Final Thoughts on Human Trafficking

Exploring the history and implications of human trafficking has been truly enlightening for me this semester; not only did I begin with no knowledge about this important global topic, but I have learned how interconnected the world's problems are. Poverty, racism, access to vital resources, violence and genocide, sexism, immigration, and slavery are all woven together into the defining conflicts of our time. It is impossible to focus on one global issue without noticing the overlap; in examining modern slavery I have seen that working to truly abolish slavery will equate to working to solve other overwhelming dilemmas simultaneously.

Can we create a world without slaves? I'd like to believe so. But this is going to require a lot more work than simply going around freeing the slaves we can find, putting their owners in jail, and sanctioning the countries for looking the other way. In order to eradicate slavery, we need to remove the global systems which allow people to profit off of slavery. This is going to call for a massive overhaul of the consumer systems.

This means that serious change needs to occur here in the US. Though in a previous post I insinuated that there was too much of a focus on the US in campaigns working towards stopping global slavery, I have since realized that organizations are hoping to raise awareness locally so that people can then broaden their lens and become concerned about global slave conditions. Americans are an important factor in this modern abolition movement because of the power of the American consumer. America is most likely the largest importer of foreign goods; if American consumers make it clear to corporations that utilizing slave labor to lower costs for both producers and buyers is not acceptable, producers will be less likely to support systems which condone slavery. This also includes sweatshop labor, for which workers might be paid, but which is a degrading labor system that exploits and then discards its unskilled workers as soon as their bodies have been damaged by the work they undertake. The only way to generate this consumer outcry, and possibly fuel boycotts or buycotts of certain products based on their use of slave or sweatshop labor, is to educate the American consumer public.

There are a number of organizations already working towards this goal (see previous blog post of resources for specifics). However, this news needs to become mainstream in order for consumers to fully embrace the fight against slave labor in distant places. Though celebrities and news corporations are not always the most trustworthy sources for disseminating information, they are effective tools for reaching wide audiences. If local news stations start carrying stories about the slavery in their own areas, viewers might become more curious about human trafficking globally. If Hollywood stars are willing to donate some of their millions to charities or groups who work to help slaves, even more people will become aware. Perhaps more accessible documentaries could be made, detailing how slavery starts, how the products that we use every day are possibly the products of slavery, and most importantly, how average people can help. Concerned people can always embrace the tools of democracy by lobbying politicians as well. There are outlets for information, and we need to take advantage of those in our globally connected multimedia world.

President Obama's 2008 election showcased the current power of grassroots campaigns--people who are bewildered by the seemingly overwhelming problems of our world right now are turning inwards, finding support amongst their neighbors and communities, and focusing on what they can change. While slaves in Africa or Asia seem to be a world away, by focusing on local efforts to raise awareness, people can instigate a grassroots campaign to stop global slavery. This campaign could even play off of the others that are blossoming right now: the urge to live sustainably, eat organically, reduce, reuse, recycle, and consciously leave this world as a better place for future generations can easily align with an effort to create true global equality. Companies could even start proclaiming that "no people were forced into slavery or sweatshop labor to make this product."

American Apparel is one company who has embraced this mindset; their motto is "American Apparel is an industrial revolution." Their vertical integration model ensures that the majority of the labor required to make their clothing happens in Los Angeles. Their website proudly explains, "The company operates the largest garment factory in the United States, at a time when most apparel production has moved offshore. With our recently opened stores in China, we are now selling Made in USA clothing in the largest consumer market in the world." American Apparel pays their factory workers wages they can actually live off of (more than $12/hr on average), gives back to the community, supports environmental and immigration issues, and still manages to make a profit because consumers have shown that they value the things this company is doing.

The Washington D.C. based organization Stop Modern Slavery also utilizes grassroots campaign tactics to raise awareness for the public. They organize a community walk to fund-raise and bring greater awareness to people in America's capitol.
Stop Modern Slavery also uses Facebook and other social media sites to raise awareness, by asking people to change their status updates to statements like "Think slavery ended with Lincoln? Think again. Slavery still exists. Call 1-888-3737-888 to report a tip."

While some of these tactics might seem gimmicky, the truth of the matter is that Americans require gimmicks in order to become interested in supporting a cause or movement. In order to combat the ignorance that multinational corporations would be glad to continue supporting, people need to rise up and rouse interest in any possible way. Different tactics might be more effective in Europe or other nations, but here in America we need to start doing our part to make this world a better place. Someday global conditions might change so that slavery is no longer a viable option because people stop valuing capitalist structures. Until that time, people need to use the tools of capitalism--boycotts and buycotts--to show corporations that they do not value practices which demean other human beings, exploiting an invisible many for the good of the ignorant but rich few.

International Adoption as a Form of Child Trafficking

Since after WWII, the practice of adopting children to form a family has become common in the United States. While some families only wish to adopt babies who are of the same race as themselves (and are thus put on long domestic waiting lists), other families adopt children of different races from impoverished countries, using the logic that they are saving their new child from an otherwise horrific and underprivileged life.

International adoptions are constantly seen in the news, and are perceived by the American public as a good thing. Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie have now adopted three children (Maddox from Cambodia, Zahara from Ethiopia, and Pax from Vietnam). Madonna's attempt to adopt a little boy from Malawi was highly contested in the news, as she seemed to break regulations regarding adoption rules in that country. The latest celebrity to join the international adoption craze was Katherine Hiegl, who adopted a special needs girl from South Korea.

These lucky celeb babies are not alone- The Office of Immigration reported 18,120 international orphans entering the United States in 2000, and 19,087 in 2001. If the majority of these orphans did enter for adoption purposes, this accounts for a little less than 15% of all adoptions that occurred during those years.

Though celebrities give a mostly positive impression of international adoptions, there is an additional side to such adoption cases that needs to be considered. People who adopt babies from other countries for the purpose of giving them a better life are not doing wrong in any way; however, this practice provides the opportunity for exploitation and possible human trafficking. Impoverished families can be coerced into giving up one child to help feed the rest of their families, or may be outright forced to part forever with their child to a stranger. Though these families may believe that their child will be sent to the United States or Europe to live with a rich family and have a life with better opportunities, there is no guarantee that their child will not end up being sold into slavery, exploited for labor or sexual purposes, or killed so their organs be sold for exorbitant profits on the black market. As exiledmothers.com points out, "Once in the possession of "adoptive parents" it will be assumed a child is safe and no one checks up."

In order to protect against possible exploitation of the families giving up their children for international adoption, and against the very real possibility of those children ending up enslaved somewhere, The Hague Conference on Private International Law sponsored the Convention on Protection of Children and Co-Operation in Respect of Intercountry Adoption. The convention does not have specific legal power, but provides guidelines for forms to ensure consent of parents giving up children, medical reports, questionnaires, and general practices that should be followed. This convention at the very least provides a means through which people can become more informed about the issues involved in international adoption, and how to ensure that the children obtained in international adoptions have been given up by the parents with full consent and understanding of where their child is going.

International adoption is a very tricky situation to deal with, as exemplified by the recent group of Americans caught trying to get children out of Haiti following the 2010 earthquake. While some people are well-meaning and truly want the best for young children, unfortunately there are individuals in the world who know they can make profits off of ignorance and apathy; the only way to combat this atrocious ordeal is to raise awareness and make sure that those adoptions which do take place are legally and morally sound.

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Resource Guide

Below are 15 websites that I have found useful in my quest for knowledge about human trafficking:

1. http://www.polarisproject.org/
The Polaris Project is an international, national, and local effort to stop slavery. Their organization does more than just provide information about slavery; they find viable ways to stop slavery through legislation, grassroots campaigns, and help for freed victims of human trafficking. The Polaris Project has an entire section of the website, the "Action Center," which provides multiple ways for people to become involved.

2. http://www.humantrafficking.org/
This website is a great resource for learning about human trafficking around the world. It goes into recent and historical events within disparate regions and nations. While part of the website is devoted to taking action, this is more useful for research and awareness purposes.

3.http://www.unodc.org/unodc/index.html?ref=menutop
The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime includes a subsection on Human Trafficking and Migrant Smuggling which provides useful information. Specifically this website shows what the UN is doing about this global problem, as well as providing basic information for people who are unaware about human trafficking.

4. http://www.justice.gov/olp/human_trafficking.htm
This website is along the same lines as the UNODC, except this is specifically for American cases of human trafficking. The links to the documents, such as the Trafficking Victims Protection Acts, are especially handy for those doing in-depth research into the legal side of human trafficking in the United States.

5.www.humantraffickingsearch.net/
This website primarily serves as a search engine for visitors to find other websites about human trafficking, child labor, sex slavery, and forced labor. It also provides current news about human trafficking cases, links to videos about human trafficking, and maps to show current statistics about slavery across the globe. If the sites I have listed aren't enough, this website is a good way to find more!

6. http://gvnet.com/humantrafficking/
This website details the history of human trafficking from 2000-2010 in countries all over the world. This includes a brief description of each country's economic status, as well as government documents, personal testimonies from freed slaves, efforts to combat human trafficking, and archives of relevant news stories. This website is a great way to find information about one specific country, the types of human trafficking occurring there, and why that country is currently susceptible to this global dilemma.

7. http://www.madebysurvivors.com/
This is a really cool website that creates a market for products created by people freed from slavery. Sometimes those who are freed can be worse off because they have lost their livelihood and have no knowledge about how to support themselves, but foundations such as The Emancipation Network can provide an outlet for their products. This is important because it reintegrates freed slaves into social and economic circles, as well providing their children with an education and helping them psychologically.

8. http://www.examiner.com/x-24740-Human-Rights-Examiner
This blog provides a daily rundown of all the human trafficking cases worldwide. It gives a very good idea of how widespread cases are, and also provides a jumping-off point for more in-depth research into specific cases.

9. http://www.laborrights.org/
The International Labor Rights Forum discusses cases of inequality in labor globally. This site also includes a link to a list of the products suspected to be produced by slave labor, as of September 2009 (at http://www.laborrights.org/news/12103). This information can be insightful, especially in raising awareness of how ignorant consumers are supporting slavery without their knowledge.

10. http://www.catwinternational.org/
The Coalition Against Trafficking in Women specifically focuses on women stuck in slavery, especially sex slavery. This website provides information in 9 different languages about the fight against prostitution and sexual exploitation of women's bodies. CATW has many campaigns and programs internationally, including one to decrease the male demand for prostitution and another to reform laws regarding prostitution in many different countries. The website also has "fact books" about trafficked women in countries all over the world, with specific cases and governmental policies.

11. http://www.notforsalecampaign.org/
Not For Sale is an international grassroots campaign to raise awareness and bring about social change regarding modern day slavery. The programs and events put on by Not For Sale are effective in raising awareness and getting viewers involved. This campaign definitely seems to be aiming for widespread involvement from all sorts of people by declaring that anyone can help end slavery, and that every person can contribute some skill to the fight. Not For Sale has few projects worldwide, but they are deeply involved in those places they have set up campaigns.

12. http://www.freetheslaves.net/
Free the Slaves is focused on a comprehensive plan to end slavery. Liberating slaves and helping them adjust to free lives is the main focus of this organization, as well as research into the best way to free all slaves and reintegrate them into normal society. This research includes recording stories of freed slaves, documenting what approaches to freeing slaves works for future knowledge, and working with companies and governments to discuss viable options for freeing all slaves.

13. http://www.justice.gov/crt/crim/smuggling_trafficking_facts.pdf
This is a pdf from the Human Trafficking and Smuggling Center providing basic information about human trafficking and how it differs from human smuggling. Though the pdf is from 2005, it still provides useful information to help readers understand the reality of human trafficking. Since human trafficking is an invisible form of slavery and therefore not widely recognized, documents such as this one can help newly informed people recognize and acknowledge human trafficking for what it is: slavery.

14. http://doctorsatwar.org/
This organization provides medical care to victims of human trafficking, and raises awareness of some sobering facts: 30% of slaves will be treated by medical professionals who will not recognize them as victims of human trafficking; many of the victims of human trafficking will become HIV positive, malnutritioned, and otherwise ill from mistreatment. Doctors At War are trained to recognize victims of slavery, as well as treat freed slaves who cannot afford their necessary medical care. This website provides opportunities to get involved, either as a doctor or as a volunteer, in this important step in freeing slaves before sending them out into the real world.

15. http://www.endhumantraffickingnow.com/pages/default.aspx
This website provides some detailed information about what businesses can do in order to stop human trafficking; while most action websites focus on individual volunteers, this information can be helpful for companies who want to do their part to fight slavery. The information End Human Trafficking Now provides is a lot more straight-forward than some of the other action websites; this is the only one I have found that discusses who traffic people, not just who is trafficked. This website also provides access to the Victims Assistance Database, which provides contact information for businesses and individuals in countries around the world to which victims of human trafficking can turn for assistance.

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Why We Don't Pay Attention to Human Trafficking

As previously discussed, human trafficking, or modern day slavery, is not a common household topic. Two possible reasons for this have been purported in CES 301 discussions: the contemporary obsession with celebrity culture, and the view that women are disposable creatures.

In the past, Jeremy Bentham's Panopticon model dictated the way in which people viewed each other and their world. If every person thought they were being watched and judged based on their actions, but wasn't entirely sure if they were in fact being watched, they would behave with the best behavior possible. Such a model would lead to people showing compassion for others, particularly those in need of help, like slaves. There were many movements of such humanity during slavery in the United States in the 1800s, such as the Underground Railroad. The people in the North helped escaping slaves partly because of the culture they were brought up in, but also because they might have wanted to appear to others compassionate. People in the South who might have been sympathetic to slaves might not have acted on those feelings because they were afraid they were being watched and judged by others; the Panopticon model can thus influence actions both positively and negatively.

Currently, however, society has moved past the Panopticon model into a culture that is crazed by celebrities. Instead of watching each other, people watch the few and base their behavior around those that they want to emulate. This decreases the likelihood of modern day slaves receiving help for multiple reasons: people remain completely ignorant of how people around them live because they are solely focused on celebrities; the media bypasses the chance to raise awareness in order to focus on celebrities and thus receive higher ratings and more advertising dollars; when cases of slavery or abuse are exposed, such as the recent case involving Jaycee Dugard, the media and its viewers focus only on that one individual instead of illuminating how countless others worldwide suffer in a similar manner. The sensationalized media feed the celebrity culture that detracts from awareness of real world issues, such as human trafficking.

Melissa Wright in Disposable Women and Other Myths of Global Capitalism discusses another reason why issues such as human trafficking fail to attract the public attention they deserve. Wright explores the mentality regarding female factory workers in China and Mexico, and how their bosses view them as disposable body parts, not as fully functioning human beings. This attitude can also apply to the way in which most people view victims of human trafficking: since the majority of those victims come from third world countries, and a lot of them are women forced into sexual labor, they are mentally dehumanized by the people who deal with them. Certainly the men who engage in sexual acts with women forced into prostitution do not care whether their partner is a real person; they only see the woman for the body parts she presents for their use and disposal. The men forced to work as manual laborers are also only valued for their useful body parts, but in their case their muscles, arms, hands, and strong backs are more important. And once these body parts fail to operate in an efficient manner, the people who belong to these body parts are disregarded and disposed of by their exploiters.

The combination of the celebrity culture and the disposable mentality can help explain why human trafficking is largely ignored, especially by developed Western nations such as the United States.

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Images About Human Trafficking: A Unequal Focus on the United States

From my cursory research into the topic of human trafficking, I have noticed an interesting phenomenon: most of the websites I have come across focus on human trafficking in the United States. I know that my own post a few weeks ago also discussed the United States, and that was partly because it is easiest to find information about this region, while other regions of the world are not as heavily researched.

This correlates to images depicting human trafficking. Most of the images online are used to raise awareness, which is very important, but they are focused on awareness of human trafficking only in the United States.

The above image, for example, is a very eye-catching and appropriate for the topic of human trafficking because it emphasizes that people are treated as commodities for sale to the highest bidder. The text of the image, however, solely focuses on the United States: "It happens here. It's happening now." Though the 50,000 people stuck in human trafficking in the United States do deserve exposure and all the help they can get, they are only a fraction of the 12 million people worldwide. The people viewing this image, after feeling surprised and then concerned, are impressible--this image has the power to entirely shape their opinion of human trafficking, and their willingness to become an advocate for those who are victims of trafficking. But since the image only focuses on those in the United States, the millions of other slaves worldwide remain helpless and ignored.

The same could be said for this image, with a blonde white woman being shipped against her will. This image has no facts on it, but it does not depict the reality for most people suffering from human trafficking. The majority of those trafficked are of non-white races, and though they are transported in dangerous situations, a suitcase is probably not one of them. These images are gimmicky, and intended to attract attention and raise awareness, but images depicting the reality of modern slavery would be more effective.

This image, though still using visual stereotypes of slavery (barbed wire instead of jars or suitcases), at least gives a better idea of what human trafficking must be like to experience. The sadness in this girl's face is real, and viewers of this image would be much more likely to become interested in helping stop human trafficking after seeing this.

I am not arguing that human trafficking in the United States is not important. However, I am saying that if the many groups whose goal is to raise awareness and garner support want to truly reach out and make people see how horrible this global affliction is, they must use tactics which force people to acknowledge what modern slavery truly looks like, not what it represents in a cutesy, witty way. This is a very serious issue which needs to be confronted by all the citizens of the world.

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A Complex History

It is difficult to pinpoint the beginning of human trafficking, because of its close ties with slavery. If one views human trafficking as an extension of slavery, human trafficking has been occurring for thousands of years, since before the Roman and Egyptian Empires. If, however, one sees a distinction between slavery and human trafficking, then the origins of human trafficking must fall after the end of legal slavery, at least in the western hemisphere. From either viewpoint, it is clear that there is no linear history of human trafficking, and that our modern world has not advanced in its humanitarian efforts despite our technological and global feats.

As Benjamin Skinner points out, "There are more slaves today than at any point in human history... One hundred and forty-three years after the 13th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution was passed in 1865 and 60 years after the U.N.'s Universal Declaration of Human Rights banned the slave trade worldwide, slavery--or, as it is euphemistically called, human trafficking--is actually thriving." The key to understanding human trafficking must come from exploring why the laws set up by the United States, the United Nations, and other global super-powers to combat slavery have not been effective.

The United States government did not consider the issue of human trafficking until 1994; in 2000 The Trafficking Victims Protection Act was passed "To combat trafficking in persons, especially into the sex trade, slavery, and involuntary servitude, to reauthorize certain Federal programs to prevent violence against women, and for other purposes." This act recognized the hitherto invisible existence of trafficking within the US, but also acknowledged that laws in the US do not allow officials to adequately prosecute individuals guilty of trafficking other human beings. Since 2000, various other laws and acts have been passed in the United States concerning human trafficking, but because of jurisdiction issues and ambiguity, crimes against humanity are still largely committed throughout the US. People who could be convicted of trafficking are typically only charged with lesser crimes, while the victims of trafficking are still vulnerable and likely to be charged for prostitution or working without proper documentation, instead of receiving help from governmental officials.

The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) also became concerned about human trafficking in the late 1990s, suggesting that something in the 20th century triggered an increase in slavery globally. This "something" most likely includes the increased globalization and industrialization of economies--as multinational corporations looked for cheaper sources of labor overseas, people saw a possible profit for providing slave laborers. As business travel became more common, places like Thailand saw the opportunity for becoming sex destinations. The Trafficking In Persons website attributes the sex tourism industry to the urbanization and industrialization of southeast Asian countries, a higher number of wealthy men willing to pay for sex, and the demand for brothels after the Vietnam War.


Though slavery was ended in western nations by the mid-nineteenth century, human trafficking grew globally throughout the twentieth century and reached alarming rates by the turn of the milennium. Due to an inability to punish the offenders, governments have been unsuccessful thus far in stopping this outrage against humanity. However, within the last 10-15 years human rights groups have become more aware of human trafficking and are working to spread information to help protect and prevent new victims from being exploited, and prosecute the criminals responsible for trafficking other humans.

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My Topic: Human Trafficking

As a white, mid-to-upper class female who grew up in a Colorado suburb commonly recognized as "the nation's largest master-planned community" , I came to college with very little knowledge about racial and ethnic diversity, everyday oppression, or the effects of globalization. I have definitely learned more in my time as a college student about these topics, but in some ways I still remain ignorant about important global issues.

Though there are many global inequalities which I do not know much about, I have decided to focus this blog on human trafficking because it is a growing concern that affects 12 million people worldwide.
Human trafficking is considered the modern day form of slavery. People, young and old, male and female, are taken and forced into sex or labor jobs. This can include prostitution, domestic slavery, sweatshop workers, and countless other dehumanizing practices. These people are kept in degrading positions, robbed of the chance to petition for their own rights or even connect with others in similar situations. Those who experience human trafficking, though they do not represent one socioeconomic or ethnic group, are treated as unequal human beings in every possible way. When I have heard about human trafficking in the past, I assumed that this only occurred in third world countries, but every single country in the world has human traffickers taking advantage of others.

It seems to me that human trafficking has increased in today's world because of the unique situations caused by globalization. Rich countries are losing factory jobs because of cheaper labor available in poorer countries; rich tourists can travel to poor countries for sex with young children and not have to consider the consequences; the poor oppressed people cannot find ways to voice their anger at this injust system because they cannot access the internet or the other modern ways of communication. These problems will only increase throughout my lifetime as technology advances, the rich become richer and have more administrative service jobs, and as the poor fall further and further behind.

My exploration of human trafficking will hopefully be a learning experience for both myself and viewers of this blog. I think that learning more about this issue is important because it is highly common, but scarcely recognized throughout the world. People from all socioeconomic backgrounds, races, countries, and walks of life can become victims of human trafficking. Learning about this global issue is important for me because it will continue to be relevant knowledge throughout my lifetime; I will need to be armed with the knowledge of how to combat this disgustingly common theft of human life. Though I am one person and sometimes feel that my own efforts will not effect great changes, if I truly understand the facets of this topic and spread my knowledge to all of the people I encounter, then the movement to end modern day human slavery will be that much bigger. From what brief things I have read, I believe that this issue needs exposure more than anything else, in order for people around the world to stand up and stop human trafficking.