HUMAN TRAFFICKING: MODERN DAY SLAVERY



 What freedom are we to find when our restless minds
are enslaved under the chains of human trafficking?



Across the world, millions of women and girls live in the long shadows of human trafficking. Whether ensnared by force, coercion, or deception, they live in limbo, in fear, in pain. Human trafficking is a global and domestic human rights issue that is characterized by economic exploitation. It is defined as the recruitment, transportation, transfer, harboring or receipt of people through force, fraud or deception, with the aim of exploiting them for profit.  People may be trafficked for various purposes, such as forced labor, sexual exploitation, criminal activity, and forced marriage.

Sometimes sold by a family member or an acquaintance, sometimes lured by false promises of education and a "better" life — the reality is that these trafficked and exploited children are held in slave-like conditions without enough food, shelter or clothing, and are often severely abused and cut off from all contact with their families. Children are often trafficked for commercial sexual exploitation or for labor, such as domestic servitude, agricultural work, factory work and mining, or they’re forced to fight in conflicts. The most vulnerable children, particularly refugees and migrants, are often preyed upon and their hopes for an education, a better job or a better life in a new country.

Because human trafficking operates in darkness, it’s difficult to get exact numbers of victims. However, the vast majority of detected trafficking victims are women and girls, and three out of four are trafficked for the purpose of sexual exploitation.


Trafficking leaves both visible and invisible scars –

  • Trafficked women and girls encounter high rates of physical and sexual violence, including homicide and torture, psychological abuse, horrific work and living conditions, and extreme deprivation while in transit.
  • Serious mental health problems result from trafficking, including anxiety, depression, self-injurious behavior, suicidal ideation and suicide, drug and alcohol addiction, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), dissociative disorders and complex PTSD.
  • Physical symptoms among trafficking victims include neurological issues, gastrointestinal disturbances, respiratory distress, chronic pain, sexually transmitted diseases (including HIV), uro-genital problems, dental problems, fractures and traumatic brain injuries.

In order to effectively combat trafficking, psychologists and policy makers must collaborate to better understand the deleterious risks of trafficking and exploitation, and prevention and intervention strategies for vulnerable populations. Some of the recommendations are –


  • “Safe Harbor” legislation would provide policy provisions that conceptualize trafficked persons involved in illegal activities (e.g., prostitution) as victims rather than criminals, and support funding for legal protection and psychosocial safeguards for victims.
  • Support for individuals in transition would fund research and prevention programs that include early identification of vulnerable populations (e.g., foster children, youth in transition) and effective interventions.
  • Coordination must include effective collaboration between state and federal officials as well as across government agencies including Department of Justice and state institutional systems.
  • Data collection would provide specific outcome reporting on the needs of girls in the juvenile and criminal justice systems and inform the implementation of best practices for at-risk and system-involved youth.
  • Research, education, advocacy and prevention efforts should include media, school settings, advocacy groups and community-based organizations that address the sexualization of girls (APA, 2007), and vulnerability of minority populations (APA, 2012).
  • Humanitarian implementation and intervention strategies should protect victims and offer appropriate resources, services, and support to ensure safety and optimal medical and mental health outcomes.

 

Wherever there is poverty, conflict and gender inequality, women’s and girls’ lives are at-risk for exploitation. Human trafficking is a heinous crime that shatters lives, families and dreams. No type of trafficking is more serious or harmful than another – they all disempower the people who are subjected to it and can leave devastating physiological and psychological impacts. Every country in the world is affected by human trafficking, and as a result, children are forced to drop out of school, risk their lives and are deprived of what every child deserves – a future.

 

 

 

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