Human Trafficking Human Trafficking is Slavery Trafficking in

Human Trafficking

Human Trafficking is Slavery Trafficking in humans refers to all acts related to recruitment, transport, sale or purchase of individuals through force, fraud or other coercive means for the purpose of exploitation. (UN Protocol on Trafficking, 2000)

27 million people are enslaved worldwide.

Who is trafficked into slavery? • Women and girls comprise 80% of the persons trafficked across international borders. • Approximately 70% of victims are trafficked for commercial sexual exploitation. (TIP Report 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008)

Trafficking in persons is the fastest-growing and second largest criminal industry in the world today. Trafficking is second only to drug trafficking and fluctuates from 2 nd to 3 rd along with the illegal arms industry.

Forms of trafficking/slavery Labor trafficking • Domestic Servitude • Agriculture • Sweatshop labor • Janitorial services • Food service industry • Begging

Forms of trafficking/slavery Sex trafficking • Street work • Brothels • Mail order brides • Dancers • Pornography • Massage parlors

Economics of Human Trafficking SUPPLY drives DEMAND

Supply factors • • • Poverty Political instability/armed conflict Real/perceived opportunity for a better life Absence of a social safety net Absence of employment opportunities Status of violence against women & children

Demand factors • Demand for prostitution and other aspects of the sex industry is high throughout the world • Demand for cheap labor; corporations seek to produce products the lowest possible cost. • Potential profits are very high – trafficked persons can be bought and sold many times.

Methods of control • Finances – debt bondage, financial obligations • Control of victims’ money • Isolation from family members, members of their ethnic/religious communities • Isolation from the public/limited contact/monitored contact

Methods of control • Confiscation of passports, visas and other identification documents • Telling victims they will be imprisoned or deported if they contact authorities • Use of threats of violence towards victims and their family members

Living and working conditions • Physically demanding work • Under constant watch or supervision • Threats of physical harm or deportation • Isolation from the public and other victims • High risk for workrelated injuries • High risk for sexuallytransmitted diseases

Living and working conditions • Physical and psychological abuse and/or trauma • Long hours and little or no compensation • Little or no medical attention • Malnourishment

Primary concerns In countries of destination: • Increasing community awareness in support of identifying victims • Organizing social services in support of meeting victims’ needs (food, housing, health care, legal assistance, ESL classes, work training, etc. ) • Protection/building support networks

Primary concerns In countries of origin: • Focus on decreasing citizen vulnerability • Increasing ability to identify potential traffickers

Theological Reflection Resources Human Trafficking

“Whatever insults human dignity, such as… slavery, prostitution, the selling of women and children… all these things… are infamies indeed. They poison human society… they are supreme dishonor to the Creator. ” Gaudium et Spes, 1965

“We publicly declare our determination to address insistently at every level the abuse and sexual exploitation of women and children with particular attention to the trafficking of women which has become a lucrative, multinational business. ” Declaration of Women Religious Leaders – UISG – May 13, 2001

“The trade in human persons constitutes a shocking offense against human dignity and a grave violation of fundamental human rights… Such situations are an affront to fundamental values shared by all cultures and peoples, values rooted in the very nature of the human person. ” John Paul II, 2002

“Trafficking in persons – in which men, women and children from all over the globe are transported to other countries for the purposes of forced prostitution or labor – inherently rejects the dignity of the human person and exploits conditions of global poverty. ” Strangers No Longer: Together on the Journey of Hope Joint US/Mexican Bishops’ Pastoral Letter, November 2002

“Human trafficking will never be truly defeated without eliminating the consumerism that feeds it and prosecuting those actors in receiving countries, including our own, that benefit because of the exploitation of vulnerable human beings. ” On Human Trafficking, U. S. Catholic Bishops, 2007

Learn more about trafficking • Talitha Kum – International Network of Consecrated Life Against Trafficking in Persons (and national member networks) • Unanima International • UN Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children

Learn more about trafficking • U. S. State Department Trafficking in Persons Report 2010 • Many more resources on your CD

Resources • The Project to End Human Trafficking (Mary Burke Ph. D) • “A Matter of Spirit” Newsletter from the Intercommunity Peace and Justice Center, Seattle, Washington. • U. S. Department of State Trafficking in Persons Report, 2010. • www. freetheslaves. net