Human Trafficking - Persuasive Paper Part 3: Possible Disadvantages, Answers.
Human trafficking essay introduction
Abolishing
slave trade was a significant accomplishment in the history of civil war and
revolutions. Human trafficking is often referred to as the modern day slavery and
it continues to be a real issue in society. The only difference human smuggling
has with traditional slavery is its change of face and its manifestation. There
are thousands of people who fall into the cruel hands of perpetrators of this grievous
crime against humanity. Human trafficking can take place in the local markets
and also abroad with the emerging trend of globalization. Human smuggling is
bigger that it has ever been. Women, men and even children are being traded off
and we need to speak strongly against this vice. Everyone needs to know about
it and we have to implement an effective strategy to stop human trafficking and
give help to the victims of this vice.
Every
country has some form of involvement in human trafficking as a source for human
labor, a destination or transit point for victims of this heinous crime against
humanity. The United Nations has shown the existence and the current rate at
which human smuggling takes place globally. Human trafficking is any form of
recruitment, transportation, harboring and receipt of persons by use of
threats, coercion, deception or fraud for the sole purpose of exploitation.
Exploitation can take the form of sexual, forced labor, prostitution, removal
of body organs or servitude. Sex trafficking is the most rampant form in
Europe. Exploitation of women and girls has been in the spotlight for some time
now. Between 2003 and 2004, over 85% of the victims who were rescued from human
traffickers were sexually exploited.
The
main objective for human smugglers is to maximize profits from another person’s
exploitation of any form. With the huge profits that human traffickers amass
annually from this trade, this vice is increasingly growing globally. Victims
often don’t have a way out because they desperately need income to take care of
themselves or they are too afraid to get out it.
Main solution to human
trafficking
For the purpose of this
paper, I will focus more on enactment of anti-trafficking legislation in the
U.S and internationally as the main solution which would help in combatting
human trafficking. Enactment of laws and policies against this vice in Europe and
other parts of the world should be encouraged. Harsh sentences for involvement
in these crimes will be essential. To follow this; well-trained law enforcers,
prosecutors, judicial officers, border police, investigators, anti-trafficking
police and detectives should be employed. Special police units should also be
formed in all countries to deal with human smuggling at border entry points,
airports, seaport, bus stations and train stations. When the sex industry is
criminalized, it provides ideal conditions that promote human trafficking. Decriminalizing
prostitution may help.
The National Conference
of Commissioners on Uniform State Laws came up with ‘Uniform Act on Prevention
of and Remedies for Human Trafficking.’ This act was to help states in America to
understand victims of human trafficking and punish criminals found guilty of
this trade. Sweden enacted a law in 1999 that criminalized people who attempted
to or had purchased sexual service (Haynes, 2014). This law was proposed by a
women’s movement in Sweden as a tool that prevented prostitution and human
smuggling. If found guilty of purchasing casual sexual service at a fee,
offered a fine or a sentence of at most six months was to be given. Those women
who were sexually exploited were not punished but rather were to be granted
support by the social service and offered programs that facilitated exit from
the vice. This law was also adopted by Iceland and Norway. To monitor human
trafficking in Sweden, a national rapporteur responsible for human smuggling
was appointed in 1998 at the National Police. This office was mandated with
giving recommendations to the government, civil society, and law enforcement
departments.
Countries like Germany
and Netherlands have legalized prostitution. Decriminalizing prostitution has
opened up markets for organized crime which has done away with the need for
human smuggling. Nevada is the only U.S state that has legalized prostitution. It
has county and state laws regulating prostitution. Prostitutes must be
registered as independent contractors. They are not entitled to benefits such
as retirement, health, and unemployment. They must get monthly HIV tests and weekly
health checks. In cities with over 400,000 people like Las Vegas and Reno,
brothels are illegal. When a client is diagnosed with HIV, the brothel owner is
liable.
Advantages of the proposed solution
These efforts will
ensure perpetrators of human trafficking are severely punished; victims of
human smuggling are set free; enforcing of justice to victims of trafficking of
humans at all levels; and detecting of human trafficking syndicates. This will
also ensure that the huge demand for victims of human trafficking is crippled.
Victims are usually convinced by perpetrators to distrust government authority
especially police (Weitzer, 2014). These efforts by the government will restore
the faith of the public in government to abolish human trafficking hence
victims will feel protected and supported through this difficult ordeal while
the perpetrators are prosecuted. By cutting off demand, human trafficking will
stop being viewed as a lucrative business idea hence prevents entry of new
‘entrepreneurs’ into this business. Legalizing prostitution will do away with
forced prostitution and child prostitution; and reduce the demand for human
trafficking victims of sexual exploitation and abuse. Decriminalizing
prostitution will protect workers who are involved in the sex industry against
abuse and violence. It has been thought that legalizing prostitution will
decrease the prevalence of rape in the country.
Disadvantages of the proposed solution
The major impediment to
this solution is that some politicians in Europe have vested interests in this
trade. Some government officials are greedy hence they keep accepting bribes
from human smuggling establishments to facilitate illegal departures for
victims of human trafficking and convincing survivors not to pursue justice in
the courts of law. This fuels this vice. Corruption in government and
government agencies has contributed to thriving of human smuggling. Corrupt
officials will undermine the great work that is done by honest officials hence
they need to be weeded out of the system to ensure efficiency. Perpetrators get
arrested and are released due to their strong political and government
contacts. Some are said to collude with the government by giving bribes so as
to be sheltered as they go on with this illegal trade. Closing these loopholes
by government and politicians will help a great deal to abolish this
trade.
Another disadvantage of
this approach is that funds are limited. Recruitment of qualified individuals,
training of existing staff and setting up special policing units requires
injection of funds. The government should come up with strategies for getting
more resources into combatting this vice. Governments should also join hands
with nongovernmental organizations so as to come up with more funds to fight
human trafficking. The private sector as an interested party can also be
involved to inject funds to deal with human trafficking as part of their social
corporate responsibility projects.
A great disadvantage is
that numerous efforts are put forth by traffickers to frustrate
anti-trafficking efforts. Some survivors are threatened against filing charges.
Social workers who work closely with these survivors are not spared either. Due
to the threat they cause to human trafficking syndicates, social workers are
faced with retaliatory court cases and threats. Since traffickers have readily
available resources which they can use to intimidate those who curtail their
trade, the government needs to step its witness protection programs and provide
social workers more support. This will ensure that victims of human smuggling
together with their family members are assured of economic support and safety.
Witness protection programs also have to be made easy to reach for victims and
the process of application of these programs will have to be made less
restrictive.
Some scholars view some
measures like decriminalizing prostitution as a way to erode the moral fabric
of the society. Morally, prostitution is considered evil because of the
possibility of the spread of HIV and other sexually transmitted diseases.
Decriminalizing of prostitution should be done under strict regulations and
guidelines. This can include measures like constant health screening;
registration of prostitution earnings under tax and commercial laws; provision
of condoms to sex workers by the government; and registration of sex workers’
businesses.
Other possible
solutions
It is important to
tackle other possible solutions to human smuggling. First, education and
creating awareness about this vice to vulnerable groups in society will ensure
that they are informed and equipped adequately against abuse and violence.
People should be educated on risks of falling prey to human smugglers. They
should be taught to authenticate any offers that seem easy from people posing as
friends and from strangers as well. The helpline numbers should be made
available to the public who can report any form of human smuggling.
Non-governmental organizations should be actively involved in offering support
systems to victims and educating the general public on how best to protect
themselves against this vice. Human rights activists should also be seen to
come out to lobby for protection of the fundamental rights of the victims and
should be engaged in creating awareness of this crime. Circulation of
information will help in reducing the supply of people for human smuggling.
These efforts need
funding from both the European governments and the private sector so as to ease
the formation of outreach programs. These resources at times lack hence impeding
the efforts to adequate education and creating awareness.
Secondly, offering
effective exit strategies for victims of human smuggling and creating better
economic alternatives for girls, women, refugees, poor people, orphans and drug
addicts who are vulnerable will help in the fight against human trafficking. By
giving a source of income to these vulnerable people, they will be economically
able. Hence, they won’t be so desperate to yield to lies by perpetrators. Small
income generating projects can be encouraged by providing small loans and
subsidies. This can be done by NGOs and the government to prevent human
trafficking to potential victims (Farrell & Fahy, 2009). For victims,
creating alternative economic activities will ensure that they support
themselves and their families without sliding back to exploitation.
The difficulty or
challenge is the lack of funding to implement these exit strategies and better
economic alternatives throughout Europe.
Thirdly, using closed
border system by states will limit human trafficking. This means putting up
checkpoints on all border points so that all vehicles are searched by police
officers and border patrol officers. People are also subjected to a bit of
questioning as to their destination. This will result in confiscation of
illegal goods and hold of people who are hidden or being transported
unwillingly. This will assist in curbing human trafficking and also drug
trafficking.
Conclusion
Even with the
disadvantages associated with possible solutions to human trafficking,
something needs to be done by the governments regarding legislation to
eliminate this illegal trade. The fundamental human rights of trafficked
victims need to be protected at all costs by abolishing this trade.
References
Farrell, A., & Fahy, S. (2009). The problem of human
trafficking in the US: Public frames and policy responses. Journal of Criminal Justice, 37(6), 617-626.
Haynes, D. F. (2014). The celebritization of human
trafficking. The ANNALS of the
American Academy of Political and Social Science, 653(1), 25-45.
Weitzer, R. (2014). New directions in research on human
trafficking. The ANNALS of the
American Academy of Political and Social Science, 653(1), 6-24.
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