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Human Trafficking and Globalization
Laura Mulvey
Definition of human trafficking
“Trade in people and their parts that involves the use of improper means- e.g. force, fraud, deception, coercion, or the abuse of power or authority- to recruit or transport them within or across borders for the purposes of exploitation.”
- UN Office on Drugs and Crime, 2008
Human Trafficking vs. Smuggling
Smuggling- unauthorized border crossings
Trafficking is a crime against a person, while smuggling is the facilitated illegal entry from one country to another
There is no coercion or forced labor involved in smuggling
In the eyes of the law, a trafficked person is seen as a victim, while a smuggled person is seen as a criminal
Who is at risk?
Many types of people are trafficked Age, gender, level of education Many marginalized groups are at risk
(ethnicity, nationality, class background) Gender differences depending on type of
work Migrants are vulnerable, due to tight
immigration laws and lack of knowledge about migration laws
Orphaned children especially vulnerable (from HIV or in areas of conflict)
Why/when are people vulnerable?
Economic Social Personal Civil unrest Political
prosecution Gender based
discrimination
Three Key Factors
1) Process
2) Means
3) End
1) Process
Process- Recruiting, harboring, moving, obtaining a person
Traffickers include:▪ Recruiters▪ Recruitment agencies▪ Transporters▪ Middlemen- who ‘buy’ and ‘sell’▪ Debt collectors▪ Employers
1) Process
Methods: Through
acquaintance/family Newspaper adds Fake employment
agencies Front businesses Abduction
2) Means
Means – force, fraud, coercion
Low-risk enterprise for traffickers Organized crime, mafia etc. Informal networks Small-scale or shot-term Family based or freelance operations
2) Means
Methods: Threats of deportation Holding passports Threats to family members Isolation Verbal, physical and sexual
abuse Giving drugs Providing misinformation
3) End
End – involentary servitude, debt bondage, slavery, sex trade
Adults (varies)- Sweatshops Factory work Agriculture Organ harvesting Begging/peddling Restaurant work
Particularly Women-
Domestic service
Marriages Sex trade Hotel/motel
housekeeping
3) End
Children- Begging Work in mines Soldiers Crime
Sex trade Early marriages Fishing Jockeys
Major Issue: Lack of data
Lack of data Difficult to obtain data on trafficked
persons Majority seems to be women and
children Estimates of numbers vary
Range from 500,00 to 4 million people trafficked per year
Traffic Flow
Both Domestic and international Generally from poor areas of developing
countries into comparatively wealthier ones Several Regions- flow of trafficking:▪ Europe and Eurasia▪ Asia▪ Latin America and US▪ Middle East▪ Africa*Traffic also among regions
East Asia
SOUTH KOREA
HONG KONG
To Middle East
destination area
source area
Europe and Eurasia
destination area
source area
To Middle EastAfrica
To US
Latin America and US
source area
destination area
Views on human trafficking
Criminal Political Anthropologica
l Sociological Economic Legal Feminist
Trafficking & Globalization Although human trafficking is not a new
problem, the dynamics of globalization are fueling its growth Though growing trade and effortless world travel
Humans as commodities, as part of "hyper-capitalism" Incorporation into global market supply and demand Global trade networks
As migration and transnationalism Looking at a variety of motivating factors Transnational networks
The Global Economy
Influences the economic “push” and “pull” Changing lures of immigration Tight immigration laws: promote
alternate migration practices Trafficking becoming part of the global
economy Transnational network Exploit uneven development
Transnational Crime Networks Combination of political corruption and
organized crime promotes significant growth on global scale
Political instability/corruption -> vulnerability
Traffickers take advantage of transparent borders, broadband communication Political/economic upheaval Mass migrations
Global Problem, Global Solution The global effort to combat human trafficking
is organized around prevention, prosecution, and protection
Economic development, with a special emphasis on women and girls, constitutes perhaps the best long-term approach to combating human trafficking.
Prosecution of traffickers also has a strong prevention aspect. Breaking up trafficking networks and imprisoning traffickers stops the recruitment and movement of trafficked persons.
Between 2001 and 2005, the United States successfully convicted only 138 human traffickers (US DOJ, 2006
Articles
A Slow War on Human Trafficking Julia Mead, NY Times, May 2006
Globalization and Human Trafficking Loring Jones, Journal of Sociology and Social
Welfare, v. 34, 2007Human Trafficking: Globalization,
Exploitation, and Transnational Sociology, Stephanie A. Limoncelli, Sociology
Compass, v. 3, Dec 2008
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