repeatedly exploiting women. Sexual exploitation is facilitated by a kind of circulation where the people in the poor countries migrate so that they can work in other bigger industries either voluntarily or when it is against their will.

The logic and dynamics of self-determination that is in the sex orientation make the victims vulnerable to exploitation because they have to adhere. Trafficking of women for the purpose of sexual exploitation is also understood in the form of prostitution which in other instances it is against their will and other situations when they are forced to work under conditions which they have no control over. However, it is important that there are policies designed to fight the issue of human trafficking which should extend beyond the criminalization of traffickers and there should be the reinforcement of the rights of immigrants and the workers as well.

Supply and Demand

It is important to note that there is no country that is immune from trafficking in persons (United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, 2016). Majority of the victims of human trafficking are trafficked along many trafficking flows in countries, neighbouring areas and across continents. Between the years 2012 and 2014, there were more than 500 different trafficking flows that were detected (United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, 2016). There has been an increase in the share of detected trafficking cases that are done domestically. There is evolving of the trafficking crime because of a few years back, trafficking mostly involved women but the criminal justice today is aware of the diversity among the offenders, victims, exploitation forms and flows of trafficking.

One crucial thing for criminal justice to be aware of is that the victims and traffickers are often from the same background (United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, 2016). They are from the same place, speak the same language or from the same ethnicity. These commonalities perpetuate the process by making it easy for the traffickers to generate trust to carry out the crime.

People are trafficked for a range of exploitative purposes. The most prominently detected forms of trafficking are sexual exploitation and for forced labour (United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, 2016). The victims get trafficked so that they can be used as benefit fraud, forced marriage, beggars, pornography production, and removal of organs among others. The overall average age of victims is 30 years. For men, it is 30 years while for women is 29 years (International Organization for Migration, 2016). Statistics show that the main reason for human trafficking is forced labour and sexual exploitation is the second main reason.

Recruitment of Immigrant Women

There has been an increase in human mobility resulting from the sustained population growth, affordable telecommunication, and persistent economic inequalities (United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, 2019). Thus, there is a link between migration and the trafficking of women. There is the hidden nature of forced labour and also trafficking which makes it difficult to be accountable for the numbers of the actual victims. Immigrant women are vulnerable to the deceptive tactics of the traffickers. This is because women have lower levels of education, they are unable to speak the native language of the host country, and they lack familiarity with the protections for their rights.

The traffickers compel women to accept their job offer through either deception or physical force. The traffickers will then deprive their victims of the ability to consent and then force the victim in labour situations which they are unable to escape (United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, 2019). The traffickers take full control of the victims and do anything they would like because they are threatened with deportation and other issues of being killed. This way, women are officially recruited in being sex trafficked.

Immigrant Trafficking Victims' Abuse

Immigrant trafficking is a human rights issue that needs to be taken into consideration. Female immigrants are vulnerable to the trafficking because they are taken to be desperate for opportunities in the host country and since they have no identification of themselves in this foreign country, they are trafficked to be used for the benefit of the traffickers. Other variables that contribute to women immigrant trafficking include membership in marginalized groups, victimization and trauma, disabilities, refugee status and also family disruption.

Physical abuse is a form of immigrant trafficking victims' abuse. Physical abuse takes the form of shoves, slaps, hits, punches, kicks, and strangles. The victim is also physically abused through burns, brands, and tattoos. They are denied food and water and exposed to harmful chemicals. They are also forced to have pregnancy termination and induced drug addiction to act as a means of control. Physical abuse is also inclusive of sexual abuse where traffickers use sexual assault as a punishment, forcing the victims to have sex multiple times a day and treating the victims as objects for monetary gains.

Psychological abuse is a form of immigrant trafficking victims' abuse which includes humiliation in the presence of others, playing mind games, making the victims feel guilty, and blaming for situations (American psychological association, 2019). It also involves isolation where victims are kept confined, moving victims to different places, not allowing victims to learn and denying them access to children and their families. They also experience intimidation through the display of weapons, destruction of property and lies as well as threats and coercion.

Legal abuse is also part of how victims are abused as there is a violation of their rights. It is a human right to freedom and that is what they are denied by being confined to a place where they are not able to access the outside world (American psychological association, 2019). Humans have a right to labour according to their will which is not guaranteed to them because they are forced to work under the rules of the traffickers. The traffickers commit a crime by being involved in improper legal action which is malicious and dangerous. The traffickers deprive the victims of their identification documents as well as passports; threaten them with arrests or issues of being deported if they do not labour for them.

Factors Contributing to Trafficking

One big factor that contributes to female sex trafficking is that of the risk factor for vulnerability. When the immigrant persons are from marginalized groups, are disabled, take on the refugee status and experience family disruption, they are likely to be victims of sex trafficking (United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, 2019). These persons may also be magnified by poverty, globalization, war and also political instability.

The main reason why females get trafficked is to be used for the benefit of the traffickers. Immigrant women are to be exploited for labour, and sex. Traffickers tend to target anyone that can be exploited especially women who have less power to protect themselves, unlike men. Immigration to other foreign countries is as a result of poverty, lawlessness, social instabili...