Human Trafficking: Exploitation of Millions Through Coercion and Fraud - Essay Sample

Introduction

Human trafficking is the use of coercion, force, or fraud to gain some form of labor or commercial acts of sex. Each year, millions of people are trafficked globally-including in the United States. Human trafficking can happen in any society, and victims may be from any race, age, nationality, or gender. Unfortunately, traffickers use violence, false promises, or manipulation to lure poor victims into following them into trafficking situations. Most traffickers prey on victims who are susceptible or vulnerable for various reasons, including emotional vulnerability, poverty, lack of security, political instability, and natural disasters. Sadly, victims of human trafficking often do not seek help because of fear, language barriers, and shame; thus they make human trafficking a hidden or concealed crime. Although people continue to engage in human trafficking worldwide, it is clear that it imposes devastating consequences on victims and the world at large. Society suffers significantly from this act, as well as human freedoms, the democracy of the nation, and the human rights law. Human trafficking also presents immense problems to women's rights, gender equality, law enforcement, and the health and security systems. This paper, therefore, examines the impacts of human trafficking in different areas.

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Economic Impacts

Human trafficking leads to the loss of domestic labor, including future productivity and human resources. Traffickers often target young, energetic, and capable people who are at the prime of their lives. In essence, this population is essential for the productivity of a country. Trafficking strips a state of these resources, which in turn results in economic deprivation. Trafficking also leads to huge losses of remittances to underdeveloped or developing countries (Greenbaum, Bodrick, & Committee on Child Abuse and Neglect, 2017). This situation happens because the victims are often required to pay off the debt incurred for being trafficked. Given that the yearly remittance levels to these countries are about $326 billion, the lack of remittance from victims could result in a loss of significant development estimated to be about $60 billion.

More so, the costs of exploitation and coercion cannot be statistically measured. However, acts such as child labor represent losses in the productive abilities of a generation that would have otherwise benefited from improved health and increased educational opportunities (Greenbaum, Bodrick, & Committee on Child Abuse and Neglect, 2017). Currently, governments are using large amounts of money to try and fight human trafficking and reinforce security across borders. Although this is important, it is clear that human trafficking takes away from funds that could be used for other more significant developments such as building infrastructure, schools, and hospitals.

Impacts on Society

Human trafficking leads to more visible economic costs, such as lack of productivity and infringement on infrastructural and institutional development. However, this act has direct impacts on the families and communities left behind that cannot be statistically quantified. First of all, most traffickers target women and children, especially the girl child. In many societies, women are the nurturers and caregivers in the family. When they are abducted and taken away, families are left in distress, and children are neglected (Kreidenweis & Hudson, 2015). In other instances, men are forced to take the caregivers' role, which means that they have to leave their regular jobs as breadwinners in the family. This cycle results in family breakdown and an eventual cycle of poverty.

Victims who may find an opportunity to return to their communities are often shunned and stigmatized. Since most of them are raped and sexually abused, they are perceived as being tainted and impure, especially in conservative societies like Muslim communities. As such, they are not accepted by the communities, and this results in them resorting to drug trafficking or other illegal and criminal activities. In case a family member does not get the opportunity to return to the community, the family often has to live with the trauma of losing a loved one. It becomes worse when families have to live with the uncertainty of what happens to their loved ones (Kreidenweis & Hudson, 2015). Sometimes, other people in the community are blamed and sentenced for the murder or homicide of victims when they are the suspected enemies. Therefore, human trafficking sometimes leads to the unjust execution of justice to innocent people.

Health Impacts

Human trafficking poses significant health risks for victims both while they are being trafficked and when they reach their designated countries. Sometimes, the victims are transported in long distances, and they have to weather harsh climatic conditions and dangerous situations. Sometimes, victims have to travel for days without food or water (Stoklosa, Grace, & Littenberg, 2015). When one is too frail to cope with these harsh realities, they often suffer from poor health, and some even succumb to the situation. Others also contract infectious diseases due to exposure to unsanitary and overcrowded conditions. In other cases, the traffickers often inflict emotional, physical, and sexual violence on the victims. Usually, the victims are subjected to sexual abuse and rape while in the hands of their captors. Unfortunately, they are denied the right to use condoms, and this exposes them to the risk of contracting HIV and other sexually transmitted diseases (Stoklosa, Grace, & Littenberg, 2015).

The victims are also denied access to proper and quality medical care, which means that they cannot find effective treatment in cases where they contract severe health conditions. Victims of human trafficking also suffer from emotional and psychological conditions that may be dangerous to their health. Victims are often taken to strange countries with different lifestyles and different languages. It becomes challenging for them to communicate, and they experience culture shock in terms of language, food, and preferences (Pourmokhtari, 2015). With no proper time or supportive environment to help them adjust, victims often slip into depression and develop other mental diseases.

Sometimes, victims are injected with illegal and harmful drugs to ensure that they comply with the demands of their employers. For example, girls are taken as sex workers, and when they do not comply, they are drugged and placed in rooms where men can take advantage of them. As time passes by, these girls get addicted to drugs, and they become dysfunctional without them. It becomes hard for them to stay clean even when they are rescued and taken back to their homes (Pourmokhtari, 2015). Additionally, many of the victims do not have the certainty of what happened to their families back at home. Most of them are mothers who left their young children at the hands of cruel neighbors. Others were single mothers who were the only caregivers to their young children (Kreidenweis & Hudson, 2015). Not knowing what happened to their families often leads to victims developing anxiety and depression. Others engage in alcoholism and drug abuse to help them cope with the harsh realities.

Impacts on Human Rights

Human traffickers primarily target women and children for sexual exploitation and commercial purposes. This activity has grown into a billion dollar industry worldwide, with more and more cases being identified in different countries. However, the trafficking of women and children reinforces the secondary status of women in society (Pourmokhtari, 2015). It continues to undermine the respect and worth of women, thus undervaluing the efforts that have been put forward by human rights since time immemorial. Human trafficking strips victims of their rights, such as the rights to freedom, life, and slavery. Trafficking deprives child victims of the right to grow up in protective environments and be free from sexual abuse and exploitation (Pourmokhtari, 2015). It rips away the innocence of children and exposes them to societal evils that they should be protected from. Human trafficking takes away the victims' rights to proper healthcare, decent working environment, education, and discrimination, among others.

Conclusion

Numerous factors expose people to the susceptibility of human trafficking. Most traffickers coerce victims into slavery by manipulating them or making false promises to lure them. However, these victims are ill-treated and sexually abused for little or no pay at all. Factors such as political instability, poverty, the search for better opportunities, and natural disasters make many people fall prey to human traffickers. Although human trafficking is becoming increasingly popular in the modern world, many adverse impacts are faced by governments, victims, and their families. Victims are exposed to health risks such as HIV and STIs, depression, and drug addiction. Families are left dejected and divided, while the legitimacy of government authority is diminished. Governments and human rights initiatives should look into ways of effectively eliminating this illegal activity.

References

Greenbaum, J., Bodrick, N., & Committee on Child Abuse and Neglect. (2017). Global human trafficking and child victimization. Pediatrics, 140(6), e20173138.

Kreidenweis, A., & Hudson, N. F. (2015). More than a crime: human trafficking as human (in) security. International studies perspectives, 16(1), 67-85.

Pourmokhtari, N. (2015). Global human trafficking unmasked: A feminist rights-based approach. Journal of Human Trafficking, 1(2), 156-166.

Stoklosa, H., Grace, A. M., & Littenberg, N. (2015). Medical education on human trafficking. AMA journal of ethics, 17(10), 914-921.