Human Trafficking 1: Epidemiology

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wendy Macias-Konstantopoulos

Trafficking in persons, or human trafficking, is the obtaining of persons by force, fraud, coercion, or other improper means, with the intention of exploiting them for financial gain. According to the US Department of State, the more prominent global forms of human trafficking include forced labor, bonded labor (or debt bondage), forced commercial sexual exploitation (or sex trafficking), involuntary domestic servitude, forced child labor, child sex trafficking, child soldiering, and organ trafficking. In the United States, the forced exploitation of persons in the labor industry (i.e., labor trafficking) and in the commercial sex industry (i.e., sex trafficking) account for the majority of human trafficking cases recognized, reported, investigated, and prosecuted. Women and girls account for 55% (11.4 million) of the global trafficked population, whereas men and boys comprise the difference. Three quarters of trafficked persons are adults, whereas children younger than 18 years represent 26% (5.5 million) of victims. Risk factors that have been associated with increased risk of human trafficking include but are not limited to a childhood history of abuse and neglect; financial insecurity; housing instability associated with homelessness, running away, or being thrown out of the home; kinship placements with distant family members, foster care, and other residential placements; intellectual and learning disabilities; identification as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and questioning (LGBTQ); racial and ethnic minority status; status as an immigrant, migrant worker, and refugee; and involvement in gangs or illicit substance use. Due to the inherently abusive and violent nature of this crime, human trafficking has profound negative implications for the health and well-being of affected persons. This review contains 2 figures, 4 tables and 53 references Key words: commercial sexual exploitation, debt bondage, domestic servitude, forced labor, forced substance use, HIV, modern-day slavery, posttraumatic stress disorder, trafficking in persons 

2019 ◽  
Vol 22 (1) ◽  
pp. 99-111 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hannabeth Franchino-Olsen

The commercial sexual exploitation of children (CSEC) and domestic minor sex trafficking (DMST) occur across the United States, violating the rights and health of far too many children and youth. Adequate prevention efforts should seek to understand the factors that make minors vulnerable to sexual exploitation in order to properly design programs to prevent victimization. This review presents the identified risk factors collected via a systematic literature review. Following full-text review, 15 studies were selected for inclusion by meeting the following criteria: original quantitative or qualitative research studies published in English from January 2010 to September 2017 with titles or abstracts that indicated a focus on the risk factors, vulnerabilities, or statistics of CSEC/DMST and a domestic focus on CSEC/DMST (for U.S.-based journals) with findings that did not combine associations between minors and adults in the study. Relevant risk factors and vulnerabilities found in this review include child abuse and maltreatment, caregiver strain, running away or being thrown away, substance use, peer influence, witnessing family violence or criminality, poverty or material need, difficulty in school, conflict with parents, poor mental health or view of self, involvement in child protective services, involvement in juvenile detention or delinquency, early substance use, and prior rape or adolescent sexual victimization.


Author(s):  
Kathleen Bergquist

The definition of human trafficking generally includes the commercial exploitation of persons for labor or sex. Although the International Labour Organization estimated in 2012 that exploitation through forced labor trafficking is up to three times more prevalent than forced sexual exploitation, sex trafficking seems to receive greater media and public attention. This article provides a historical context for sex trafficking, some discussion about the political evolution of sex trafficking legislation, current knowledge, and practice.


2016 ◽  
Vol 3 (3) ◽  
pp. 184-188
Author(s):  
O S Guzeeva

Difficulties combating human trafficking due not only to the transnational character and widespread proliferation of new forms of trafficking in persons (in addition to sexual exploitation): forced labor, begging, forced surrogacy, organ and tissue transplantation, forced adoption / adoption, use in armed groups, but also the difficulties qualification of crimes under Art. 127.1 of the Criminal Code


Author(s):  
Niklas Jakobsson ◽  
Andreas Kotsadam

This article analyzes the economics of international human trafficking of women for commercial sexual exploitation. It begins with a review of the economics literature on sex trafficking, with particular emphasis on factors that determines which type of country people are trafficked to and where people are trafficked from. It then describes the datasets that have been and can be used in studying trafficking. It also considers some economics papers that work toward integrating the analysis of trafficking to include both sending and receiving countries. It suggests that the economic literature on human smuggling is particularly promising and should be incorporated by economists studying trafficking. The article concludes by highlighting gaps in the economics trafficking literature and outlining possible areas of future research.


2017 ◽  
Vol 41 (S1) ◽  
pp. S9-S9
Author(s):  
M. Schouler-Ocak

“Trafficking in persons,” “human trafficking,” and “modern slavery” have been used as umbrella terms for the act of recruiting, harboring, transporting, providing, or obtaining a person for compelled labor or commercial sex acts through the use of force, fraud, or coercion. Trafficking in persons is an insult to human dignity and an assault on freedom, and robbing basic human rights (US Report, 2015). Reliable data on trafficking are difficult to obtain owing to its illegal nature; the range and severity of trafficking activities; and variations in how trafficking is defined. It is supposed that 49 per cent of the victims are women, 21 per cent girls, 18 per cent men and 12 per cent boys. 53 per cent were involved in sexual exploitation and 40 per cent in forced labor (UN, 2014).Research findings show that the limitations of current methodologies affect what is known about human trafficking and health. Moreover, findings demonstrate an urgent need for representative and non–purposive recruitment strategies in future investigations of trafficking and health as well as research on risk and protective factors related to human trafficking and health, intervention effectiveness, long-term health outcomes. The psychological impact of victimization may be more severe than the physical violence. Victims who have been rescued from sexual slavery, typically present with various psychological symptoms and mental illnesses, including the following: Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), depression, anxiety, panic disorder, suicidal ideation, Stockholm syndrome, and substance abuse. In this talk current findings will be presented and discussed.Disclosure of interestThe author has not supplied his declaration of competing interest.


2012 ◽  
Vol 34 (4) ◽  
pp. 24-28
Author(s):  
Karen Dyer ◽  
Nathaniel Dickey ◽  
Sarah Smith ◽  
Hannah Helmy

Human trafficking is a pervasive issue in the United States (Florida State 2003:16). While an estimated 18,000-20,000 persons are trafficked across the nation's borders each year, this may be a dramatic underestimation of actual occurrence due to the hidden nature of human trafficking crimes and the fact that this number does not include domestic trafficking incidents (Florida State 2003:16). Federal anti-trafficking legislation defines "trafficking in persons" to mean those compelled into commercial sex acts (sex trafficking) or labor and services (labor trafficking) through force, fraud or coercion (United States Congress 2000). Although exact data regarding the incidence of human trafficking in Florida are currently unavailable, it is considered a lucrative trafficking hub—often being cited as one of the top three states in which the crime occurs. This is principally because of its agriculture- and tourism-based economy, two industries in which trafficking can thrive with relatively little resistance (Florida State 2003:27). Indeed, Miami International Airport has ranked among the "top points of entry for trafficking" since as early as 1999 (Florida State 2003:28). The lack of comprehensive data also precludes a clear picture of the demographics and nationalities of all trafficked persons in Florida, but figures from the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops provide a snapshot of certified victims of trafficking who are receiving federal benefits. In a four-year period ending August 2010, 274 trafficked persons received federal benefits; of these individuals, 127 were female, 147 were male, and the top five nationalities were those from Haiti (81), the Phillipines (65), Mexico (42), Guatemala (13), and Honduras (12) (Florida State 2010:39-40).


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