Trafficking in the United States

As we go about our everyday lives it would seem almost inconceivable, that a country which is symbolic for its many freedoms could play such a huge role in the human trafficking epidemic. What you will find is that not only is the United States a hub for human trafficking but this takes place in our own state; California and can be found a few hours away in San Francisco. Does that mean that Sacramento is exempt from this crime, absolutely not! In fact Sacramento, Roseville, and many other cities in our state have been affected by this lucrative trend. Masked behind legitimate businesses such as restaurants, hotels and nail salons, you may find that there is an underground world catering to the consumers that human trafficking produces. In many cases it is also true that massage parlors, strip clubs, go-go bars, saunas, and adult entertainment theatres are fronts for the sex trade. Many other venues that could hide this business are warehouses, escort services and private residences that are directly associated with brothels.

This is the United States, how can thousands of people be brought into our country without their being some questions as to who they are and why they are here? Research shows that there are about 50,000 people brought into the United States each year. They come from countries such as Latin America, the former Soviet Union, and South East Asia. The truth of the matter is they are brought in right under the government’s nose. Visas are a popular tool in getting victims through our borders. Some visas are legal while other visas are fraudulent. The movement of victims through the border can take on many forms. Some forms are through vehicles, overseas, via train, and oddly enough some victims are actively paying their own way to be smuggled across the borders. As the United Nations and Department of Immigration seek out ways to minimize the number of people coming in, we will find that many American’s are being taken out of our country the same way that they are coming in.

Although the trafficking statistics show that men, woman and children are victims, we find that women are most often lured into the United States under false pretenses. They are promised jobs as waitresses, nannies, models, factory workers, or situations with severely reduced freedoms. Women are prevented from leaving by security guards, violence, threats, debt bondage, and at times retention of traveling documents. These documents can be either passports, visas, or any identification.  The traffickers maintain control through isolation; in many cases, the women must live and work at the location. The women may also be denied outside medical assistance when needed.  Questioning why this is happening is happening would not even make sense to do since the going rate for young woman being sold to brothels is $16,000 per person. If the woman stays at the brothel she will likely be sold to many other men accruing as much as $40,000 in one day just for providing sexual favors.  At this point the business is so lucrative and with potentially low risks involved, someone in this business could make up to $19 billion dollars annually.

In other cases of trafficking we could look at indentured servitude also known as domestic slaves. In one case out of Seattle a woman took a job as a nanny to support her family. Upon arriving she soon realized not only would she be taking care of all the duties of the house, plus caretaking of the children but that she would also only be paid $70.00 a month to survive. Her work weeks consisted of 100 plus hours. She was forbidden to see any doctors for medical care, being bound to the house each day out of fear that her family would be hurt if she didn’t do what she was told. She continued on with the families’ secret until she was able to escape. Most often in cases such as these, law enforcement has difficulties due to language and cultural barriers. Victims of this type of trafficking may come from places which culturally distrust law enforcement officials. The question now which permeates through the air is what can be done to save those who are being victimized?

Human Trafficking.Org. (2007, May). Retrieved December 1, 2011, from Academy for Educational Development website: http://www.humantrafficking.org/countries/united_states_of_america

Lerner, S. (2007, May). Human Trafficking In The U.S.: One Woman's Story. Retrieved December 12, 2011, from NPR website: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=128873444

Hughes, D. M. (2001, March 1). SEX TRAFFICKING OF WOMEN IN THE UNITED STATES: INTERNATIONAL AND DOMESTIC TRENDS . Coalition Against Trafficking in Women, 141. Retrieved from https://www.ncjrs.gov/pdffiles1/nij/grants/187774.pdf

Theory and theTrafficker

 Understanding what motivates the perpetrators of this crime is complex because we are limited in knowing details surrounding this crime. Most information gathered is done so by the victims who escape and at times, from the person in the business who is willing to share information. Rarely, are we able to sit down and get inside a traffickers head to ask questions regarding their involvement. It is safe to say a number of theories can be applied to this particular crime. In essence, theory can be applied to all players involved, including the victim, but for this instance, I will focus on theory surrounding perpetrators only. Applying theory can shed light on the motivations that drive people into this lucrative business, which is estimated to produce 32 billion in profit each year.

            Considering the theory of social disorganization, we have a basis of research that indicates when a society is faced with low socioeconomically characteristics crime is elevated. This idea is reconciled when we look at places like Phon Pehn, Benin City and Odessa, Ukraine. These are poverty stricken areas of the world which are highly involved in the human trafficking business; knowing that this is a familiar way that men of families support themselves with little opportunity of providing for your family, could this explain the phenomenon in Phon Pehn?. It is in Cambodia that the majority of the population lives off $1.25 a day, earnings by those who work in sweat shops while others rummage through garbage for recyclables. The remaining 40% of the population are employed by the sex trade.. Although this is a good example of a theory that could begin to explain cultures such as these, strain theory is best suited to describe conditions in which traffickers flourish.

            Strain theory was introduced by Robert Merton in 1938. His basis for the theory coincided with Durkheim’s definition of anomie. Anomie is a state of being for an individual or group of people. This state is formed when there is dissociation between valued cultural norms and a legitimate source of means attainable by a society. The idea is that all people from all walks of life grow up with the goal to achieve and succeed. In order for this to take place there must be resources available for people to achieve that goal. In essence, everyone in America including the countries of the world strives to have the American dream.  If there are no resources available to grow and foster this dream, such as education or employment opportunities; a population remains stagnant with the same aspirations existing. These aspirations to want more in life are what lead people to utilize any means necessary, including lawless forms to acquire some kind of income. This is interpreted as being a “strain”. 

 Strain theory is defined as being a social structural theory which seeks to explain the relationship between a social structure and crime. The Strain theory identifies different modes which directly relate to the pressure that societies are faced with when driven by a financial need and desire to succeed.  There are five modes of adjustment. The adjustments include: conformity, innovation, rebellion, retreatism, and ritualism. Each mode is described as being the reasoning behind a “strain” that a culture faces. In relationship to human trafficking, the mode of innovation is best used to describe this phenomenon.

Innovation is the mode that is the most prominent in dealing with the strain theory. It is utilized the most in the lower classes where high rates of crime exist. In cases such as these illegal means are sought to gain resources. The seeking of illegal means as an alternative to legal forms of resources is viewed as an adaptation to the situation at hand. This theory best describes the involvement of both the trafficker and the victim. For example, if the only means of income for the Cambodian family of seven is to sell your youngest child to a trafficker, it is a decision many families feel they are forced to make. The trafficker, who is majority of the time a native to the country, has  probably dealt with the same need for resources.  Could the strain that causes the mother to feel the need to provide for her family, be so great that she would sell her own child? This theory would have you believe that the impending need exists. Although strain theory is best suited for those who are in desperate situations, it does also apply to those who are taught by society to desire more, even if the current state they are in is not dire.

Routine Activities theory can also be applied to the offender of trafficking. This theory is defined as a neoclassical theory which points out the routine activity of a specific society which fosters crime. In this theory, crime can be a result of three different characteristics. The characteristics of the crime include motivated offenders, suitable targets and the lack of capable guardians. This concept holds true when we think of the police corruption that takes place in many communities where trafficking victims is prominent. This idea held true in the story of story of Ketia. Ketia was trafficked by a friend of her husband over the border of Odessa. Once learnered her husband began searching for her in Turkey. Upon failure after failure to pinpoint her whearabouts, her husband alerted the Turkish police. He informed them of her abduction and her whereabouts, yet the police did nothing. Instead, they alerted the traffickers of the husband’s presence to retrieve his wife. This is a great example of how lack of capable guardians (police agencies), creates common feeding ground for traffickers.

            In relation to the offenders who participate in the use of traffic victims, mainly children, they are considered to be pedophiles. Research has shown that pedophilia is a phenomenon of its own accord, in which adults are lovers of children. The acts committed by pedophiles range from use of photographs, videos and in the case of human trafficking, sexual relations with a minor. Tourists from all over the world travel to places like Phon Pehn, Cambodia because it is a popular red light district, known for its sex market of children.  A theory that can be applied to this type of phenomenon is the feminist theory.

            Feminist theory seeks to underline the clear difference in sex roles and gender inequalities among society. The theory is based on the idea that the world we leave in is patriarchal, with men desiring and maintaining the superior role in society. It highlights the differences between gender roles, race, age and class. The theory also applies  power and how it is applied to the different roles described. In the case of child trafficking, it is safe to say that children are easy targets for sexual abuse due to their vulnerability, naivety, and innate proneness to adhere to adult figures. Abusers who are in this case the dominant, powerful, controller tend could be seeking a weaker, smaller, younger sexual partner then themselves. In affect the abuser could be suffering from a self esteem issue which accounts for the need to be accepted sexually or even the defect of a person who had been sexually abused themselves.

Akers, R. L. (2009). Criminological Theories (5th ed.). New York, NY: Oxford University Press.

Bienstock, R. E., & Golubev, F. (Producers), & Bienstock, R. E. (Director). (2005). Sex Slaves
[Video file]. Retrieved from
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=456480507747515257#

Silverstein, K. (2011, May 20). brief tour of the Cambodian sex industry. Top Stories on
MSNBC.com . Retrieved from http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/43114611/ns/slate_com/

THRUPKAEW, N. (2009). THE CRUSADE AGAINST SEX TRAFFICKING. (Cover story).

Nation, 289(10), 11-20. Retrieved from EBSCOhost.

HUMAN TRAFFICKING: THE FACTS. (2007). Retrieved from UN.GIFT Global Initiative for
Fighting Human Trafficking website: http://www.unglobalcompact.org/docs/issues_doc/labour/Forced_labour/HUMAN_TRA
FFICKING_-_THE_FACTS_-_final.pdf

The Trafficker

The range of perpetrators is broad and varies. In many cases, they will be part of

international, organized criminal groups often specialized in the trafficking of arms, drugs, and/or human beings. In other cases, they may be small groups with loose structures (often including family members of the victim). Statistics show that 46% of trafficked victims are done so by someone they know. In some cases individual entrepreneurs who do not have connections to big groups get involved in trafficking. Astounding as it may seem, some of these people are woman who have been victims of trafficking themselves. The most successful perpetrators involved in trafficking tend to be the people who have ties to law enforcement or government officials.  This form of trafficking becomes extremely difficult to uncover because of the corruption that takes place.

 The high potential for profits and the minimal risk of detection and punishment make trafficking in human beings a very lucrative enterprise in many countries of the world. Conviction for human trafficking is likely to attract only minimal sentence in most countries. This light sentence in itself makes this racket attractive for organized criminals. According to the United Nations (2007), statistics show that 52% of those recruiting victims are men, 42% are women and 6% are both men and women. More commonly than not, traffickers are trafficking people from the same country they live in. In the process a victim can cross the hands of four people before getting to her buyer.

Akers, R. L. (2009). Criminological Theories (5th ed.). New York, NY: Oxford University Press.

Bienstock, R. E., & Golubev, F. (Producers), & Bienstock, R. E. (Director). (2005). Sex Slaves
            [Video file]. Retrieved from
            http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=456480507747515257#

Silverstein, K. (2011, May 20). brief tour of the Cambodian sex industry. Top Stories on
            MSNBC.com . Retrieved from http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/43114611/ns/slate_com/

THRUPKAEW, N. (2009). THE CRUSADE AGAINST SEX TRAFFICKING. (Cover story).

            Nation, 289(10), 11-20. Retrieved from EBSCOhost.

HUMAN TRAFFICKING: THE FACTS. (2007). Retrieved from UN.GIFT Global Initiative for
            Fighting Human Trafficking website:
            http://www.unglobalcompact.org/docs/issues_doc/labour/Forced_labour/HUMAN_TRA
            FFICKING_-_THE_FACTS_-_final.pdf

Taken, is an action packed movie starring Liam Neeson, which was released in 2008.  The story line is based on two young girls who travel to Paris on a trip. Upon arriving in Paris they are befriended by a man who leads them into the hands of traffickers. The girls are addicted to drugs and sexually exploited, in the web of make-shift brothels. Fictional as it may be, it depicts the vivid truth about young girls traveling on their own to other countries and being kidnapped. Although Hollywood has had its way with the manuscript, I feel the movie sheds light on how easy young woman can be compromised. The movie also shows how easy a person could vanish.  Although this movie did have a happy ending for one of the girls, the other disappeared never to be heard from again. It is important to understand that there are many ways to define trafficking; this story line only depicts one.  In this blog I will define the crime “Human Trafficking”, as well as discuss how trafficking varies.  I will discuss details of the trafficking business, statistics regarding aspects of this crime and I will discuss this crime through the lens of different theories which will give meaning to the growth of this lucrative business.

Men, woman and children fall victim to traffickers each day. Every three seconds another victim is lost to the world of trafficking. Trafficking touches every corner of the earth from Taiwan to Georgia. In the hands of the trafficker, victims are sexually exploited, held captive and at times murdered, at times they are left to die at the hands of a sexually transmitted disease. Human right violations plague this lucrative, booming industry of people selling people. Although many activists spend their lives fighting to save at least one victim, we can’t help but wonder if we could do more. In a world in which trafficking occurs so frequently, the conviction rate illustrates how unrecognized this crime is. In 2006 the United Nations statistics report showed that only 3,160 convictions were reported throughout the world. Could it be that we as a society simply choose not to acknowledge the phenomena or is it so difficult to implement policies that we continue to minimize the issue at hand.

         It is imperative to understand that victims of trafficking range from all walks of life.  The victims of this crime include men, woman and children. According to the Polaris Project (2008), there were over 27 million people in some form of modern-day slavery. Of those people, 800,000 are trafficked over our world’s borders.  Woman and children are the highest rated victims in human trafficking for sexual purposes. Woman are either lured into this business with promise for work, opportunities to live in the United States or some are simply taken in exchange for money. At times, children are even sold by their parents directly to the traffickers. According to the National Human Trafficking Resource Center, 80% of all trafficking victims are woman and children, among those are the one million children who are sexually exploited every year. In the next few months I will cover topics such as statistics, local and international trafficking, profiling of the offender and laws in place surrounding human trafficking. I hope that you are as intrigued by this phenomenon as I am.

Bienstock, R. E., & Golubev, F. (Producers), & Bienstock, R. E. (Director). (2005). Sex Slaves

            [Video file]. Retrieved from

            http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=456480507747515257#

  HUMAN TRAFFICKING: THE FACTS. (2007). Retrieved from UN.GIFT Global Initiative for

            Fighting Human Trafficking website:

            http://www.unglobalcompact.org/docs/issues_doc/labour/Forced_labour/HUMAN_TRA

            FFICKING_-_THE_FACTS_-_final.pdf

The Fact of Tourism, 2005

Yea, S. (2010). Human Trafficking - A Geographical Perspective. Geodate, 23(3), 2-6. Retrieved

from Academic Search Premier database.