Introduction
Human trafficking can be described as an illegal trade that deals with the selling and buying of human beings just like other kinds of trade. The human being are bought and sold for the purposes of forced labor or commercial sex (Strickland, 1). Human trafficking is a new term for slave trade and the victims are either sold by their family members or scrupulous business people who want to get money for the desire of being wealthy.
After drugs and arm dealing human trafficking comes third in international crime rankings worldwide. This kind of trade involving human beings is illegal but people use dubious means to continue their dealings. It is very hurting to know that some corrupt law enforcement authorities who are supposed to protect the general public against such inhuman practices are the same people involved.
The Trafficking process
The enslaved people who may also be referred to as the victim are trafficked by being deprived their basic human rights. They are forced or enticed by being given false promises which are never fulfilled by the traffickers (Murphy, 1). They are promised good employment opportunities in neighboring countries but when they get there they are they are forced to work in brothels while others work in factories and agricultural farms.
The good salaries they had been promised they are no longer given and incase they are paid it is either too little to meet their needs or they are offered travel documents by corrupt law enforcement authorities and on arrival to their destination their travel documents taken away from them.
In this case they are forced to work there and do not have the necessary documents required to travel back to their homes in case of maltreatment. Likewise women and young girls are assured jobs that are well paying but on arrival to the Promised Land things are totally different.
They are forced to prostitution or sex trade where the victims are sexually harassed and the traffickers paid money the abuse. To make the matters worse they are abused and the money goes to the pockets of these greedy people as they are left empty handed after all the humiliation they go through. The victims are deprived the chance of going back to their homes or even communicating with their loved ones and relatives.
Causes of human trafficking
The traffickers take advantage of the high levels of poverty among people. It is quite obvious that a poor person is willing and ready to do anything for them to get some money to maintain themselves (Laner, 1). Others also rent out a person’s labor for them to be able to repay a loan or debt.
Ignorance or lack of awareness also causes human trafficking. People travel across borders looking for greener pasture with little or no knowledge about traffickers and their operations. Such kinds of people are usually prone to falling victims of this illegal and exploitive kind of business activity (Strickland, 1).
Other people are enticed by the material expectations. They desire high living standards and consumer products that are out of their reach. They envy what they see from others and wish them too were in the same social status with those they envy. This desire for achieving what they don’t have renders them vulnerable and hence traffickers take advantage of such people.
People with very little or no proper level of education are standing higher risk of being trafficked. This group of people has very few employment opportunities due to their limited education. They thereby migrate to search for employment opportunities and that is when they get trafficked and exploited.
Corrupt and weak law enforcement authorities play a major role in the lucrative trade of human beings (Hart, 20). Immigration and other law enforcement authorities are paid by the traffickers to overlook these criminal activities which it is their duty to fight such vices by protecting innocent human beings.
The authorities may also collude with the traffickers by providing delusive information on their travel documents and other identification documents to migrant workers leaving them defenseless to trafficking. In circumstances when such incidences of human trafficking are reported to the public administrators little or no action is taken. Instead if the culprits being arrested and charged in court they bribe the law enforcers and walk away scot free.
Young girls and women are lured into marriage by the traffickers who pretend to be tourist (Kloer, 2). They then promise them to take them to their countries to live with them there. On arrival to the foreign land they are abandoned in brothels to work as sex slaves and threatened not to leave. The military is also well known for sexual abuse in areas where they are sent to serve the public during times of unrest.
Effects of Human Trafficking
This activity results in threat to human health. The victims are exposed to high risks of diseases such as HIV/AIDS and other STDs (Murphy, 2). This does not only affect the victims but also spreads to the sex clients and their spouses and the children given birth thereafter. For those victims that are taken into forced labour may also suffer from diseases caused by overworking and improper living conditions.
Deprivation of the basic human rights is another problem the victims face. They live in conditions in which none of them likes to be associated with. They are denied the rights of communication with their relatives and other people. They also do not enjoy their work because they are forced to do it and that was not the work they had been promised earlier on. These people would work as beasts of burden where they worked beyond the normal working hours and the working conditions very severe.
Many victims lack trust and confidence in the law enforcement authority. They believe they are serving in slavery because of their weak and corrupt laws in their countries (Delta, 1). What hurt the victims most was the fact that the same people in charge of protecting their lives and ensuring that such incidences do not happen to them are the involved in the dealings.
Some people suffer mentally by being traumatized after the humiliation they go through in the name of the good jobs they had been promised. The victims also have the fear of being unsafe around everyone they come across. Those who manage to get their freedom tend to think that all people around them can do the same to them.
Conclusion
In a nutshell human trafficking is a vice which should be done away with in our societies. To put an end to this wicked behavior it is a collective responsibility for the country as a whole. The government should start by punishing the law authorities that have been participating in the exercise and put in place tough repercussions for those found guilty.
The general public should also be eliminated about the effects of being involved and stop being so desperate in search for employment opportunities. If all this is done people will live in a friendly environment where such activities are a thing of the past.
Works Cited
Delta, S. (2010). Human Trafficking Facts. Web.
Hart, J. Human Trafficking. The Rosen Publishing Group, Inc. New York, 2009.
Kloer, A. (2006). End Human Trafficking. Web.
Laner, S. (2005). Human Trafficking. Web.
Murphy, S. (2006) Human Trafficking and Immigrant Smuggling. Web.
Strickland, D. (2008). Human Trafficking. Web.