WARNING: Abusers can track your computer activity. If you are in danger, please call 911 or the National Domestic Violence Hotline (1-800-799-SAFE). And consider using a safer computer such as one from the library or a friend's house.
Human trafficking, a modern form of slavery, is considered to be the third most profitable form of trafficking following drugs and arms. (www.ojp.usdoj.gov/ovc/ncvrw/2005/pg5l.html)
According to the United Nations, human trafficking is defined as follows: "The recruitment, transportation, transfer, harboring or receipt of persons, by means of the threat or use of force or other forms of coercion, of abduction, of fraud, of deception, of the abuse of power or of a position of vulnerability or of the giving or receiving of payments or benefits to achieve the consent of a person having control over another person, for the purpose of exploitation". (www.unescap.org/esid/GAD/Issues/Trafficking/index.asp)
Trafficked persons can be trafficked into domestic work, forced into prostitution or exploited through marriage. Around 12.3 million women, men and children are trafficked at any given time, according to the International Labor Organization (US Department of State, 2009) [1]. Most people who are trafficked are women (www.ojp.usdoj.gov/ovc/ncvrw/2005/pg5l.html). Human trafficking generally follows a pattern of movement from less developed areas to more developed areas. For example, people are likely to be trafficked from South America and Southeast Asia to the United States or Europe. Unfavorable economic conditions in the country of origin, gender-based discrimination and the promise of a better life help perpetuate the supply of trafficked persons.
As is evident in the definition, the use of power and control very much characterizes the nature of human trafficking as with domestic violence. Indeed, there are striking similarities between both forms of abuse. Both forms of abuse involve the use of isolation, threats and intimidation in order to keep survivors in a position of having no or very little power. Fear of physical harm, threats to one's family and the feelings of shame or guilt are some of the barriers to leaving an abusive situation for a trafficking survivor. Trafficking survivors may also experience language barriers, be unaware of their legal rights, may not trust the police and fear deportation (www.endabuse.org/content/features/detail/794/). Taking into consideration these specific needs, it would seem that collaboration between service providers, law enforcement and other community organizations is an effective and appropriate way of helping survivors of trafficking (http://www.endabuse.org/content/features/detail/794/).
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[1]US Department of State. (2009). Trafficking in Persons Report.