The Crimes Of Human Trafficking

Human trafficking has been a constant problem since the dawn of civilized societies. What was once called slavery became indentured servitude and has evolved into what is now called human trafficking or trafficking in persons (TIP). Though the name has been changed the end result remains the same. People are misled or kidnapped and forced into performing acts against their will. Even though it has been an issue for centuries, and nearly all countries have recently made slavery illegal, the practice continues and even flourishes. In fact it is one of the fastest growing international crimes with an estimated $32 billion annual profit (Aaronson, 2013) and over 20 million victims worldwide (The White House, 2012). Traffickers commonly get …show more content…
In addition, many people who are witness to the crimes and abuse of the victims do not report it. In one case, two 50 year old women from India stayed with a family over 5 years and were routinely tortured and abused. A witness saw one of the women crawling out of the basement on her hands and knees bleeding from her head. In another incident a landscaper saw one of the women dressed in rags and begged for his doughnuts. Neither of the witnesses reported the abuse (Walker 2009). Not until the woman ran away did the authorities get involved. One of the problems with investigating and prosecuting the crimes is that those responsible for smuggling humans move freely between countries making tracking the perpetrator and gaining extradition, increasingly difficult. In addition there is no shortage of workers from developing countries, willing to believe that people will help them into another country and get them a job. The easiest way to make prosecution and investigation easier would be to make a common international definition of TIP and a standard international law against human trafficking. The UN has adopted the Palermo Protocol but does not require every country to write the same legislature nor does it require cooperation …show more content…
Another issue is current police procedure. In cases involving human trafficking, it is often the victim who is caught (prostitution sting) or being found to be an undocumented worker (which is not a crime but is a deportable offense), and law enforcement focuses on their criminal activity rather than looking into whether or not it is part of a larger issue like trafficking. Frequently due to the fact that the victim does not identify the trafficker, but also because if the trafficker is identified he/she is often difficult to locate and thus the story cannot be corroborated. The covertness of trafficking facilitates all the problems and induces a conspiratory relationship between the trafficker and victim. The victim is brought into the country illegally and does everything possible to prevent being seen by anyone who may turn them in to a government agency and this aids the trafficker from being discovered. At the same time the traffickers