Sex trafficking is a crime against humanity. An
overwhelming number of girls and women worldwide are forced into exploitative
sex work every day, often having to dismiss their families and communities and leaving
not a single trace behind (Kumar, 2012).
These women are stripped of their humanity and exploited in a way that damages not
only their health and safety but also their psychological and emotional
well-being,
The United
Nations on human trafficking defines it as, “the recruitment, transportation,
transfer, harboring or receipt of persons, by means of the threat or use of
force or other forms of coercion, of abduction, of fraud, of deception, of the
abuse of power or of a position of vulnerability or of the giving or receiving
of payments or benefits to achieve the consent of a person having control over
another person, for the purpose of exploitation. Exploitation shall include, at
a minimum, the exploitation of the prostitution of others or other forms of
sexual exploitation, forced labor or services, slavery or practices similar to
slavery.” (http://www.apneaap.org/)
The UNDOC estimated that this crime is approximated to generate $32 billion in revenue each year.
The vast majority of these people are women and
young girls that come from the poorest and most disadvantaged communities
(Kumar, 2006). In the world, India and Pakistan are the main
destinations for children under the age of 16 who are trafficked in south Asia EPCAT International, 2006.
These children are sexually exploited in brothels,
massage parlors, nightclubs, and private houses known as ‘madhu charkas’ as
well as on the streets. These women and children are often physically and
sexually abused and forced into living conditions that are unsanitary and very
unsafe. There was an estimate of 32.3% percent of trafficked girls showed major
impacts to their health including debilitating diseases such as HIV/AIDS, STIs
and other gynecological diseases (EPCAT International, 2006). There are a wide
range of reasons for the prevalence of sex trafficking in countries including
socioeconomic, political and cultural conditions and are often ignored or
encouraged by governments to promote and encourage tourism.
Human
Trafficking is an illegal act that is occurring in our world that not many of
us are well informed on or fully aware of. The real questions related to human
trafficking though are, what is human trafficking, what/who does it consist of,
and where it occurs? Human Trafficking is defined as: ‘The recruitment,
transportation, transfer, harboring or receipt of persons, by means of the
threat or use of force or other forms of coercion, of abduction, of fraud, of
deception, of the abuse of power or of a position of vulnerability or of the
giving or receiving of payments or benefits to achieve the consent of a person
having control over another person, for the purpose of exploitation.’ The United Nations Protocol to Prevent, Suppress, and Punish Trafficking in Persons.
Women
are generally the ones being trafficked for sexual purposes as well as to be
house servants for particular buyers. The transactions are generally done by
the women being auctioned off by the person doing the trafficking or by them
receiving payment from a prospective buyer. Although women are generally the
ones being trafficked there is evidence that shows that children and men are
also being trafficked as well. Generally the men would be trafficked for more
labor extensive work as compared to the woman who are generally trafficked for
sexual purposes.
Due
to it being illegal it is hard to track reliable data on the trafficking of
individuals. Individuals being trafficked can be moved within their own country
as well as internationally. Traffickers are rumored to receive great profits
for the selling of individuals.
Trafficking can have severe health effects on an individual. The effects do not
only occur physically but it is proven that it can cause severe mental and
psychological damage to the victim as well. The evidence of trafficking is
fairly new and does not have a whole lot of information to go off of, but in
the few cases that have been studied they have determined that human
trafficking does have severe short-term and long-term health effects.
When
it comes to the fight against human trafficking, organizations that not only
care for the victims, but help them move on to the next chapter in their lives
are instrumental. Few organizations do a better job than the “Not for sale
campaign”. This group works all around the world but just started their
Thailand chapter in 2007. I found this group amazing because they not only help
feed and house the victims, they also provide them with proper education and
prepare them to find jobs too. What they have done in Thailand is built an
organic farm, they then built homes for victims that are rescued from human
trafficking and they let them live on the farm and help with duties on the farm
making it self sustaining. This is no ordinary farm to live on by any means,
they have basketball courts, a library, a medical center and a rec center,
things that these kids would never have had otherwise, things that they deserve
after having to go through the ordeal of human trafficking. As of right now,
they claim to house more than 125 people (men and women), all of which are
enrolled school. They add on their site that recently 3 kids that came from
their rescue farm have enrolled in universities, and amazing accomplishment
considering where they came from.
The not for sale is currently in the process of establishing a jewelry design
shop where they will teach the kids to be silversmiths. They plan on using the
money from this side business to be able to pay the kids a small salary and
reinvest the remaining funds back into sustain the farm. They identify on major
problem for victims looking for jobs is that they are usually undocumented
citizens, meaning they have no statehood with Thailand and therefore cannot get
a job. They are setting up programs to assist in helping people obtain proper
documents to become citizens so that they can get jobs once they leave the
farm. Of all the organizations that are helping in the fight against human
trafficking, I thought that this one really stood out, not to take away from
any other organization but this one I felt covered all bases. Hopefully we will
see this campaign continue to grow and spread into other areas that need them.Panadda went to a government-funded school until she was 12, when her family decided that it was time for her to quit school and start supporting the family. She was still working to pay off her debt to the brothel (that she acquired from her purchase)- yes, she owed money for her own sale! “Even though she was held against her will, she was charged monthly room and board… she had to sleep with fifty men a month to repay it. It was only after the first fifty men each month that she began to make a dent in her debt, on which she was also charged random amounts of monthly interest. Money sent to her parents was also deducted.” (p. 159)
Even though Panadda had to endure all of this, she does not harbor bad feelings towards her parents for selling her, or for sending her back to the brothel the only time she ever escaped. “It was her duty to care for them. With genuine pride, she showed me a necklace of small white beads fastened to a pendant of a lotus flower carved from a teak wood that her grandmother made for her mother. ‘One day, I will give it to my daughter.’” (p.160).
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