HUMAN TRAFFICKING - THE "S" WORD

By Debbie Bulloch



This past Monday, January 11, 2010, California, along with other states in the Union, commemorated Human Trafficking Awareness Day with a Proclamation by Governor Schwarzenegger. This modern-day form of slavery forces 12.3 million adults and children each year according to the United Nations. Sadly, California is not exempt from this terrible crime.

California is a top destination for victims as they are lured to our beautiful communities with promises of good jobs, education and a fresh start. When they arrive, they instead find themselves trapped in forced labor with little or no wages or forced prostitution under threat of harm to themselves or their family members. They are also made to fear being deported or sent to prison or severe reputational and financial harm that make victims feel they have no choice but to continue in service. The recent global financial crisis has highlighted two disturbing concurrent trends: a shrinking global demand for labor and a growing supply of workers willing to take even greater risks for economic opportunities.

WHAT IS HUMAN TRAFFICKING

In a previous blog post, I wrote about human trafficking ( Human Trafficking ). To recap, human trafficking is a form of modern-day slavery. Victims of human trafficking are young children, teenagers, men and women. Victims of human trafficking are subjected to force, fraud, or coercion, for the purpose of sexual exploitation or forced labor.

After drug dealing, trafficking of humans is tied with arms dealing as the second largest criminal industry in the world, and is the fastest growing.

Many victims of human trafficking are forced to work in prostitution or the sex entertainment industry. But trafficking also occurs in forms of labor exploitation, such as domestic servitude, restaurant work, janitorial work, sweatshop factory work and migrant agricultural work.

Modern Slavery – Human Trafficking




Traffickers use various techniques to instill fear in victims and to keep them enslaved. Some traffickers keep their victims under lock and key. The more frequent practice, however, is to use less obvious techniques including:

• Debt bondage - financial obligations, honor-bound to satisfy debt.

• Isolation from the public - limiting contact with outsiders and making sure that any contact is monitored or superficial in nature.

• Isolation from family members and members of their ethnic and religious community.

• Confiscation of passports, visas and/or identification documents.

• Use or threat of violence toward victims and/or families of victims.

• The threat of shaming victims by exposing circumstances to family.

• Telling victims they will be imprisoned or deported for immigration violations if they contact authorities.

• Control of the victims' money, e.g., holding their money for "safe-keeping."

If victims attempt to seek help, they often don’t know where to turn. Fortunately, there are organizations that can help such as the Bilateral Safety Corridor Coalition (www.bsccoalition.org), the National Human Trafficking Resource Center (www.acf.hhs.gov/trafficking) and the U.S. Department of Justice Trafficking Information and Referral Hotline (888-373-7888).

Ten Facts About The “S” Word



Here are some additional facts about human trafficking that may surprise you:

THINGS TO KNOW ABOUT HUMAN TRAFFICKING

1. The average cost of a slave around the world is $90.

2. Trafficking primarily involves exploitation, which comes in many forms, including:

• Forcing victims into prostitution
• Subjecting victims to slavery or involuntary servitude
• Compelling victims to commit sex acts for the purpose of creating pornography
• Misleading victims into debt bondage

3. According to some estimates, approximately 80% of trafficking involves sexual exploitation, and 19% involves labor exploitation.

4. It is estimated that there are approximately 27 million slaves around the world.

5. Between 2001 and 2005, 140 defendants have been convicted of human trafficking in the U.S. which is a 109% increase from 1996-2000.

6. Around half of trafficking victims in the world are under the age of 18.

7. More than 2/3 of sex trafficked children suffer additional abuse at the hands of their traffickers.

8. Trafficked children are significantly more likely to develop mental health problems, abuse substances, engage in prostitution as adults, and either commit or be victimized by violent crimes later in life.

9. Women who have been trafficked for the purpose of sexual exploitation experience a significantly higher rate of HIV and other STDs, tuberculosis, and permanent damage to their reproductive systems.

10. There is only one shelter in the U.S. designed specifically to meet the needs of trafficking victims, and it currently only houses a total of seven to nine victims.

11. Trafficking victims normally don't get help because they think that they or their families will be hurt by their traffickers, or that they will be deported.

WHERE WE STAND

At Between Home, we condemn the ugly and inhumane practice of human trafficking. We pledge ourselves to do all we can to prevent it. Raising awareness is the first step; there is, however, much more work to be done.

THINGS WE CAN DO

For more information on what you can to do to help prevent, and eventually eradicate, human trafficking, please click on the following links.

In Second Life, please go to the excellent exhibit put on by Abbey Zenith and Rolig Loon at Info Land.

Human Trafficking Exhibit & Experience Info Island

Opening January 11th at 6 PM SLT (Second Life Time)

Human Trafficking Exhibit and Experience

This multi-media exhibit will allow visitors to learn about the dark underworld where people are bought and sold, living lives as abused and dehumanized slaves. The United Nations Inter-Agency Project on Human Trafficking reports that this criminal activity is second only to drug trafficking. No region of the world, no race, no gender, no age group is beyond the reach of traffickers. This exhibit serves to provide information about human trafficking, but also places the visitor inside this world to experience a small sampling of the hardships faced by victims.

Outside SL, please check these links:

Human Trafficking

Not For Sale

End Human Trafficking

Together, we can work to make the world a safer, healthier and saner world for the million of men, women and children who still suffer under the yoke of slavery.

Peace!