Human Trafficking

Human Trafficking

What is it?

Human trafficking is the highly illegal act of transporting people between countries or areas, usually in order to sell them in forced labour, or for sexual exploitation. It's an extremely serious problem, and is happening to both boys and girls, adults and children, all over the world. In Cambodia, you can find children as young as six and seven working in brothels after being abducted from their homes. Between the years 2012 and 2017, more than 3,000 people became victims of human trafficking in Vietnam alone. At this time, it is estimated that around 1.8 million children are currently being exploited in the sex trade around the world, and that's just children- not including adults. Human trafficking is a disgusting crime, and there isn't enough being done to eliminate or prevent it.

Who can this happen to?

Although human trafficking can happen to anyone, some individuals are more vulnerable than others. It is well known that human traffickers target -more often than not- young girls, but are there and other things that make these young women especially at risk? Online human traffickers tend to target those who talk openly about their home lives (more specifically, why they hate them), whether it be one on one or in chat-rooms with hundreds of people. They also target both men and women who are desperate for work. It isn't hard to be lured in by empty promises when you're really in need and can't see any better alternatives.

 

Where does it happen?

As I previously mentioned, human trafficking occurs almost everywhere, but it is a much larger problem in some places than it is in others. Take Russia, for example. Russia, being the World's largest nation, have between 5 and 12 million migrants working in conditions of slavery. But people aren't just being trafficked into Russia; there have been more than 2,400 trafficking cases between the years 2015 and 2017, and this is due to the fact Russia and it's government see human trafficking as a 'political issue' rather than a problem which is affecting millions, which is what it really is, and basically have a complete disregard towards it. Therefore, they don't prioritise even attempting to fix it. In Syria, things have gotten progressively worse throughout the civil war. The Syrian government do not fully meet the bare minimum standards when it comes to the elimination of human trafficking, and during 2017 didn't demonstrate, in any way, any efforts to address human trafficking through prosecution, protection, or prevention measures. And, to make matters worse, the government of Syria continues to maintain it's forcible recruitment and use of child soldiers. They also make no attempt to protect and prevent children from being recruited by armed opposition forces or designated terrorist organisations, such as the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria.