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of Persons"/November 2002/JNA
 
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Human Rights Violation
in Trafficking of Persons: Trafficking of Women and Children,
A Domestic and Foreign Policy Concern "... We must see
to it that the victims see the day when they become survivors."
Trafficking of persons, mostly of women and children, has become an international business that affects all countries around the globe, and acquires vast profits for traffickers and their mediators. Forms of trafficking of persons include: sexual exploitation and forced prostitution, forced marriage, bonded sweatshop labor, domestic servitude, forced labor including forced agricultural and construction work, and other types of coerced work performed by a human being. Trafficking of persons is a global phenomenon and a contemporary form of human slavery. Trafficking of persons endangers the lives, dignity, health, well being, and safety of millions of people all over the world, with women and children suffering the impact of most of the abuses and exploitation. Traffickers often use coercive tactics including deception, fraud, intimidation, isolation, threat and use of physical force, or debt bondage to control their victims. Women and children are usually recruited with promises of good jobs in other countries, and due to lack of better opportunities in their home country, they agree to migrate and then become trapped as victims of trafficking. Cases of trafficking of women and children have been reported in Southeast Asia, East Asia, South Asia, the Middle East, Western Europe, Eastern Europe, South America, Central America, and North America. The number of persons trafficked each year, though undoubtedly a comprehensive dilemma, is impossible to determine. The figure estimated ranges from hundreds of thousands to millions of victims, mostly of women and children worldwide. The U.S. government has estimated that each year, 50,000 to 100,000 women and children from various countries are trafficked in the United States alone, half of which are trafficked into sweatshop labors and domestic servitude. In addition, the United Nations has estimated that trafficking is a 5 to 7 billion U.S. dollar operation annually; proving that trafficking of women and children is a massive global business. In many previous trafficking of women and children cases investigated, some of the root causes of trafficking include: poverty, inequality, violence, racism, and discrimination, particularly against women and children. Within many trafficked cases involving sweatshop labor and domestic servitude, stories of physical, emotional, economic, and sexual abuse were reiterated continuously. In some of the cases encompassing the sexual exploitation of women and children, an international ring of travel agencies, hotels, airlines, and other businesses was discovered to be involved in sex tourism, playing a part in organized sex tours. Cases of women and children that were sexually exploited have increased exponentially around the world, but especially amongst the Asian and Latin American countries. Each year, millions of women and children globally are trafficked into the sex industry. However, many women who are trafficked for domestic servitude often end up being sexually exploited as well. Though trafficking is internationally condemned, many countries have
taken inadequate measures to guarantee the protection for the human
rights of the trafficking victims. We must see to it that the governments
around the world hold the traffickers and abusers accountable, as well
as determine and resolve the underlying human rights abuses that produced
the conditions for trafficking of women and children. Trafficking of persons is an intense human rights abuse, and women
and children are principally susceptible to this practice due to the
relentless inequalities they face in status and opportunities, especially
in the Third World countries. It is time for the governments around
the world to take this problem seriously and analyze their domestic
and foreign policies. We must see to it that the victims see the day when they become survivors.
(Republished with permission from the author and editor-in-chief of Filipino American Herald. Article originally published at Filipino American Herald on November 2002.) _____________________ About the author: Ms. Joann Natalia Aquino is a freelance professional writer/ journalist, and a Legislative Liaison working on public policy development and legislative affairs for the Governor’s Commission on Asian Pacific American Affairs for the State of Washington. In her spare time, she is also an Editor for a few publications (print and online), and is currently writing her first book "The Re-awakening of the Babaylan: Her Story," along with other shelved writing projects, she vows to finish sometime in her lifetime. At the moment, she juggles her time traveling between Seattle and New York, the places she both calls her "home." To reach the author, please e-mail: joannnatalia@newfilipina.com or editor@newfilipina.com .
Open Forum! Share your stories and experiences on this topic at the Immigrating from the Philippines Discussion in our MagsalitaKa (Speak Out) Section. ©Copyright 2002. Joann Natalia Garcia Aquino. All rights reserved.
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