Human Rights: Human Trafficking

Human Rights: Human Trafficking

Human trafficking can be defined as the practice of enlisting, transporting, or sheltering individuals forcefully through coercive and deceptive methods. It is important to note that a majority of people mainly focus on sexual trafficking while it also includes activities ranging from ownership of slaves to the importation of cheap labor. In fact, in his study, Weitzer acknowledges that, “What gets sidelined in the focus on sex trafficking is labor trafficking-in agriculture, manufacturing, fishing, mining, and domestic service” (8). Human trafficking happens everyday. People are abused physically, mentally, and treated as objects. It has been a global problem for many years. Throughout the world there is around

Currently, several actions have been taken to fight against human trafficking. To begin with, nations have come up with policies aimed at reducing the number of incidences. The United States started the fight in 2000 when passed legislation aimed at combating the crime and established the office to monitor and combat trafficking victims. Other nations have joined the fight. For example, England has also set up an anti-slavery law and it is working on educating its citizens on the importance of it. Law enforcement has also helped reduce cases of trafficking. The imprisonment of some human traffickers have discouraged and made it impossible for some of the accomplices to conduct their business (Weitzer 12). Many countries have signed the U.N protocol, however, the efforts made so far have not been fully effective as the majority of human trafficking industries are still able to conduct the trade in

To begin with, some of the governments in the world have made money by taxing the people who engage in the human trafficking trade. In her book, Kara states that, “The total revenue generated by all forms of contemporary slavery in 2007 was a staggering $152.3 billion, with profits of $ 91.2 billion” (19). The business makes it a good source of public finance through tax. Some republics have considered legalizing some forms of the practice. For instance, Italy was debating on whether or not to legalize brothels (Kendrot). Aside from that, trafficking helps rescue some of its victims from poverty and poor life conditions. For example, some of the rescue victims in the US from Mexico and Russia were grateful that they were trafficked and had a chance to live in better living conditions. In fact, a majority of them prefer the abuse and low wages over the conditions in their hometowns. The positive side in which these individuals view the trade makes it challenging to stop