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