Is It Possible to Stop Human Trafficking Entirely?

In today's society, we are faced with many different types of crimes which are
severe to many of the people today. One of the many crimes is human trafficking.
According to the United Nations, human trafficking has been understood as "the
recruitment, transportation and transfer of people, by using methods of threat force
or other forms of compulsion, of abduction, of fraud, of the abuse of authority or of a
situation 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." This can also be referred to as modern day slavery as it is having
total control over another being to exploit them. It may seem as though that
throughout the ages as we become more civilized we would have stopped
performing these illegal activities but according to the Foreign Office Minister Hugo
Swire who gave a speech on tackling Human Trafficking said "People talk about the
abolition of slavery but slavery has not been abolished. It not only affects women but
also men and children as they are used beyond a point where their mental strength
would break. Saving these people who are suffering will be difficult and as much as
we wish to stop human trafficking, it is almost impossible to do so due to poverty,
greed and lack of education.
A problem which is directly linked to human trafficking is poverty. Poverty is not
only located in third world countries but also well-developed places such as America
or Europe. People in poverty seek out a better living environment and are willing to
do anything and everything to keep food on their plate. They do odd jobs that offer
low wages and when they are desperate, they become an easier target to be
trafficked to other countries for work and faux economic opportunities. At this point,
the traffickers would take this advantage of their victims' vulnerability to deceive
them, making them do forced labour and prostitution. Mentioned in the Global Report
on Trafficking in People 2014, about 53 percent of discovered victims are trafficked
for sexual exploitation while 40 percent of them are victims of forced labour. The
remaining 7 percent consist of victims of organ removal or other forms of
exploitation. In third world countries, it is very hard to monitor the people and
therefore, there are more people who are at risk of this despiteful act. There are
three different levels to measure the governments response to human trafficking.
Tier 1, where they fully comply with the Trafficking Victims Protection Acts (TVPA)

minimum standards. Tier 2 when the governments are not at minimum standards but
are making an effort. Tier 3 where they are neither making an effort or at minimum
standards. Most of the third world countries fall into Tier 3 such as Thailand, Libya,
Iran, and Russia. Even though human trafficking occurs between different countries,
it may also happen in the country itself. Tier 3 countries are recognized for their
bonded labourer where the workers would offer their bodies so they have the money
to cover their debts or were abducted. By having poverty, it encourages human
trafficking as it increases the number of potential victims. Unfortunately, the chances
of eliminating poverty are near to zero.
Greed is another reason why human trafficking is still a happening. People
who carry out these acts do it for the money. Humans are born with greed. They
would earn money with large opportunity costs, this cost does not only consists of
the environment but even at the expense of other human beings suffering. The
International Labour Organization (ILO) estimates that human trafficking generates
about $150.2 billion profits illegally every year. These illegitimate earnings come
mainly from the exploitation of the targeted susceptible group through forced labour
and sexual exploitation. About one-third of the proceeds is obtained through forced
labour while the remaining are illicitly gained from sexual abuse. Human trafficking
earns almost about the same as drug trafficking but at a lesser risk because drug
trafficking is easier to be tracked through the odour. In the book Disposable People:
New Slavery in the Global Economy written by Kevin Bales, new enslavement now is
swiping the nation as slavery is becoming cheaper and more disposable. It
emphasizes that compared to a century ago, the price of a human being is intensely
devalued. As said by Kevin Bales, The price of a slave in the 20th century is just as
cheap as averagely $90 (estimated RM 360) per individual worldwide while in the
1850s, a slave is worth around $40,000 in todays money. Cheaper slave purchased
in a large amount by the traffickers directly causes the number of trafficked victims to
increase. As it is seen as a profitable business by the illegal traffickers, it is less likely
that they will give up this chance to earn a great deal from the potential victims which
are basically strangers to them. Greed, an extreme and selfish desire owned by
human drives them to an unstoppable end by seeing the maximum amount of profit
they could gain through human trafficking.

The lack of education in this fast moving world also contributes to the
increasing amount of human trafficking cases around the world. According to the
United Nation Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO), it was
reported that around 57 million children do not go to school. When a child is not
equipped with an appropriate extent of knowledge, it is less likely for them to realize
that they are actually a victim of a horrible crime. Their lack of education leads to a
limited understanding and awareness of human trafficking. Human traffickers often
seized this kind of opportunity to deceive these young children and it becomes
extremely easy to manipulate them once the traffickers have gained their trust.
Young unschooled children who become dependent on their traffickers would obey
the instructions given as the traffickers are seen as their protector and at the same
time, the fake promises given by traffickers might be the only opportunity for them to
sustain their life. As reported by UNESCO, India, Nigeria, Ethiopia along with
Pakistan are among the countries which failed to achieve the set educational goals.
As mentioned in Stop India, a movement by the non-profit organization, Prema, a
survival of rape victim that was rescued informed that her lack of knowledge, when
she was young, gave her traffickers the opportunity to abuse her sexually. She is
now a mother of a daughter, vowed to educate her daughter well just so she would
not follow her footsteps and become a victim of sexual abuse. Children and even
adults who are not given the privilege to receive enough knowledge to protect
themselves are prone to traffickers as they can easily take advantage of the nave
young children. A lack of proper education narrows down their thinking, making them
a constant target of human trafficking.
Human trafficking is a very big issue that we have to address as it is powerful
enough to harm someone physically and mentally. As much as everyone want to
abolish this criminal act, it is impossible to do so unless we overcome obstacles
which are poverty, greed and lack of education. Even when society is unable to
utterly eradicate this ongoing concern, people should not ignore it. It is time to
acknowledge how this prevailing ill issue has taken a toll on millions, if not billions of
human beings and to display to all how terrifying this industry is altering our society
into.
(1262 words)