Exploitation Of Women That Become Victims Of Human Trafficking Revised.

Exploitation of Women That Become Victims of Human Trafficking
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Exploitation of Women That Become Victims of Human Trafficking
Human trafficking; a term used interchangeably with modern-day slavery which refers to the exploitation of individuals via the use of threats, force, abduction, coercion, fraud, and deception (Merry, 2009). In this, it involves the practices surrounding debt bondage, forced labor, domestic servitude, sex trafficking, forced marriage, child sex trafficking among others. Contrary to what many think, it does not only involve sex trafficking. According to a report by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, the majority of trafficked victims forming about 71% are female (girls and women) with the remaining one third being children. The 2016 UNDOC Global Report data based on gender established that girls and women are usually trafficked for marriage or to serve as sexual slaves (Warren, 2007). Women involved in commercial sex act due to being coerced, forced or as a result of fraud is considered sex trafficking. Sex trafficking cuts across all ages as there exists the commercial exploitation of children (CSEC). Other than sexual trafficking, women are also involved in forced labor which occurs within any form of labor or service. This is defined as the subjection f individuals to involuntary servitude, peonage, slavery or debt bondage (Kempadoo, Sanghera & Pattanaik, 2015). As expected, in all cases of forced labor, the individual works against their will with little or no pay or sometimes under the threat of some punishment.

Trafficked individuals, mostly women, may be forced or coerced into working in hidden or plain sight settings. Examples of these settings may include factories, fields, brothels, online escort services, massage parlors or in private homes with the most involved industries being agriculture, construction, catering and restaurants, domestic work, entertainment as well as textile manufacturing (Fletcher, Bales & Stover, 2005). According to the International Labor Organization (ILO), forced labor impacts about 24.9 million people annually with 16 million in the private sector, 4 million in state-sanctioned forced labor and 4.8 million in sex trafficking. An estimated 15.4 million women and girls are enslaved in forced marriages. Besides, ILO puts an annual estimate of $150 billion in profits as a result of forced labor (Fletcher, Bales & Stover, 2005).
Human trafficking spans all demographics, but individuals often come from positions of vulnerability. These include low socio-economic background, homelessness, individuals from political, cultural or ethnic minority, immigrants, those in foster care, those who suffered sexual abuse, rape or domestic violence, and those subjected to natural disasters, conflict or political turmoil (Lee, 2005). These vulnerabilities are exploited by traffickers to their advantage, and they establish to control their victims. Discussed below are the exploitation that women undergo when they fall into the hands of human traffickers as well as the comparative study of international law among Canada, China, and India.
Women that end up as victims of the illegal human trafficking face some exploitation that constitutes the violation of their human and civil rights (Warren 2007). Most women trafficked to be exploited sexually are normally denied at one point or the other their fundamental right to liberty. On the same note, they are denied their right not to be enslaved or serve involuntarily, violence-free, their right to be protected from cruelty and inhuman treatment as well as the right to proper health (Warren, 2007). To comprehend the extent of their human rights violation, we ought to look at how the traffickers exercise control. One method they employ is to restrict their movements. Those who have suffered the ordeal have reported their documentation meant for travel having being confiscated by the traffickers at the time of transport and in some cases selling them at exorbitant fees (Shelley, 2010). The ones who illegally entered the country are the ones left most vulnerable to further exploitation. Sometimes the victims are imprisoned in brothels or houses with barred windows, locked doors and guards around the clock. Their right to privacy is also restricted as their communication is monitored.
The traffickers further exercise their control through dependency and creating bondage by debt situations. Studies have also revealed that some of the women do not access or have full control of their wages and some only receive just a small fraction of their fee (Aronwitz, 2009). The traffickers inform the victims of a transportation charge upon their arrival which they have to pay through some form of prostitution creating debt bondage. The original transportation fee is usually augmented by other charges such as room fines as punishment. The net result is receiving little or no pay and increasing debt making it impossible for them to escape the debt bondage. They end up being dependent on the traffickers for the basic commodities.
Violence and threats are also tools employed by the traffickers against their victims. In a study conducted in the USA involving sex trafficking, the Coalition Against Trafficking in Women (CATW) established that 73% of the women interviewed had undergone physical abused at some point inflicted by the traffickers and in other cases the pimps (Zimmerman et al., 2003). Constant threats and violence tend to make the women submissive to the traffickers’ demands to self-preserve. The description of the abuse and its effects are the same as those battered women in domestic violence especially the nightmare of living in a constant state of vigilance, fear, and trauma (Locher, 2007). Women trafficked for sex are usually raped to introduce them to the trade and some can get trauma during rough sex since some clients require them to assume positions and acts in porn scenes that they cannot ask their partners to do themselves.
All forms of trafficking in humans for whatever reason predispose the victims to potentially life-threatening consequences concerning their health which prevents them from attaining the highest level well-being both physically and mentally. In those women trafficked for their labor, the long working hours compromise their health. During their private transportation, the methods employed to expose the victims to starvation, and other hazards such as drowning, and suffocation, and exposure to communicable diseases (Zimmerman et al., 2003). Due to this and the numerous accidents reported during the process, the International Organization for Migration has labeled trafficking in humans as the most dangerous form of migration (Anderson & Davidson, 2003). For those trafficked for sexual exploits, the environment further exposes them to health risks. Scientific investigation in this field is limited perhaps due to the difficulty in accessing the population. However, the overall health risk of due to prostitution can be used to supplement such knowledge even though it cannot serve as a full representation of the experiences they go through (Cwikel et al., 2004). Studies have revealed that human trafficking in the sex industry exposes women to sexual reproductive threats due to contraction of diseases such as those transmitted sexually. Many sexual partners and early sexual activity predispose the women to sexually transmitted infections. They are they at risk of contracting some diseases as well as suffering from complications of untreated infections due to their limited and monitored movement. Gonorrhea and chlamydia if untreated may result in PID which may be asymptomatic and cause severe damage and eventually infertility (Gushulak & MacPherson, 2000). Also, the risk of unwanted pregnancy solely depends on the availability and control of contraceptives. Major concerns are unhealthy pregnancy termination as well as lack of good prenatal care. However, human trafficking for sexual exploitation goes beyond unwanted pregnancies and infections. Considering all factors involved from the violence and so on, trafficking survivors find it hard to relate or form meaningful, healthy relationships once they return to normal life.
Other than the physical pain and strain experienced by the victims of human trafficking; there is also the mental aspect. Factors such as isolation and violence may provoke feelings such as low self-esteem, hopelessness, and helplessness. Suicidal tendencies, depression and substance abuse are normally reported in women (Aronwitz, 2009). Given the concealed nature of trafficking, the consequences are difficult to establish. The victims usually have limited access to basic commodities such as food, shelter, medical care, hygiene among others. Beyond the physical abuse, women suffer extreme emotional stress which includes fear, shame, grief, distrust as well as post-traumatic stress disorder and with that insomnia and depression.
The trafficking protocol states that the parties involved must: punish or penalize traffickers, be involved in the victims of trafficking protection and granting the victims permanent or nonpermanent residence in the country. The Criminal Law Court of China follows these laid down protocols since it prohibits abduction and trafficking of individual such as women or children, buying abducted women or children, forced labor and luring young girls under fourteen into prostitution (Lagon, 2008). Article 240 of the Criminal Law prohibits these acts which are punishable by a jail term of five to ten years and a fine. Under prescribed conditions including forced prostitution, the penalties are much harsher involving life imprisonment and confiscation of property, and when the circumstances are particularly serious, the death penalty and confiscation of property apply. Such conditions include:
• Being the ringleader of a gang engaged in the activity of abducting and trafficking in women and children
• Abducting and trafficking in three or more women and children
• Raping the woman who is abducted and trafficked among others as stipulated.
The acts that make up the crime are in Article 240 are not tied exploitation as the international law defines trafficking. Besides, Chinese definition of trafficking in human beings fails short of the international standards that set it apart from human smuggling. The lack of a standard identification procedure, which varies according to training and understanding of local official in trafficking is not as set by the international standards in that aspect making some victims be detained or taken away from the country contrary to the stipulated protocol upon arrest.
On forced labor, article 244 of the Criminal Law prohibits forced labor punishable by nothing less than three years of imprisonment or criminal detention plus a fine. If the circumstances are serious, the punishment is between three to ten years in jail and a fine. The same applies to those that facilitate recruitment or transport or offer assistance in any way (Lee, 2005). In the cases of protecting victims of human trafficking, the government’s victim protection data does not show the extent to which they are allowed to access the services or the shelter set aside for them. Also, such services highly depended on the location as well as gender.
The Indian government’s effort to protect the victims that arise from human trafficking varies from one state to the other but in all cases remains inadequate as per the international guidelines. In India, the Immoral Trafficking Prevention Act (ITPA), the government of India penalizes trafficking meant for commercial sexual exploitation, with prescribed seven years to life in prison. Section eight of the ITPA also allows the arrest of women engaged in prostitution (Butcher, 2003). Besides, Bonded Labor Abolition Act, Child Labor Act, and the Juvenile Justice Act protect children from being kidnapped and from being sold into prostitution with penalties comprising a maximum of 10 years’ in prison as well as a fine. It is not clear whether the arrest of women in prostitution under section 8 has decreased since most of the law enforcement authorities lack the formal procedures that would help them identify trafficking victims among women arrested for prostitution (Butcher, 2003). This leads to some women being arrested and punished for prostitution as a result of human trafficking.
The Indian government has been reported to deport such victims to countries in which they may face inhuman treatment which is contrary to the international protocol that provides for the individuals’ safety and status of any pending legal proceedings showing the person is a victim of trafficking. Protection of the victims of human trafficking fail short of the international protocol in that despite victims of bonded labor receiving a sum of money from the national government towards their rehabilitation; it is not evenly executed across the country (Butcher, 2003). The government is not proactively involved in identifying these victims. Therefore, few receive the aid. Also, the housing set aside for the victims of trafficking, especially children, are in poor conditions and the money they are entitled to be also disbursed poorly.
The criminal code of Canada includes four specific indictable offenses to address human trafficking, namely; sections 279.01 (Trafficking of persons), 279.011 (Trafficking of persons under the age of eighteen years), 279.2 (Material benefit) and 279.03 (Withholding or destroying documents). Also, the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act prohibit organization of the coming of persons through abduction, fraud, deception or force or coercion (Väyrynen, 2005) knowingly. The Trafficking in Persons (section 279.01) of Canada carries a maximum penalty of life behind bars and a mandatory five years where the offense involved kidnapping, aggravated assault, sexual assault or death with a maximum penalty of 14 years. The Canadian law adheres strictly to the set international standers regarding punishing or penalizes traffickers who are both individuals and organizations. In Canada, victims of human traffic are accommodated in shelters and access medical services. The law protects the individual when it comes to repatriation cases and in the case of an ongoing investigation.
In comparison, the Canadian and Chinese law is a bit comprehensive in dealing with the issues of human trafficking. In India, however, there exist some loopholes in the administration of justice to those involved in the illegal trade. For this reason, India ranks among the most affected countries as far as human traffic victims are concerned. In China, the law is very strict that some offenses in human trafficking carry with it a death sentence while in Canada it can warrant individual life imprisonment.
Human trafficking is a global disaster as it cuts across all geographical areas. Due to its undercovered operation, it is a bit hectic to determine precisely the number of individuals that are affected directly and indirectly. In this form of trade, women and children are the most affected with some being forced into prostitution, bondage labor and children also serve as children soldiers (Merry, 2009). Women involved in the trade suffer from their traffickers both physically as well as mentally. Due to the activities involved, they find it hard to blend with the rest of the population when they escape their captors. Governments around the world have made it illegal to engage in such trade in whatever capacity with both jail terms and fines being paid. In China, a death sentence can be issued if the circumstances as prescribed by law are attained. Human trafficking of women should be shunned by all means.
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