Combat Sex & Organ Trafficking At The Same Time

Many of the criminals involved in sex trafficking are selling illicit organs, too. By fighting against one issue, we feed two birds with one seed. Organ trafficking gets a teensy weensy bit of airtime compared to sex trafficking, because well…the number of sex trafficking victims is far greater. But organ trafficking is a multi-billion-dollar global human rights problem year over year. People still think it’s a myth. Unfortunately, it’s not.

According to the World Health Organization, 11000 trafficked kidneys were transplanted in 2010, and the problem grows annually. Victims are promised up to $5000 to sell one of their kidneys. Americans, Europeans, Israelis, and Middle-Easterners buy those same kidneys for up to $200,000. The profits go to the middle-men — recruiters, transporters, delivery men; doctors and hospital personnel who turn a blind eye. Rarely do victims, some of the world’s poorest people, ever get the money they are promised. They return home even more destitute. They’re embarrassed to face their families, and worst of all they can’t work because they’re sent home with back-alley botched surgeries. Some victims develop infections and never recover.

How Does Organ Trafficking Happen?

This is the question I get asked the most. The urban myth is party-goers are drugged beyond consciousness and wake up in a bathtub full of ice and a gnarly scar down their stomachs. Not quite the reality. There are cases of people going to the hospital for other procedures and unbeknownst to them, the doctor also removes a kidney. But the more common situation is more forth right where victims “agree” to sell their kidneys. Recruiters prey upon the most destitute people in remote villages who have no concept of travel or the larger world. They’re uneducated, and desperate. Recruiters tell them they can buy their way out of poverty simply by selling one of their kidneys. Victims are told it’s completely safe. And then they’re promised $5000, which sounds like $500 million. In most countries, it is illegal to buy and sell human organs. But it is legal to donate organs to family members. Victims are coached on how to respond to interview questions at the hospital, and are coerced into signing documents certifying that they’re donating to family members.

What Happens After The Fact?

You already heard what happens to the victims. But what about the kidney recipients? They return home. Some live happily ever after. Others live with with regret. In the black market, the normal rigors around organ matching and immunosuppressant regimens are lax, at best. If a recipient starts to reject a transplant, they could die as a result. It is costly to treat a rejected organ, and most insurance won’t cover treatment for an international kidney transplant. Other times, the rejection is too fierce or too rapid for treatment, and the recipient dies, or ends up in the same place they were before— on dialysis. And just like that, the victim’s forced donation was for nought.

The Scope Of The Problem

It’s a simple issue of supply and demand. In the U.S. alone, 100k Americans are on the kidney transplant waiting list. On average, in one year, only 25% of them will receive a kidney transplant. Every day 13 people die in the U.S. waiting for a kidney transplant. Chronic kidney disease (CKD) is the number one cause of kidney failure.

CKD progresses from stages 1–5. Stage 5 is called End Stage Renal Disease (ESRD), and that’s when patients need dialysis. Despite today’s medical advancements, there is no cure for CKD or ESRD. The only treatments are transplant or dialysis.

So, what do the kidneys do? They remove toxins from our bodies. When someone’s kidneys stop working, they sometimes shrivel to the size of almonds. Normal kidneys are the size of your fist. Most people are born with two kidneys. Humans can survive with only one, hence kidneys are the most trafficked organ.

People with failed kidneys no longer make urine. That’s why they need dialysis, a grueling, time-sucking treatment with a five-year 50% mortality.

Dialysis requires patients to sit in a chair in four-hour stretches three days every week. Patients are hooked up to a dialysis machine via tubes that carry a patient’s blood into the machine. The machine cleans the blood and returns it to the patient. It’s a slow, continuous process, and the patient always has adequate blood inside his body.

If you have normal kidney function, both of your kidneys are working 24/7. In one week, that’s 168 hours. Dialysis patients with no remaining kidney function get, at most, 16 hours per week of kidney function. Just imagine.

Some kidney failure patients live on dialysis for decades. But if you ask any of them, they will say their quality of life is dramatically lower than their pre-dialysis days. And the number of people on dialysis is growing every year.

In the U.S., ESRD patients are 1% of the Medicare population, but account for 7% of total Medicare spending. ESRD is increasing by 5% annually. The need for donors is increasing by 8% annually. There’s simply not enough organs for everyone who needs one. When people are desperate, you won’t believe what they will consider in the will to live. What would you do?

Solutions

The short answer is that there is no easy solution. As long as there is a gap between supply and demand, and as long as some humans view other humans as commodities, the organ trade will continue.

Technology

Scientists and engineers are working on advancements to improve dialysis. Others are leveraging 3D printing and stem cell technology to develop artificial kidneys.

Law enforcement is partnering with nonprofits such as Thorn to use the internet, social media, and apps to capture and incarcerate trafficking perpetrators.

Organ Donation

Volunteer organ donation would help, too. Donation comes risks, which should be discussed with a doctor. There are two ways to donate, as a living donor or a deceased donor. Transplants from living donors are more successful than deceased (cadaver) donation. But of course, donating while you’re alive is a difficult decision. To learn more about organ donation, click here.

Policy Shifts

In the meantime, indpendent crusaders such as this Harvard physician, are traveling across the globe to institute laws, policy changes, and education in rural areas.

Taking Care Of You

It’s normal to feel helpless. The best thing each of us can do is take care of our health, which means protecting our kidneys. This free education resource is great for prevention, even if you’re not at risk for kidney failure.

Conclusion

The heavy resources focused on sex trafficking could make a dent in organ trafficking. For now, I hope I have debunked the myth that organ trafficking is fake. Awareness brings us one step closer to affecting change.


Mamta Jain Valderrama is a social justice writer and speaker. Her novel, A Girl In Traffick, is a thrilling must-read about organ trafficking in India. Available on Amazon. Learn more at www.mamtajainvalderrama.com .

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