20th Century American Imperialism

Although human trafficking is a global issue, the level of analysis I chose was regional. In this paper I am focusing on the Mekong region, where Vietnam, Cambodia, and Thailand are located. This region has a high amount of women and children that are trafficked into the sex industry. The theory I chose for this topic is Kenneth Waltz. Waltz is a neorealist and examines the international system from a top down view. He also looks at the behavior of states,

If these women do not meet the expectations of their leader, they can be beaten, raped or killed. Why should women be involved in illicit businesses in Thailand in the first place? Business men lure women from their impoverished country to fly to Thailand by offering them a stable, well paid profession but once they land in Thailand, they are immediately sold to become prostitutes; only then do they realize that they have been sold into modern day

The recognition of colonialism within Asian history, has lead to cultural diversity- labour law, styles of government and educational concepts have been shaped by the contrasting experiences of the French, British, Dutch or American colonial systems. In china, Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia there is, in addition, the influence of communism. These contrasts and clashes of religious and political traditions are complicated further by the economic

Villages in South China are drained of people. Young men are absent in some parts of Mexico. Northern Thailand has communities where there are no women between the ages of fifteen and twenty-five. Thousands of women have disappeared due to sexual labor and trafficking in Moldova, Ukraine, and Russia. There are people around the world suffering from psychological damage, PTSD, anxiety, flashbacks, fear, insomnia, depression, sleep disorders, panic attacks, self-blame, and suicidal thoughts. Men and women are locked in factories at night to prevent escape. Traffickers use their patterns of travel to move terrorists. The profits made from human trafficking are part of the funding power for conflict and corruption in countries; the money made by traffickers is being used to bribe government officials into compliance and fund political parties and their campaigns (Shelley, 2010). Human trafficking is used to provide manpower and wealth to illegal trade of drugs and weapons (Neumann, 2015). When women are rescued from brothels they are not given protection unless they claim complete innocence and ignorance, even if they had been coerced or deceived into accepting the work (Bastia, 2006). Human trafficking arrests sustainable development, propels corruption and crime, and even may feed terrorism. Public health risks increase with the rise of trafficking. Human trafficking is illegal everywhere, but nearly every country is affected by it. “The U.S. State Department estimates that

Worldwide, not many laws exist when it comes to human trafficking. “The passage of the UN Protocol to prevent, suppress, and punish trafficking in persons, especially women and children in 2000 marked the first global effort to address human trafficking in 50 years” (Smith). Not many people are prosecuted because of the absence of anti-trafficking legislation in some countries. “Despite more than a dozen international conventions banning slavery in the past 150 years, there are more slaves today than any point in history” (Skinner). Many times, if a sex slave is arrested, she is imprisoned while her trafficker is able to buy his way out of trouble. “In 2006 there were only 5,808 prosecutions and 3,160 convictions throughout the world” (Farrell 56). Clearly there are thousands and thousands more traffickers in the world and convictions for trafficking-related activities brings little or no jail time.

Since then the demand for young girls has rocket through the skies. Many believe that the problem persists because Westerners go to third world countries such as Thailand, Cambodia, Laos, and Vietnam where sex tourism is highly known. Recently, a search discovered that local men also have a high demand for young girls. Inclusive, many villages in Southeast Asia have several brothels. Astonishing to many, the members of those communities in fact accept such places where prostitution occurs because in those cultures women are subject as inferiors (Meade). “Modern Slavery” as many call it has carried on in our world for many years and we still need to overcome it.

Every year, Thailand experiences high rates of human trafficking from its rural parts and from its the neighboring countries in the Greater Mekong Sub-region. Sex trafficking is not just described as the trade in humans for sexual slavery but also consists of forced marriages or even martyr organ donors. Trafficking is often seen through the hue of sexual slavery and it is critical to understand the social, political and economic reasons that contribute to the growth of human trafficking in Thailand. Since the Vietnam War, sex trafficking has been on a constant rise due to foreign troops being the very first clients to sex workers, there has been a perception of Thailand as a sought of after destination for

A disproportionate share of child trafficking victims come from Thailand’s rural areas confronted with a lack of basic human and legal rights protection such as, a lack of citizenship or non-birth registration. Additionally, children living in extreme poverty with limited or no access to education, medical care, and other social services, are often compelled to work in dangerous and exploitive situations, where their well-being and rights are endangered. That being said, children coming from impoverished families are sold to traders to provide for the welfare for the rest of the family. Girls who are marginalized, poor, uneducated and living in isolated rural areas are most affected and usually exploited into the sex industry. Women and girls become exposed to

It is argued that laws are hard to implement, when cultures readily accept prostitution and therefore adversely support sex trafficking. This is can be seen in Thailand. The religion of the Thai justifies the selling of young women. Buddhists believe that women are inferior to men and cannot attain enlightenment (43). They also believe that people are meant to go through pain and suffering in life to make up for the sins they have committed in past lives. It is also a belief of the Thai people that children owe a great deal to their parents (44). Just being born is considered a great gift that takes a lifetime of repayment. Because of these beliefs young girls are sold into sex slavery. Immediately, a new young prostitute has a great amount of debt, and in addition she is required to “pay for rent, food and drink, medicinal fees and fines for not working hard enough or displeasing a costumer” (58). This debt bondage keeps the girls under complete control as long as they seem

Given the scale of the causes and the international ramifications, it is no wonder that a vast range of international treaties, guidelines, conventions and local legal regulations have been established to address ‘human trafficking’ worldwide. The causes as discussed in chapter two only briefly provided examples of the complex regional issues emerging in Southeast Asia. Chapter three will discuss and explore the range of measures undertaken and the focus of multiple agencies in their attempts at dealing with varying implications with different priorities across Southeast Asia. The implications regardless of the end means, is a flagrant violation of human rights. With global attention on Southeast Asia and the rapidly growing trafficking in persons saw the United Nations Action for Cooperation against Trafficking in Persons (UN-ACT) recently launched a five year campaign in Hanoi, Vietnam in 2014 to work more closely with government, non-government, civil society, research and academic sources in bringing about effective change (South-South Information Gateway & Bernama, 2014).

Twenty-seven million people have become victims of human trafficking across the world. This transnational crime generates 32 billion dollars annually by the human trafficking industry. Victims of this crime are traded for most commonly the purposes of sexual slavery, forced labor or commercial sexual exploitation, extraction of organ or tissues, or even forced marriage. This is a violation of human rights because of coercion and commercial exploitation (“Human Trafficking.” Wikipedia). 161 countries have been identified as affected by human trafficking according to the Polaris Project (“Human Trafficking Statistics”). Recently, Thailand, a source, destination, and transit country for men,

According to the Department of State, “Thailand is a source, destination, and transit country for men, women and children subjected to forced labor and sex trafficking. Victims from neighboring countries, such as China, Vietnam, Uzbekistan, and Fiji migrate willingly to Thailand for various reasons, including fleeing conditions of poverty” (TIPR, 2013, p. 358). The countries that people are fleeing from are known for their poor living conditions, which help contribute to their “push” factors. . These individuals are severely affected by developmental factors like poverty, lack of education, and inequality, which serves to accentuate their susceptibility to traffickers. Thus, traffickers take advantage of their vulnerability, by

Thailand is one of the major destinations, and transit countries for trafficking in women and children for the purpose of sexual exploitation. The issue of sex exploitation is partially the fault of geography. By land Thailand borders several

Although millions of innocent females fall victim to the despicable realm of sex trafficking, only a negligible percentage is recovered. Sex trafficking occurs when individuals are forced to perform sexual acts without reimbursement; traffickers beat, torture, and emotionally abuse their victims into obedience. Traffickers use cunning methods to both hide their operations and force their victims into a life of submission. In a perfect world, human trafficking would be easily obliterated. However, sexual exploitation of individuals being trafficked throughout the world cannot be eradicated due to governmental corruption and cunning trafficking methods.

Thailand is a country with a population of 67.73 million people, approximately 48.2% being women. Of these women, around 1,000,000 of them (~80% under 16 years of age) are involved in sex trafficking and prostitution. When nearly 1.5% of a nations population is involved in an illegal and morally ambiguous industry, it should not be taken lightly (Jones; Hays). This serious issue led to the U.S. State Department putting Thailand on the Tier 2 Watchlist in 2013, dangerously close to the lowest ranking Tier 3 in terms of monitoring and combating human trafficking for a nation (US TIP 2013). Just recently, the 2014 report was released and confirmed a new Tier 3 ranking, despite efforts on the part of the new military regime to combat the issue.