An article by Rosalinda Birdinia Barus [1] as part of a project by volunteers for UNA Coventry. For more of their work see http://SpotTheTraffick.uk

Human trafficking is a transnational crime, defined as “an offence whose inception and prevention direct or indirect effects involved more than one country” [2]

Various activists, governments, NGOs, and international organizations have tried to tackle this issue, but human trafficking keeps growing and expanding.

So why is human trafficking so hard to tackle?

High Profits

Firstly, human trafficking is a profitable business.  According to the International Labor Organization (ILO), human trafficking earns traffickers approximately $150 billions a year [3].

$99 billion come from commercial sexual exploitation. $34 billion in construction, manufacturing, mining and utilities. $9 billion in agriculture including forestry and fishing and $8 billion dollars is saved annually by private households that employ domestic workers under conditions of forced labor.

The multinationals corporations have high demand for trafficked labor.  It is because it helps them to minimize their cost of production so that they can earn high profit. By having trafficked labor they can pay their labor in smaller amount of wages and no need to give them financial security such as insurance. They can exploit their labor freely to working beyond the working hours.

Supply Chain

Secondly, it is a supply chain issue. Human trafficking operates globally as the movement of the labor happens from one country to another. The state is not able to penalize the human trafficking corporation that is exists beyond their borders, although the corporation exploits their people. No domestic legislation is able to criminalize and punish labor trafficking happening abroad or to hold multinationals corporations accountable for their action. [3] [4]

Weak Law Enforcement

The third reason human trafficking is hard to tackle is weak law enforcement in protecting their citizens. Not every country has constitutional human rights or strong law enforcement to protect their citizens, especially in less economically developed countries (LEDCs). Most trafficked labor comes from LEDCs such as Thailand, India, Turkey and Africa. People from these countries are vulnerable as they are not protected by legal enforcement. Therefore they often become the target of trafficking.

Education and Poverty

Last but not least is education and poverty. As I have stated above, most trafficking victims come from LEDCs countries associated with poor levels in these areas. Consider employment.

Most of people in LEDCs have difficulties in finding a job in their own land because they lack of opportunities. Therefore they accept the offers given them by human trafficking corporations that always seems to be promising prosperity not exploitation.

LEDCs have low level of education. Therefore these people lack skills to allow them to work in high-level sectors. The lack of skills force them to become entangled in trafficking because they don’t have any other skill aside from working in exploitative factories or commercial sex industries.

Difficult but not Impossible

The battle against human trafficking seems to be difficult but what’s difficult does not mean impossible.  Nation states should work hand in hand with each other to tackle this issue. The help of activists, NGOs and international organizations such as the UN might also contribute to solving this global issue and create a world safe for the people, to end the slavery and exploitation which violates human rights.

References

[1] Rosalinda Birdinia Barus is first Year student of Coventry University studying International Relations.

[2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transnational_crime

[3] http://www.ilo.org/global/topics/forced-labour/lang–en/index.htm

[4] Ezell, L, 2016. Human Trafficking in Multinational Supply Chains: A Corporate Director’s Fiduciary Duty to Monitor and Eliminate Human Trafficking Violations, [Online]. 69:2, 15. Available at: https://www.vanderbiltlawreview.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/89/2016/03/Human-Trafficking-in-Multinational-Supply-Chains-A-Corporate-Directors-Fiduciary-Duty-to-Monitor-and-Eliminate-Human-Trafficking-Violations.pdf [Accessed 17 November 2016].