Human Trafficking: Searching for a Solution

Worldwide statistics reveal that each year around 150 million girls and 73 million boys are victims of sexual abuse, (WHO, 2018). Human trafficking is without doubt part of the statistic which causes unspeakable abuse on children and it is driven by profit from criminal business that stacks in a lot of profit reaching almost billion dollars. One of the countries that have a huge problem with child abuse is Thailand. In 2004, studies suggest that over eight hundred thousand child prostitutes in Thailand are under the age of sixteen. Furthermore, in more recent studies it shows that 30 to 40 thousand

Human trafficking has been a controversial issue for many years. There are different types of trafficking, which helps makes it a widely diverse issue. In Thailand, traffickers rely on the poor desperate people of other countries as well as their own to fulfill their needs financially, physically, and emotionally. Thailand has various reasons why they use human trafficking; sex exploitation, forced labor, and obtaining their organs for an organ transplant. Sex exploitation has been used by mainly men for a long time. They choose both women and children to violate, sometimes even men. The prettier the woman is the more she is worth. All men, woman, and children could be forced into labor. This varies from what the owner wants from them. People can also choose to go and work for them because they think this is their only way of making money, but they usually do not see much of it. Finally, others purchase them just for their organs. There are very long waiting lists on some organs, by the time one comes about the person in need of the organ has already passed away. There are a number of steps and reasons that are involved in human trafficking. With all of these issues of; sex exploitations, and forced labor, and organ trafficking, the trafficked can become physically and mentally injured.

Human trafficking, or the selling and buying of people, is a well-hidden yet prominent issue within today’s society. It is both an immoral and horrific topic that needs brought to attention and dealt with. When human beings are manipulated into work, sexual servitude, or economic hardship, human trafficking is occurring. In the year of 2006, only one individual is convicted of human trafficking per 800 victims (UNGIFT). By looking at straight statistics, reasons human trafficking happens, and the toll it has on people, it is very clear that this is a major issue that is happening in our world.

Up to 600,000 to 800,000 people are trafficked annually, of which about 80 percent are women and up to half are children. Human traffickers take people against their own will in order to make some money for themselves, and they have no compassion towards their victims. Several solutions have been brought up, but most will not fix the problem. Some people state that we just need to add to law enforcement efforts and put harsher punishments into effect, just like Koh Tsin Yen did in her 2016 article “Point: Human trafficking is a domestic and transnational crime. Governments should strengthen their law enforcement efforts to combat it” that was published on InfOhio’s Point of View Reference Center. On the other side of this argument, opponents

Women and children who are being sexually exploited are often found in the urban areas of Thailand, but even rural areas have a share of commercial sex workers (Lau, June 2008). The Thai society is extremely male dominated as men are considered superior to women and hold the government and societal power (Vejar & Quach, May 2013). Foreign investors have a great deal of power in Thailand as the country has become more dependent tourism and manufacturing rather than the traditional small farm economy (Geary & Meyer, June 1993).

According to estimates, more than 700,000 people are trafficked every year for the purposes of sexual exploitation and forced labour. They are transported across borders and sold into modern-day slavery. Over the past decade, trafficking in human beings has reached epidemic proportions. No country is immune. Clawson (2009) discusses how the search for

You turn on the news and see another story about trafficking in a third world country. You’re not surprised. One day, you see a story about trafficking in the United States. You’re surprised. Human trafficking happens all around the world, yet it’s a taboo subject. Over 20 million people are trafficked around the world. They’re usually forced into labor or prostitution. There are government efforts towards combating this problem. Despite these efforts, the government is not doing enough because in preventing and regulating it.

Human trafficking is a dangerous, demeaning trade. It is highly visible to the public. However, people turn a blind eye, despite all of its repercussions. Saving the victims, and punishing the traffickers, pimps, and johns takes time and can be a complicated process, but it is immensely worthwhile. Prevention through education is a key component in order to put a stop to human trafficking once and for all. The many laws and organizations are also essential in protecting victims and bringing justice. Human trafficking can happen to anyone, anywhere, anytime. However, right now, right here, it needs to be

Human trafficking is something that has gone on for a very long time, beginning as early as the 1400s with slaves being used and traded. As stated by Jones, Hillard, and Diaz (2007), “human trafficking is both a global problem and a domestic problem” (p.108-109), meaning human trafficking affects and takes place all over the world. Overpopulation, poverty, and so forth, are examples of domestic problems; they also increasing the chances of human trafficking taking place. Immigrants are usually the ones exploited for human trafficking with promises of great pay, jobs, living, and comfort. Trafficking, unlike smuggling, is correlated with deception to ultimately achieve exploitation. Since they don’t have rights as citizens, and are technically illegally here, immigrants comply with the orders they are given (Jonas et al., 2007).

A $28 billion trade is human trafficking, not to be confused with smuggling. This can take place in many forms such as modern day slavery, sexual exploitation, or even worse, organ harvesting. Human smuggling is when persons pay just to be brought into a country and do not get forced into all the terrible things that a ‘trafficked’ person gets forced into doing. Trapped with no way out many are forced to work as migrant workers or prostitutes. This is one of the fastest growing criminal activities around the globe. (Vardi, 2010). “It is estimated that 800,000 to 900,000 victims are annually trafficked across international borders worldwide and between 14,500 and 17,500 victims are trafficked into the United States annually.” (2012).

The two articles that I chose to explore are U.S Closing a Loophole on Products Tied to Slaves from, The New York Times, and Human trafficking survivor: ‘We need jobs, not pity’, from CNN.com. The article titled U.S Closing a Loophole on Products Tied to Slaves from, is about forced labor on Thai boats. Cambodian migrants, which included children that are enslaved and made to catch fish, which is then turned into pet food and sold to Americans. A man by the name of Lang Long was found shackled by the neck during his three years of captivity at sea. The problem is about 90 percent of seafood for humans and pet consumption in the United States is imported, so these sort of ships still exists in Thailand. President Obama will sign legislation

Human trafficking is still lingering in South-East Asia as of today, and we do not expect to leave any time soon in the near future. The reality is that South-East Asian countries are mainly “affected by domestic trafficking or trafficking from the neighboring countries” (UNODC, 2014). There is an approximate “12 to 27 million people enslaved and exploited by human trafficking”, which this crime network brings in approximately “$30 billion dollars annually” (Collins, 2014). It is detected that today we see that (1) South-East Asia is still the origin area for victims of human trafficking around the world, (2) the vast majority of victims are females (either adults or underage girls) and children, (3) what’s surprising is that forced labor is well known among victims than sex exploitation, and (4) offenders are usually within the region (UNODC, 2014).

Thailand, a country that has been downgraded from a tier 2 placement category to a tier 3 has already begun to face the heavy pressure of the United States. Thailand has one of the biggest human trafficking businesses that is currently occurring and expanding in the 21st century. Ever since the 2000s, the U.S Congress has created the Trafficking in Persons Report (TIP) which requires a “minimum standard” a country must comply with to ensure that the country is taking notable action against human traffickers (Gallagher). Human trafficking is not only a domestic issue in the U.S, it is an international issue as well. "There is no shame in addressing a problem of this magnitude; the shame lies in ignoring it.” (Elezi). The U.S should enact strict

In a small village consumed by poverty a man in a business suit shows up. He goes from family to family offering to buy children for a year’s worth of pay. He gets to one family with a young girl whose father sells her to feed his addiction for heroine. Scared and confused the girl is now forced into a brothel, sexually pleasing more than 20 men a day. Nearly five years later she is rescued only to lose her life to AIDS from unprotected sex. The human trafficking industry in Thailand has long been overlooked both internally and externally. Corruption, greed, foreign relations, economic pressure, and overall demand have fueled the trafficking industry in Thailand. Until the world and the Thai government make serious changes to the way they

he perpetuation of human sex trafficking and the rising numbers of trafficked victims is also linked to Thailand’s weak government. The combination of widespread corruption among government officials and the lack of enforcement of laws concerning the Thai sex industry has lead to the prominence of human sex trafficking. The 1996 Prostitution Prevention and Prevention Act was implemented to punish pimps, procurers, brothel owners and customers, however; this law and many others designed to protect victims of human sex trafficking are poorly enforced. (Gugic,2014365). This lack of enforcement allows traffickers and brothel owners to avoid punishment by the government. For example, “petty spas” in Thailand open for the purpose of relaxation,