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Human trafficking

Human trafficking is the trade in human beings for purposes of exploitation in the form

of sexually slavery and prostitution, forced labor, fighting, etc. While human trafficking is

flourishing, the difficulty in getting reliable statistics makes it hard to understand it fully.

Consequently, activists, scholars, and governments struggle to define the problem, its

dimensions, and scope. What is clear however is human trafficking is modern day slavery. Those

involved in the bad trade hold victims against their will and force them to work through threats

of physical harm.

In the media, various representations of the problem compete for attention, thereby

creating confusion. The media represents trafficking into three categories viz. sex trafficking,

labor trafficking, and child exploitation. The understanding of the problem from the perspective

of the three groups has shaped legislation around the world aimed to curb the vice. Labor

trafficking comes across as a lesser evil compared to sex trafficking and child exploitation.

The western media started to give attention to the problem due to initial reports that

suggested white people are victims. However, evidence shows that trafficking is a significant

challenge that mostly affects developing countries of Africa, Asia, and South America. In

particular, the most affected countries are Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal, and a few West African

and middle eastern states. In industrialized and prosperous western nations, data on the extent of
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the problem is not available. There is, however, some indication that wealthy countries are also a

source and destination of victims of trafficking.

The media has failed to highlight the issues as a global one, preferred to focus on a few

cases in mostly developing countries. The rise of global capitalism and establishment of

manufacturing supply chain in developing countries has increased chances of exploitation.

Rebel groups in Congo, for instance, use boys to mine gold and other precious metals in open pit

mines in areas under their control. Most of the minerals mined in Congo by children end up in

high-end smartphones and electronic devices used in the affluent West and elsewhere in the

world. In Bangladesh, young children work in textiles factories to meet the demand for cheap

apparel in the west.

The media shapes peoples views on many issues. For instance, during political

campaigns, the issues the media highlights are the same that voters give greater emphasis on,

indicating that the media provides information and sets the agenda. People rely exclusively on

what the media reports to get information. However, because the press has so much information

to report on, it has to select what is newsworthy. Often, the media gives emphasis on a few

issues, which it perceives as the most important. Over time, the audience starts considered the

same problems the media is emphasizing on as the most important. This form of manipulation is

how the media influences public perception or opinion of issues in society. According to

Ghanem, the way an issue or other object is covered in the media... affects the way the public

thinks about that object, [and] the way an issue or other object is covered in the media...affects

the salience of that object on the public agenda (4).

The majority of the people trafficked are women and girls. Criminals consider women

easier to exploit due to cultural issues such as discrimination and lack of some legal rights that
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make them vulnerable. In some countries in the Middle East, women lack certain legal rights

such as giving testimony in a court of law. Without those rights, it is harder for women to assert

their rights.

Another class of people targeted by the traffickers is the poor. The poor suffer from a lack

of food and other essential needs, inability to afford legal representation, cannot vote in some

instances, among other difficulties, all of which make the poor easier to trick. In Bangladesh,

traffickers give parents false promises that they will give their children good jobs in towns and

cities. Criminals then sell the children to work as sexual slaves, prostitutes, or as workers in

sweatshops. Even young adults are themselves tricked with promises of good paying jobs, which

never materialize. Because the destination of trafficked people is often outside their home

countries, and they travel there without proper documents, they are easier to control as they

cannot contact authorities due to their irregular status.

The victims of trafficking come from all races. However, the problem affects

nonwhite/nonwestern people more due to social-economic factors such as poverty, poor

governance, gender inequality, wealth inequality, among other factors. Most emerging countries

lack the institutions to enforce anti-trafficking regulations, or the system is too corrupt to stop the

vice. (Laczko 39) That is the case in many African countries, South America, and Asia. As long

as the justice system in those countries is weak, it is not easy to solve the problem of trafficking.

Also, as mentioned earlier, poverty or the promise of riches is a strong pull factor towards

exploitative practices. Without decent jobs, young people including children will remain

receptive to false promises of riches abroad. Again, because girls are not as valued as boys are,

parents will continue to give away their female children to traffickers under false promises.
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Trafficking is discriminatory, with some people and nationalities targeted more than

others are. Race, ethnicity, and nationality increase the chances of a person falling victim of

trafficking. In the United States, the frequent victims of trafficking are Mexicans due to their

immigration status. Undocumented immigrants are easy prey for traffickers. Runaway and at-risk

youths quickly fall victim to trafficking due to their status. It is notable that most at-risk and

runaway kids come from ethnic minorities (Laczko 41). Minorities in the United States live

under severe conditions due to historical discrimination and other hidden discrimination in

modern America. Youth from those communities are a higher risk of falling victim to trafficking.

Worldwide, nationality is a risk factor when other factors such as poverty, gender, discrimination,

and governance are considered.

According to the state Department and other reputable sources, human trafficking is

rampant in Democratic Republic of Congo, Saudi Arabia, and Iran. The three countries are not

making any effort to curb the vice. In the Democratic Republic of Congo, human trafficking

targets children to work in mines, or as fighters for the various rebel groups operating in the vast

but volatile country. In Saudi Arabia and Iran, criminal organizations focus on women and girls

to work as domestic workers, slaves, prostitutes, or sexual slaves. The primary source of women

and girls is Africa, South Asia, and South East Asia such as the Philippines. The vice is also

prevalent in some parts of India, Bangladesh, and Nepal (Laczko 40). Girls and women are

trafficked to work as sexual slaves or prostitutes in the major Indian cities.

In conclusion, human trafficking is a growing problem driven by global capitalism.

Because it violates the rights of the victims, it is fundamentally an evil practice. The media, in

the last few years, has started to highlight this issue in greater frequency and detail. One large

media house that has given the issue priority is CNN. Large companies are also blacklisting
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suppliers using child labor. As the media give the issue more coverage, the world is likely to take

action to save the victims from vicious gangs involved in the immoral trade.

Works cited

Ghanem, Salma. Filling in the Tapestry: The Second Level of Agenda Setting. In

Communication and Democracy: Exploring the Intellectual Frontiers in Agenda-Setting

Theory, ed. Maxwell McCombs, Donald Shaw, and David Weaver, 3-14. Mahwah, NJ:

Lawrence Erlbaum Associates. 1997

Laczko, Frank. Enhancing Data Collection and Research on Trafficking in Persons. Measuring

Human Trafficking, pp. 3744. doi:10.1007/0-387-68044-6_5.