Modern Day Slavery
Human trafficking is a huge issue throughout the whole world as we dig deeper we will uncover the thoughts and ideas behind trafficking.
“A legal system which ‘naturalizes’ violence against women in the home, by allowing perpetrators to act without fear of punishment by the state, is a legal system devoted to maintaining control over women.” (Marcus, 1994,18) In a subtopic of violence against women, the focus on trafficking is blurred within different worlds, such as the third and first world countries. Trafficking is something that affects men, women, and children. Since the quote refers to the legal act of naturalizing the violence within someone’s home, would it then be right if someone were to be trafficked in their own home? With the follow-up question being, “What if it were someone within their familial line who was trafficking them?” These questions run through the minds of the people in these unsafe conditions, and the lack of knowledge that people have when it comes to trafficking. Most of these answers are circulated due to the need for one’s family. It is a constant pull of money and needs in order to support their family.
Human trafficking is the act of stripping ownership of one’s body, whether it may be mentally, physically, or sexually. Under the umbrella of human trafficking, there are four types of trafficking that I will be focusing on: sex trafficking, forced labor, organ trafficking, and debt bondage. All four share the common theme of stripping one’s ownership in a sense.
Sex trafficking occurs when a person is sexually exploited for financial gain. A more sensible definition could be, “A crime when women, men, and/or children are forcefully involved in commercial sex acts. In the United States, any minor under the age of 18 engaged in commercial sex acts is automatically considered a victim of sex trafficking under the law.” In this case, child and adult prostitution are included, along with forced marriage. There are an estimated 4.5 million victims of sex trafficking worldwide. The definition of sex trafficking mentions the term “commercial sex,” which is any sex act for which anything of value is given to or received by any person.
“Forced labor refers to situations in which persons are coerced to work through the use of violence or intimidation, or by more subtle means such as accumulated debt, retention of identity papers or threats of denunciation to immigration authorities.” This includes recruiting, harboring, transporting, purchasing or providing a person for labor or services through the use of force, fraud, or coercion.
“Organ trafficking is a form of widespread organized crime where inner organs are illegally obtained and traded for transplantation.” Lastly, “debt bondage is a person’s pledge of labor or services as security for the repayment of a debt or other obligation, where there is no hope of actually repaying the debt. The services required to repay the debt may be undefined, and the services’ duration may be undefined.” This is basically a way of labor to pay back for the debt that one is now in. All four of these terms are heavily defined in the government as well as in the media. Although some might perceive that what these people are doing as wrong, maybe there is a story behind all of this madness.
In third world countries, it is more common to find people sex trafficking and exploiting themselves in order to support their families. This comes from a deeper-rooted situation where some families are struggling with issues such as lack of money, food, education. Here in America, sex trafficking and prostitution are frowned upon. This is because the media has portrayed these women as “whores”, “sluts”, and “corner hoes”, when maybe these women are also trying to support their families; they just cannot find a better job at the moment. In third world countries, organ trafficking is the next most popular trend after sex trafficking. I feel like organ trafficking is way more serious than sex trafficking because the way that people go about it is sad and hurtful for families. People go from door to door asking innocent families if they want to make a lot of money for their family, telling them all they need to do is sell one of their organs. The process that these people go through in order to sell their organs is horrifying, and they most likely never see the money that was offered. Then they rarely see their families again. Either way, the people trafficking are only doing it for their families, not just for themselves.
In Sex trafficking: The New American Slavery by Leif Coorlim and Dana Ford, CNN, Sacharay was only 14 when she became a victim of sex trafficking. She was not doing it to support her family, yet it was an outlet for her to meet people and make new friends. Of course, it was not in her plan to have sex with about 40 men per day, but the person holding her — her “sex trafficker” — was like a father figure to her. He would buy her gifts and give her compliments, and then at the end she would be forced into having sex. This article shows the negative effects that trafficking can have on a child. Honestly, it breaks my heart knowing that young women go through this as an act of slavery.
“The concept of privacy encourages, reinforces, and supports violence against women. Privacy says that violence against women is immune from sanction, that it is permitted, acceptable, and part of the basic fabric of American life. Privacy operates as a mask for inequality, protecting male violence against women.” (Schneider 1994, 43) As everything is stripped away from these people, privacy is not a thing. Everything that is theirs is also everyone else’s. Lucinda Joy Peach’s, “Is Violence Male? The Law, Gender, and Violence” captures all of these ideals and also the logistics of privacy. Trafficking sheds privacy of oneself and others. In this case, I think the act of trafficking is wrong, even though many time the victims are forced into those situations in order to support their families.
