Human Trafficking and the Impact on National Security for the United States

Human Trafficking and the Impact on National Security for the United States

Introduction

Human trafficking, also known as modern-day slavery or in person trafficking, is a criminal act and a violation of basic human rights. The violations include activities like right to freedom, right to dignity, right to equal protection of the law that affects every country in the world. Victims of international trafficking are most often lured or taken from poor nations or conflict zones, also referred as “source” countries, and then pass through other “transit” countries before reaching their final destination.

Human trafficking is defined as: recruitment, transportation, purchasing, transfer, harboring or receipt of persons by threat or use of violence kidnapping, fraud, deception, coercion (including, do the abuse of authority) or bonded debts, in order to place such per- person or retain, whether on a paid or not, or doing forced labor practices similar to slavery, in a community different from the person who lived in time of the act that led to his arrest. Human trafficking is an illegal form of modern-day slavery that violates human rights and the fastest growing international crime causing high risk of violence.

Background

Human trafficking constitutes a form of modern-day slavery and one of the most severe forms of human rights abuses in the 21st century. It is one of the fastest growing forms of international crime and poses a significant threat to the safety and well-being of individuals throughout the world. Trafficking refers to the transfer, relocation, or transportation of human beings for the purposes of economic gain or other forms of exploitation and through the use of threat, coercion, fraud, abduction, or deception. Trafficking is a phenomenon associated with increasing globalization and perpetuated by the ever-present global inequalities of gender, race, and economics. 'This entry explores the definition of trafficking and related common misunderstandings and includes an examination of the size, scope and patterns of trafficking; sample profiles of traffickers and victims; and responses to human trafficking'. Often seen as the dark side of globalization and of neo-liberalism, this has enriched the development of means of travel, traffic capital, the collapse of the Eastern Europe, the thrust of current migration and development organized crime, becoming over the years as a national security problem that human security. The purpose of human trafficking is mainly sexual exploitation, forced labor and domestic servitude. Victims who trafficked into sex work are at high risk for violence as well as human immunodeficiency virus and acquired immune deficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS) and other sexually transmitted diseases. Trafficking victims denied their basic human rights and often kept locked up and isolated, thus restricting their opportunities for escape.

As with most forms of criminal activity, it is difficult to collect accurate data about human trafficking. However, advocacy organizations and governments alike assert that the overpowering majority of individuals who trafficked are women and children-including both female and male children. It is also estimated that every year approximately half of all individuals trafficked are ...