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Literature review on the history of human trafficking

Chapter One: History and Background

TheUnited Nations defines trafficking in human beings as the recruitment, transport, transfer, harboring or receiving of persons by inappropriate means (suchas force, abduction, fraud or coercion) for an inappropriate purpose, includingforced labor. Trafficking in human beings is also known as modern day slavery (Bakirci, 2009). People are largely stripped of their dignity and human rights. Peopleare forced to move across borders for sex work or children are smuggled forcheap employment or forced to work for very little money as domestic help. Itused to be a much-hidden crime and the attention of law enforcement and humanrights workers has just recently been given. Trafficking usually occurs in poorand broken environments, where exploiters come and take advantage of theirsituation. Many women remain uneducated due to poor conditions and the onlyoption during difficult times is to sell their bodies to help their families. Victims are usually given great promises and leave home and get into troublebecause of desperation. Sometimes parents sell their children for debtrepayment (Williams, 2018). Mainly girls between the ages of 10 and 35 are soldto brothel owners, these kinds of things are supposed to happen more in thecountries of the Third World, such as India, Bangladesh, Africa, Kenya andPakistan; but this is not true worldwide. Trafficking in human beings is thethird most illegal enterprise after the sale of drugs and arms and todays mostprofitable international crime with sales of 7 to 12 billion dollars. The saleof humans is one of the most disgraceful crimes with annual numbers estimatedby the State Department of 600, 000 and 800, 000 (Feingold, 2005). The scope andsize of trafficking is hard to estimate because the crime is usually donesecretly and tends to be hidden even from the police. It is believed that thenumbers are even higher than reported because of the secrecy. Enoughinformation is available to confirm that on a daily and worldwide basis men, women and children become vulnerable victims of this crime. Many factorscontributing to this wide-ranging, covert problem felt throughout the wordinclude; economic and political instability, massive global poverty and thedisenfranchisement of individual groups. Individual motivation to engage in alucrative criminal enterprise coupled with the inability of law enforcement to identifyvictims and offenders make trafficking very attractive to criminals who considertax free rewards and the likelihood of fear. The purpose of this research paperis to present a history of trafficking in human beings and to discuss ways inwhich victims are recruited to enslave and sell people (Zimmerman & Kiss, 2017).

TheMediterranean region is known as the world ‘ s birthplace. Historians andanthropologists agree that from this region all civilization grew. Early liferecords in the Mediterranean demonstrates slavery. Families would sell unwantedfamily members to traders to make financial progress. Slaves were also formedduring the war between tribes. The lost tribe would take women and children asslaves. Sometimes poor families migrate to other countries because of hunger orillness. In their new nation, such families have often become slaves. Thisevidence can also be seen in biblical records. In Genesis chapter 37, slaveryis first mentioned in the story of Joseph and his brothers. Joseph was one ofIsrael’s twelve sons. His mother was his father’s favorite wife, and he was thereforea clear favorite of his father. This made Joseph’s brothers angry. The brothersof Joseph hated him so much they wanted to kill him. They decided to sell himto traveling traders instead of killing him. The story of Joseph is not theonly mention in the bible of slavery. The Bible tells of several times when thewhole nation of Israel lived as slaves. It also provided rules and regulationsas to how the Israelites were to find their own slaves. Exodus Chapter 1 tellsthe story of the captivity of the nation of Israel in Egypt. The Egyptians havetaken the whole nation as slaves because they were foreigners in the country. While living as slaves, the Israelites suffered from their owners a lot ofabuse. The law of Moses in the Old Testament deals with the rules concerningslave ownership. One of the clearest verses is in the New International Versionof Leviticus 25: 44. This verse described the rules for the Israelites ‘ purchase of slaves. It says, ” Your male and female slaves must come fromthe nations around you; you can buy slaves from them. ” found that slaverywas not only legal throughout history, it was a key element of society. Slaverywas crucial to the growth of nations in agriculture and architecture. Slaveswere forced to perform laborious tasks that ordinary people were unwilling toperform. Slaves brought about cultural change, too. When people were tradedfrom other countries, they brought their spiritual and cultural traditions withthem. These traditions have been woven into the culture of the nation(Zimmerman & Kiss, 2017).

Althoughslavery was an integral part of nation growth and development, it was a darkpractice. Slave owners have acted in disgraceful ways to comply with theirslaves. Slaves became hungry, beaten and raped. In an effort to ensure theservitude of the whole family, husbands were kept away from their wives andchildren. The Israelites only differed moderately from the nations around them. The nation had strict rules to take fellow Israelites as slaves, but the rulesfor forgiven prisoners were looser. Moses law authorized the beating of slaves. Exodus 21: 20 – 21, New International Version states, ” Anyone who beatshis male slave with a rod must be punished if the slave dies as a directresult, but not punished if the slave recovers after a day or two, because theslave is his property (Kempadoo, 2016). ” It has continued throughouthistory in times of rapid growth. Some of the most commonly known slave tradeoccurred in the colonial period, when Europeans went to the Americas. Slaveshave become the foundation of the American colonies ‘ development. The end ofthe trade in legal slaves was a gradual process, beginning in Europe and thenmoving to the Americas. The institution formally ended in the majority of the developedworld in 1865, but illegal trafficking in slaves continues to grow throughoutthe world in human trafficking today (Kempadoo, 2016).

Chapter Two: Literature Review

Thehistory of human trafficking, especially Sex trafficking, can be divided intothree eras: (1) the 1840s to the mid-1890s, (2) the late 1890s to World War l, and (3) 1919 through World War Il. During the 1840s to the mid-1890s, thedemand for slavery around the globe combined with the rallying and relocationof non-Western men energized the trafficking of people. India, Burma, andCeylon required slaves to help dig for gold and precious stones from mines andfor development ventures like railways. Poverty stricken traveling immigrantsin Asia would look for work and criminal business people would make a profit byencouraging the deal and transportation of slaves. The union of these peoplecreated a national sex market (Bakirci, 2009).

Supportwas so powerful in 1904 that several countries signed an international agreementto deal with slave trade. The agreement pledged to (a) establish a centralrepository for collecting and sharing information on the number of Europeanwomen forced into prostitution, (b) remain observant at ports of entry byasking women to declare their nationality and report to authorities thatEuropean women were forced to travel to foreign countries for prostitution. Theinternational agreement of 1904 did not provide for the sale, transport andforced prostitution of European women to be declared illegal. The agreementdrew attention to the problem and reveal a racial divide. Ninety nine percentof prostitutes were colored women, but the agreement did not try to protectthem. Women of color were not included in the fight against forced prostitutionor trafficking until 1921 (Zimmerman & Kiss, 2017). In addition, despitethe universal consensus that nobody should be forced into prostitution, therewas still a lack of consensus around the world on the abolition of prostitutionin its entirety. Some countries believed that prostitution should be legal ifit involved the consensual exchange of services for money. Although themigration of prostitution was affected by the relocation of male businessmenworldwide during the first and second periods, the deployment of troops alsoaffected prostitution and sex trafficking. This was the case during the FirstWorld War and during World War II. During their deployment in foreigncountries, military troops committed rape against many women. General Patton wasbelieved to have told an assistant during World War II that despite efforts tostop ” wartime raping ” it was an inevitable occurrence. Thedeployment of troops also helped establish brothels to allow soldiers to gainaccess to prostitutes. Some military forces around the world, including theUnited States, often organize sites for ” recreational prostitution ” to reduce rape during the war. Indeed, the United States and South Korea agreedto establish rest and relaxation centers between the 1950s and the 1970s whichat times entailed prostitution (Feingold, 2005).

Humans are usedfor a variety of enslavement, here are a few:

  • Farm labor
  • Domestic work and childcare (domesticservitude)
  • Begging/street peddling
  • Restaurant work
  • Construction work
  • Carnival work
  • Hotel housekeeping
  • Criminal activities
  • Any form of day labor

Prostitutionis the most common form of trafficking in the United States. Prostitution isalso the world’s most frequent type of trafficking. Globally, women are mostoften victims of trafficking in human beings followed by children, mainlygirls. Children are used most often in sex tourism operations. Sex tourism isan incentive to travel abroad in order to participate in sexual escapades, usually with minors. Mexico and Latin America were places where sex tourismoccurred, especially with children. Two million children are estimated to beforced into prostitution for the purpose of providing services to foreigntravelers. Children are also used to smuggle organs. In places like India, itis not uncommon for children to be kidnapped, nurtured and then killed solelyin order to sell their organs to the highest bidder. The sale of organs is soprofitable, however, that some adults around the world agree to sell theirorgans so that they can be shipped to other countries. It is important to notethat while trafficking in human beings is usually a transnational crime, thatthousands of children are trafficked within the country’s borders in the UnitedStates. In the same way, other countries repolish internal or domestictrafficking in human beings, in which victims are sold and enslaved in theirown countries. For prosecution purposes in the United States, trafficking inhuman beings is said to have occurred when a person is forced to work againsthis or her will, regardless of the distance from where the victim has beenbought or sold to where he or she is ultimately forced to work. In fact, movinga person from one place to another is irrelevant to determining whether a crimeof trafficking in human beings has taken place. The only relevant factors arewhether the person has been forced to work against his or her will and whetherhe or she can leave or flee from his or her place of work (Kempadoo, 2016).

Peoplearound the world are kidnapped from their homes or sold into slavery by familymembers. Others are caught trying to migrate illegally to other countries. Somecome up with the new promise of work. You’re surprised that there’s no work. All identification is removed and then forced into different forms of work. Modern victims of human trafficking are beaten, tortured and raped in order tomaintain compliance, like slaves throughout history. The current number ofpeople living in slavery for several reasons is difficult to estimate. The firstreason is that trafficking in human beings is an extremely sophisticated andprofitable business. Law enforcement officials are struggling to keep pace withthe different forms of trafficking in human beings in the world today. Althoughtrafficking in human beings is illegal throughout the world, many countries arestruggling to combat trafficking because of internal corruption. Governmentofficials and police officers are paid to ignore the crimes that occur in theirarea. One study confirmed that approximately 30 million people today live inslavery. Other scientists think that number is much higher. All researchers, however, agree that more people today than ever live in slavery in humanhistory (Williams, 2018).

Womenand children have always been the most common victims of human traffickingthroughout history. That’s true today. Women and children are the world’s mostvulnerable members. They are easily overtaken by traffickers and abused. Womenare taken and sold into prostitution all over the world. The victims of thiscrime are also common children. Pornography is another easy way to exploitwomen and children. The increase in technology has made it easier to make anddistribute these materials. Other forms of forced labor include work in thefactories, agriculture, and even unwilling civil war soldiers. No population isexempt from trafficking in human beings. In the past, the crime was ignoredbecause it was supposed to only happen to the poor in war-torn countries. It’snot always the case. Trafficking in human beings is growing rapidly; it evenaffects those with advanced degrees. In 2001, hundreds of registered nurses inthe UK were found to be victims of trafficking in human beings. Theses nursetried to obtain contract work by an online company. It was a fraudulent companyand forced these nurses to contract with nursing homes throughout the UK. Theirsalaries have been decorated as part of the never-ending ” fees ” tobe brought to Britain (Williams, 2018).

Worldwide, professionals seek employment in other countries. They hope that they willfinally be able to provide for their family in their home country. Many peoplecan get successful jobs; others become unwilling victims of human trafficking. They think they have found a legitimate professional recruiter. They go throughthe documentation process to travel to another country. They anticipate a newlife when they arrive, only to find that they are slaves now. All legaldocuments are removed, and these people are forced into slavery without anyhope of escape or freedom (Williams, 2018).

REFERENCES

  • Bakirci, K. (2009). Human trafficking and forced labour. Journal of Financial Crime, 16 (2), 160-165. http://dx. doi. org/10. 1108/13590790910951830
  • Feingold, D. A. (2005, Sep). HUMAN TRAFFICKING. Foreign Policy,, 26-32. Retrieved fromhttps://search. proquest. com/docview/224044819? accountid= 12610
  • Kempadoo, K. (2016). Countering human trafficking: Introduction. Social and Economic Studies, 65 (4), 1-4, 151. Retrieved fromhttps://search. proquest. com/docview/2013691021? accountid= 12610
  • Williams, B. A. (2018). EFFORTS TO STOP HUMAN TRAFFICKING. Harvard Journal of Law and Public Policy, 41 (2), 623-629. Retrieved fromhttps://search. proquest. com/docview/2040740729? accountid= 12610
  • Zimmerman, C., & Kiss, L. (2017). Human trafficking and exploitation: A global health concern. PLoS Medicine , 14 (11), e1002437. Retrieved fromhttp://link. galegroup. com. ezproxy. umo. edu/apps/doc/A516766998/SCIC? u= nclive&sid= SCIC&xid= e35ecc4c
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