The Increase of Modern Slavery

The United Nations recently released a report on the status of human trafficking in the world. Unfortunately, the results were not promising. Though the number of nations which have agreed to condemn the practices of human trafficking has grown, there is real reason to doubt whether their promises are a real commitment to stop trafficking. 40 % of countries where the problem is known to exist have yet to convict one person of trafficking even though all of them have declared their commitment to the cause. The United Nations claims this is due to a lack the legal instruments or political will in these countries to ensure that perpetrators are punished. In the end, the United Nations fears that the problem is only worsening each year.

This is significant not only due to the severity and brutality of human trafficking for victims, but also due to the sheer numbers of new victims each year. The UN has yet to comment on the number of trafficked individuals each year, but estimates range from 800,000 new victims each year, according to the U.S. State Department, to 2.5 million, according to the International Labor Organization. All we know for sure is the amount of people that are reported, which in 2006 was over 21,400 people.

Human Trafficking is said to be the modern form of slavery—and this description is terrifyingly accurate. 80 % of human trafficking is sexual exploitation, with the remaining 20% being mostly forced labor. Both kinds are horrendous. One article that I have linked below describes the experiences of a former sex slave who was able to escape. She was kidnapped at a young age, and woke up beaten and bloody from a man who had purchased her virginity. From that moment on, she never left the building until her escape. She was beaten until she learned to smile and act flirtatious for customers so that they assumed she was complicit in her situation. When she did not act this way, she was literally tortured in the basement. The torture included beatings, massive electric shocks, and days spent in a coffin with biting ants. Many women died in these torture sessions. Now, as an activist, she works under constant threats. In fact, two of her co-workers have had their daughters kidnapped and subjected to sex slavery.

The problem is widespread and a horribly egregious violation of human rights. Governments can do a great deal to deincentivize people from going into the trafficking business, but another obvious solution to the problem is to stop the demand. I hope that human rights activists continue their work to free young women and children that have been trafficked. Additionally, I hope that they focus some attention on educating people about the tactics used by traffickers to make children and women appear consensual, in hopes that such education will fight the rising demand for trafficking.

Below are two links, one to the report given by the UN and the other to woman’s story of human trafficking:
http://www.unodc.org/unodc/en/human-trafficking/global-report-on-trafficking-in-persons.html
http://www.unodc.org/unodc/en/human-trafficking/global-report-on-trafficking-in-persons.html