It goes by many names: Human trafficking, modern slavery, trafficking in person. Regardless, they all mean the same thing, the exploitation of people through means such as force, coercion, threats, or fraud.
The most common types of human trafficking include forced labor, sex trafficking, and organ removal. Other forms are forced marriages, child soldiers, and debt bondage.
Considered one of the largest criminal industries in the modern age, human trafficking affects millions of people worldwide. The crime occurs in every country in the world, and impacts people of all social standing, backgrounds, ethnicities, and genders.
To spread awareness on this growing crime, The United States has recognized January as National Human Trafficking Prevention Month, and the 11th as National Human Trafficking Awareness Day.
Human trafficking was only officially recognized as a federal crime in the U.S. in the 2000’s when the Trafficking Victims Protection Act (TVPA) was passed. With the TVPA, the U.S. became the first country to make human trafficking a federal crime. Since then, the United States, as well as other nations worldwide, have taken steps to prevent, protect against, and punish trafficking in persons.
In 2007, the U.S Senate established January 11th as a day to increase awareness on the crime, inform the public, and bring attention to the many organizations working to put an end to human trafficking. In 2010, President Barack Obama announced the entire month of January as dedicated to human trafficking, something that has been continued by succeeding presidents.
One main purpose of spreading awareness on human trafficking is educating people on the signs, facts, and who the victims/traffickers are. Because of the hidden nature of human trafficking, it’s difficult for governments, officers, and citizens to recognize the signs of the crime.
As technology and society change, so do traffickers. In recent years, traffickers have turned to things like social media to find and recruit potential victims. These victims can range in characteristics, but many are vulnerable to deception, coercion, or are drawn in with the promise of money or housing. This can be because of things like poor financial situation or young age.
Migrants are particularly exposed to traffickers. They can be persuaded to trust the trafficker to transport them to another nation because of desperation to escape the living conditions of their home country. Once they get to the new county, the trafficker can confiscate legal documents and force these migrants to work long hours in unsuitable environments with minimal or no pay.
But human trafficking doesn’t always involve travel across borders, and traffickers aren’t always strangers. Many traffickers are family members, lovers, or friends with their victims.
Victims might be abused, have little to no personal freedoms, live in cramped areas with other victims, or be an underaged prostitute.
Many groups and organizations, such as the UN, Blue Campaign, and Human Rights Watch work to expose traffickers, identify and protect victims, and spread awareness on the topic to the public. Even then, very few trafficking suspects are actually convicted, and the number of rescued victims is disproportionately small to the number of estimated victims.
Despite that, taking initiatives, like having a dedicated National Human Trafficking Prevention Month helps spread the word about the crime and increase awareness on it across the nation. The UN also has their individual World Day Against Trafficking Persons in July.
Human trafficking doesn’t seem to be coming to an end any time soon, making it the responsibility of governments, human rights groups, and individuals to fight against it to save current victims and prevent future ones.
