Literature Review on the History of Human Trafficking

Chapter One: History and Background
The
United Nations defines trafficking in human beings as the recruitment,
transport, transfer, harboring or receiving of persons by inappropriate means (such
as force, abduction, fraud or coercion) for an inappropriate purpose, including
forced labor. Trafficking in human beings is also known as modern day slavery (Bakirci,
2009). People are largely stripped of their dignity and human rights. People
are forced to move across borders for sex work or children are smuggled for
cheap employment or forced to work for very little money as domestic help. It
used to be a much-hidden crime and the attention of law enforcement and human
rights workers has just recently been given. Trafficking usually occurs in poor
and broken environments, where exploiters come and take advantage of their
situation. Many women remain uneducated due to poor conditions and the only
option during difficult times is to sell their bodies to help their families.
Victims are usually given great promises and leave home and get into trouble
because of desperation. Sometimes parents sell their children for debt
repayment (Williams, 2018). Mainly girls between the ages of 10 and 35 are sold
to brothel owners, these kinds of things are supposed to happen more in the
countries of the Third World, such as India, Bangladesh, Africa, Kenya and
Pakistan; but this is not true worldwide. Trafficking in human beings is the
third most illegal enterprise after the sale of drugs and arms and todays most
profitable international crime with sales of 7 to 12 billion dollars. The sale
of humans is one of the most disgraceful crimes with annual numbers estimated
by the State Department of 600,000 and 800,000 (Feingold, 2005). The scope and
size of trafficking is hard to estimate because the crime is usually done
secretly and tends to be hidden even from the police. It is believed that the
numbers are even higher than reported because of the secrecy. Enough
information is available to confirm that on a daily and worldwide basis men,
women and children become vulnerable victims of this crime. Many factors
contributing to this wide-ranging, covert problem felt throughout the word
include; economic and political instability, massive global poverty and the
disenfranchisement of individual groups. Individual motivation to engage in a
lucrative criminal enterprise coupled with the inability of law enforcement to identify
victims and offenders make trafficking very attractive to criminals who consider
tax free rewards and the likelihood of fear. The purpose of this research paper
is to present a history of trafficking in human beings and to discuss ways in
which victims are recruited to enslave and sell people (Zimmerman & Kiss,
2017).

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The
Mediterranean region is known as the world ‘s birthplace. Historians and
anthropologists agree that from this region all civilization grew. Early life
records in the Mediterranean demonstrates slavery. Families would sell unwanted
family members to traders to make financial progress. Slaves were also formed
during the war between tribes. The lost tribe would take women and children as
slaves. Sometimes poor families migrate to other countries because of hunger or
illness. In their new nation, such families have often become slaves. This
evidence can also be seen in biblical records. In Genesis chapter 37, slavery
is first mentioned in the story of Joseph and his brothers. Joseph was one of
Israel’s twelve sons. His mother was his father’s favorite wife, and he was therefore
a clear favorite of his father. This made Joseph’s brothers angry. The brothers
of Joseph hated him so much they wanted to kill him. They decided to sell him
to traveling traders instead of killing him. The story of Joseph is not the
only mention in the bible of slavery. The Bible tells of several times when the
whole nation of Israel lived as slaves. It also provided rules and regulations
as to how the Israelites were to find their own slaves. Exodus Chapter 1 tells
the story of the captivity of the nation of Israel in Egypt. The Egyptians have
taken the whole nation as slaves because they were foreigners in the country.
While living as slaves, the Israelites suffered from their owners a lot of
abuse. The law of Moses in the Old Testament deals with the rules concerning
slave ownership. One of the clearest verses is in the New International Version
of Leviticus 25:44. This verse described the rules for the Israelites ‘
purchase of slaves. It says, ” Your male and female slaves must come from
the nations around you; you can buy slaves from them. ” found that slavery
was not only legal throughout history, it was a key element of society. Slavery
was crucial to the growth of nations in agriculture and architecture. Slaves
were forced to perform laborious tasks that ordinary people were unwilling to
perform. Slaves brought about cultural change, too. When people were traded
from other countries, they brought their spiritual and cultural traditions with
them. These traditions have been woven into the culture of the nation
(Zimmerman & Kiss, 2017).
Although
slavery was an integral part of nation growth and development, it was a dark
practice. Slave owners have acted in disgraceful ways to comply with their
slaves. Slaves became hungry, beaten and raped. In an effort to ensure the
servitude of the whole family, husbands were kept away from their wives and
children. The Israelites only differed moderately from the nations around them.
The nation had strict rules to take fellow Israelites as slaves, but the rules
for forgiven prisoners were looser. Moses law authorized the beating of slaves.
Exodus 21:20 – 21, New International Version states, ” Anyone who beats
his male slave with a rod must be punished if the slave dies as a direct
result, but not punished if the slave recovers after a day or two, because the
slave is his property (Kempadoo, 2016). ” It has continued throughout
history in times of rapid growth. Some of the most commonly known slave trade
occurred in the colonial period, when Europeans went to the Americas. Slaves
have become the foundation of the American colonies ‘ development. The end of
the trade in legal slaves was a gradual process, beginning in Europe and then
moving to the Americas. The institution formally ended in the majority of the developed
world in 1865, but illegal trafficking in slaves continues to grow throughout
the world in human trafficking today (Kempadoo, 2016).
Chapter Two: Literature Review
The
history of human trafficking, especially Sex trafficking, can be divided into
three eras: (1) the 1840s to the mid-1890s, (2) the late 1890s to World War l,
and (3) 1919 through World War Il. During the 1840s to the mid-1890s, the
demand for slavery around the globe combined with the rallying and relocation
of non-Western men energized the trafficking of people. India, Burma, and
Ceylon required slaves to help dig for gold and precious stones from mines and
for development ventures like railways. Poverty stricken traveling immigrants
in Asia would look for work and criminal business people would make a profit by
encouraging the deal and transportation of slaves. The union of these people
created a national sex market (Bakirci, 2009).
Support
was so powerful in 1904 that several countries signed an international agreement
to deal with slave trade. The agreement pledged to (a) establish a central
repository for collecting and sharing information on the number of European
women forced into prostitution, (b) remain observant at ports of entry by
asking women to declare their nationality and report to authorities that
European women were forced to travel to foreign countries for prostitution. The
international agreement of 1904 did not provide for the sale, transport and
forced prostitution of European women to be declared illegal. The agreement
drew attention to the problem and reveal a racial divide. Ninety nine percent
of prostitutes were colored women, but the agreement did not try to protect
them. Women of color were not included in the fight against forced prostitution
or trafficking until 1921 (Zimmerman & Kiss, 2017). In addition, despite
the universal consensus that nobody should be forced into prostitution, there
was still a lack of consensus around the world on the abolition of prostitution
in its entirety. Some countries believed that prostitution should be legal if
it involved the consensual exchange of services for money. Although the
migration of prostitution was affected by the relocation of male businessmen
worldwide during the first and second periods, the deployment of troops also
affected prostitution and sex trafficking. This was the case during the First
World War and during World War II. During their deployment in foreign
countries, military troops committed rape against many women. General Patton was
believed to have told an assistant during World War II that despite efforts to
stop ” wartime raping ” it was an inevitable occurrence. The
deployment of troops also helped establish brothels to allow soldiers to gain
access to prostitutes. Some military forces around the world, including the
United States, often organize sites for ” recreational prostitution ”
to reduce rape during the war. Indeed, the United States and South Korea agreed
to establish rest and relaxation centers between the 1950s and the 1970s which
at times entailed prostitution (Feingold, 2005).
Humans are used
for a variety of enslavement, here are a few:
Farm labor Domestic work and childcare (domestic
servitude) Begging/street peddling Restaurant work Construction work Carnival work Hotel housekeeping Criminal activities Any form of day labor
Prostitution
is the most common form of trafficking in the United States. Prostitution is
also the world’s most frequent type of trafficking. Globally, women are most
often victims of trafficking in human beings followed by children, mainly
girls. Children are used most often in sex tourism operations. Sex tourism is
an incentive to travel abroad in order to participate in sexual escapades,
usually with minors. Mexico and Latin America were places where sex tourism
occurred, especially with children. Two million children are estimated to be
forced into prostitution for the purpose of providing services to foreign
travelers. Children are also used to smuggle organs. In places like India, it
is not uncommon for children to be kidnapped, nurtured and then killed solely
in order to sell their organs to the highest bidder. The sale of organs is so
profitable, however, that some adults around the world agree to sell their
organs so that they can be shipped to other countries. It is important to note
that while trafficking in human beings is usually a transnational crime, that
thousands of children are trafficked within the country’s borders in the United
States. In the same way, other countries repolish internal or domestic
trafficking in human beings, in which victims are sold and enslaved in their
own countries. For prosecution purposes in the United States, trafficking in
human beings is said to have occurred when a person is forced to work against
his or her will, regardless of the distance from where the victim has been
bought or sold to where he or she is ultimately forced to work. In fact, moving
a person from one place to another is irrelevant to determining whether a crime
of trafficking in human beings has taken place. The only relevant factors are
whether the person has been forced to work against his or her will and whether
he or she can leave or flee from his or her place of work (Kempadoo, 2016).
People
around the world are kidnapped from their homes or sold into slavery by family
members. Others are caught trying to migrate illegally to other countries. Some
come up with the new promise of work. You’re surprised that there’s no work.
All identification is removed and then forced into different forms of work.
Modern victims of human trafficking are beaten, tortured and raped in order to
maintain compliance, like slaves throughout history. The current number of
people living in slavery for several reasons is difficult to estimate. The first
reason is that trafficking in human beings is an extremely sophisticated and
profitable business. Law enforcement officials are struggling to keep pace with
the different forms of trafficking in human beings in the world today. Although
trafficking in human beings is illegal throughout the world, many countries are
struggling to combat trafficking because of internal corruption. Government
officials and police officers are paid to ignore the crimes that occur in their
area. One study confirmed that approximately 30 million people today live in
slavery. Other scientists think that number is much higher. All researchers,
however, agree that more people today than ever live in slavery in human
history (Williams, 2018).
Women
and children have always been the most common victims of human trafficking
throughout history. That’s true today. Women and children are the world’s most
vulnerable members. They are easily overtaken by traffickers and abused. Women
are taken and sold into prostitution all over the world. The victims of this
crime are also common children. Pornography is another easy way to exploit
women and children. The increase in technology has made it easier to make and
distribute these materials. Other forms of forced labor include work in the
factories, agriculture, and even unwilling civil war soldiers. No population is
exempt from trafficking in human beings. In the past, the crime was ignored
because it was supposed to only happen to the poor in war-torn countries. It’s
not always the case. Trafficking in human beings is growing rapidly; it even
affects those with advanced degrees. In 2001, hundreds of registered nurses in
the UK were found to be victims of trafficking in human beings. Theses nurse
tried to obtain contract work by an online company. It was a fraudulent company
and forced these nurses to contract with nursing homes throughout the UK. Their
salaries have been decorated as part of the never-ending ” fees ” to
be brought to Britain (Williams, 2018).
Worldwide,
professionals seek employment in other countries. They hope that they will
finally be able to provide for their family in their home country. Many people
can get successful jobs; others become unwilling victims of human trafficking.
They think they have found a legitimate professional recruiter. They go through
the documentation process to travel to another country. They anticipate a new
life when they arrive, only to find that they are slaves now. All legal
documents are removed, and these people are forced into slavery without any
hope of escape or freedom (Williams, 2018).
REFERENCES
Bakirci, K. (2009). Human trafficking and forced labour. Journal of Financial Crime, 16(2), 160-165. http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/13590790910951830Feingold, D. A. (2005, Sep). HUMAN TRAFFICKING. Foreign Policy, , 26-32. Retrieved from https://search.proquest.com/docview/224044819?accountid=12610Kempadoo, K. (2016). Countering human trafficking: Introduction. Social and Economic Studies, 65(4), 1-4,151. Retrieved from https://search.proquest.com/docview/2013691021?accountid=12610Williams, B. A. (2018). EFFORTS TO STOP HUMAN TRAFFICKING. Harvard Journal of Law and Public Policy, 41(2), 623-629. Retrieved from https://search.proquest.com/docview/2040740729?accountid=12610Zimmerman, C., & Kiss, L. (2017). Human trafficking and exploitation: A global health concern. PLoS Medicine, 14(11), e1002437. Retrieved from http://link.galegroup.com.ezproxy.umo.edu/apps/doc/A516766998/SCIC?u=nclive&sid=SCIC&xid=e35ecc4c