Victim Vendetta

The criminalization of human trafficking victims is an issue of great importance and must be dealt with in a sensitive and contentious manner. Forced laborers are oftentimes seen as perpetrators of the same crimes that their trafficker(s) committed, and grouped in alongside of them. When police raid brothels and perform similar sweeps, everyone involved could potentially be in danger of being arrested and prosecuted. The criminalization of many human trafficking victims is often the result of the actions that they inadvertently committed. Although, obviously, these actions are not done consensually, the police repeatedly prosecute victims for actions that were encouraged through forceful and hostile means. Victims often live in fear of the police and other forms of law enforcement, whether that be because of the instillment of fear put in place by their traffickers in order to ensure their loyalty, or simply the knowledge that what they are doing is illegal. Because of this fear of the law, victims of forced labor neglect to reveal what is happening to them. Insensitive arrests by law enforcement can also result in overall mistrust of the police and a lack of cooperation throughout investigations. 

Being arrested, for prostitution for example, can be more than just psychologically scarring. When a victim is arrested for prostitution, or other like charges, it is practically impossible for that individual to become reintegrated into a normal life. Once a victim is prosecuted, it becomes extremely difficult to find safe housing, proper employment, and other essential factors to become a normal, functioning, member of society. 

It is beneficial on both sides of the situation, the law enforcement as well as those being arrested, to be well informed about the conditions under which a situation may be considered trafficking before any actions, such as arrests, take place. The primary cause of the repeated arrests of innocent victims of forced labor is the lack of proper recognition and awareness of human trafficking by law enforcement. Forced laborers are often detained as criminals before they are even able to attest as victims of a far larger crime and situation. Law enforcement agents across the spectrum must become more knowledgable in identifying human trafficking cases. If a situation is not handled properly, the victim could be left in constant fear of endangerment and put in perpetual psychological distress. It is the duty of those who protect the law to ensure that those who are in danger of being trafficked are treated in a just and fair manner. 

Cambodia as an Hub for Sex Trafficking. Maybe.

Cambodia is oft seen as an hub for trafficking, especially when it comes to trafficking in prostitution. This perception is not just present for Cambodia, but for South Asia in general. In fact, in the 1980s, it began circulating in Bangkok, Thailand(a country that trafficked people being smuggled through Cambodia can easily end up) that of 2 million Thai sex workers that existed, 800,000 were under 18. This would indicate about 4% of Thailand’s total population at the time was in the sex trade, with 40% of those in the work definitely being trafficked.

            In Cambodia, though the recent information(or misinformation) circulating is not nearly so outrageous as this false information regarding Thailand, it has recently been said that “there are 80,000-100,000 prostitutes in Cambodia, with 58% being trafficked. The low end estimate for number of ‘sex slaves’ in Cambodia is 40,000”. However, when data put out by Steinfatt and Baker is examined, it is shown that “the number of sex trafficking victims in Cambodia is at most, 1,058, including 127 children, six of whom are under 13.” This data is out of a population of 27,925 sex workers in 2008.

Cambodia Herald

There are problems inherent in all research that targets the informal economy, that is, the off-the-books industries. Additionally, in speaking on trafficking, trafficking for sexual exploitation, though it is much smaller than those trafficked for labour, sex trafficking eclipses other forms of trafficking in terms of the attention it gets. Because of this, one may have to dig deeper when looking for finite figures of non-sex trafficking. For example: it is known that issues like forced begging and construction are a problem in this country, but when compared to sex trafficking issues here it is very difficult to find information regarding finite numerical data, even if flawed, due to the amount of attention given to sex trafficking here. Trafficking is inherently bad, and while attention to a problem is good, to give skew information for the sake of awareness can lead to big problems, as recent events have shown.

Creative Arts Therapy - The Next Big Hit

http://artsaftercare.publishpath.com/

Anthropologists have yet to find a culture, past or present, existing without music. Music likely evolved with speech itself, making us a species with musical elements deeply ingrained within. Even older may be the origin of art, dating back a possible 100,000 years. Clearly the arts in general play a large role in culture and the development of humanity, yet many are unaware of their healing powers. Music therapy has proved itself incredibly effective in helping soldiers cope with post-traumatic stress disorder, so why has its application not been expanded to helping with the physical, mental, and emotional trauma of trafficking? Already types of creative arts therapies have been effective in treating victims of trafficking. If creative arts therapies were more widely implemented in rehabilitation programs for victims of trafficking, it would greatly improve their healing and well being.

A Cambodian aftercare center serving female victims of child commercial sexual exploitation found music and dance therapy to be effective in healing their patients, as well as engaging. They used improvisational, re-creative, compositional, and receptive methods of music experience through songwriting and lyric analysis, listening for relaxation, instrument play, and group dance. Victims of trauma, especially children, often struggle in finding the language needed to communicate their feelings and needs. Music was able to give them a new outlet, using preexisting songs to express their thoughts. Additionally, listening for relaxation helped them learn to manage their bodies and use music to find greater peace.

http://www.theart2healingproject.org

Another aftercare center in the Philippines and their patients, also victims of commercial sexual exploitation, found success in the use of art therapy as part of their rehabilitation program. Creating their own artwork helped empower the girls and women, showing them their abilities to create a product of value. The center, Arts Aftercare, created the “Healing Arts Toolkit”, a set of activities designed to help promote identity development and interpersonal relationships through art, dance, and music.

These two programs have found great success in the use of creative arts therapies in the rehabilitation of victims of trafficking, so why aren’t more facilities utilizing this and offering these services? For many, they are simply unaware that these therapeutic methods exist. All forms of creative arts therapy are relatively new; music and art therapy have only been professional fields since the 1940s, dance therapy since the 1960s. Only in the past several years have musicians, artists, dancers, and therapists realized the need for these services for victims of trafficking. With greater awareness of these therapeutic services will come the expansion of their use, helping to treat as many survivors as possible.

Shrimp Scrutiny

The shrimping industry in Thailand is a seven billion dollar market. Shrimp is the most popular and widely traded food in the world. In 2002, shrimp overtook tuna as the most popular seafood in American house hold and restaurants. The push in the United States and around the world to make healthier food cheaper, eventually leads to the suffering of shrimp factory workers. Shrimp factory employers attempt to save money by employing forced laborers. The laborers are forced to work in squalor for little to no money. “I make 2,000 taka ($30) a month. The rent for my room in Chittagong city, including electrify, comes to 1,500 taka a month. This means I have only 500 taka (7.40) a month to spend on food, clothes, and anything else,” says one worker. Forty-one percent of workers are minors, and forty percent work more than twelve hours per day. Workers were forced to work overtime, and if they missed a quota, they were not paid. They were also incessantly exposed to harsh chemicals, have no access to first aid or health care, and have poor air and water quality. Workers also reported unexplained as well as arbitrary deductions from pay. 

A police raid of a major shrimp processing factory, Ranya Paew, in September of 2006 brought to light the true horrors of the shrimping industry in Thailand. Ranya Paew is described as a fortress with sixteen feet high ceilings with barbed wire caped walls. Here, hundreds of workers are trapped to work in squalor for extended hours, where it was the norm to face physical, emotional, and sexual intimidation and abuse. Women and girls were stripped naked and beaten publicly as a form of discipline. When the police intervened, they spoke with two hundred and eighty workers. Sixty three women and three men were considered trafficked workers and entered shelters. Twenty two migrant workers were deported. Eighty people returned back to work at Ranya Paew. Ranya Paew continues to operate. 

US consumers play a major role in the demand for shrimp. There is very clear and factual evidence of exactly which companies purchase shrimp from forced labor fisheries. Yet, business giants such as Walmart and Costco continue to buy from these companies. Walmart, Costco, Carreour (UK), and Tesco (UK) all import shrimp from companies that use forced labor. This problem would come to an end if people refused to support them and finance the continued use of slave labor. The Thai government also needs to be pressured to prosecute the known employers that hire trafficked employees. The shrimping industry in Thailand at large is guilty of forced labor, but the situation can be remedied because a lot of the issues have already been made known. 

The Editorial Board, . "Slavery and the Shrimp on Your Plate ." The New York Times 21 June 2014 : Web. 10 Oct. 2014. <http://www.nytimes.com/2014/06/22/opinion/sunday/thai- seafood-is-contaminated-by-human-trafficking.html?_r=1>.

"The True Cost of Shrimp." The Degradation of Work: Solidarity Center. Web. 14 Oct. 2014. <http://www.shrimpnews.com/PDFsFolder/pubs_True_Cost_of_Shrimp.pdf>.

The Economics of Human Trafficking: Is It Truly Profitable?

 

              The use of forced labor is extremely prevalent in some countries around the world. In such areas, efforts to abolish the use of forced labor face undue resistance because of a belief that the business of human trafficking is simply too profitable. There are many reasons someone would hold such a belief. A victim of trafficking is often forced to labor without the expectation of being paid, a setup that results in almost total profit for the employer. The only costs that need be paid in such a situation are the basic costs of keeping the laborer alive. The profitability of the forced labor trade is also supported by the sheer availability of victims. The cost of buying forced laborers is at the lowest level its ever been. In the American South, the price of an average field hand was between $1000 and $1500, which would be equivalent to about $40,000 in today’s money. Compare this to the fact that the cost to enslave a family of bonded laborers in India can run from as little as $10 to over $100 (depending on how much debt is owed). Additionally, there are more people being forced into labor today than any other time in the history of the world, which means there is no shortage in supply for those who intend to rely on trafficking to further their goals.

              In spite of these reasonings, I argue that that the use of forced labor is ultimately inimical to the economy both locally and on a global scale. While it may be true that forced labor allows an employer to operate a business at a much lower cost, that boon comes with severe drawbacks for local economies. Human trafficking operations mostly take place at the lower end of the production ladder, in industries such as manufacturing and raw material processing. Forced labor jobs in these industries pose intense competition for a worker who isn't being trafficked and is simply trying to make a living. Forced labor also takes potential consumers out of the economy, hurting everyone in the process. Trafficking, by its very nature, causes those who are trafficked to resist by never working as well as they can. There are numerous accounts of former victims of trafficking going on to become very successful. Much can be said on the amount of potential wasted by keeping people in bondage. Indeed, the institution of modern slavery seems to only deaden economic growth by taking jobs, consumers, and possible producers out of the economy. 

Human Trafficking and New Orleans

The human trafficking epidemic affects virtually every part of the world. It does not come as a surprise, therefore, that New Orleans is home to a large portion of traffickers and those enslaved. “New Orleans is a significant source, transit, and destination location for human trafficking” (The Louisiana HumanTrafficking Report). This is for a number of reasons. First, the city’s location, including its use as a major port city, creates easy access. Second, the high rates = of poverty and homelessness create a climate of vulnerability. As people are increasingly desperate for jobs and some form of income, it becomes easier to become exploited. Additionally, New Orleans has especially high rates of homelessness in youth, creating a climate of vulnerability not only for adults seeking employment, but also for the city’s population of minors. Amongst these factors, the high demand for sexual entertainment services adds to this climate, creating a demand for sex workers and a concentration of sex traffickers, as they are aware of the ‘business opportunities’ that New Orleans offers. 

These factors make obvious the near-certain prevalence of human trafficking in Louisiana and the New Orleans area. However, any persons interested in finding information will find early on into their research that there is very little information that has been gathered.  This is one of the many issues that appear in attempting to tackles the vastness of the issue of human trafficking—the lack of research and information that is available, both locally and on the problem as a whole. This is for many reasons, including the hidden nature of modern-day slavery. It is difficult to determine the prevalence of a problem that is almost completely camouflaged.

Nevertheless, steps are being taken in New Orleans itself in order to tackle the problem trafficking. Organizations and institutions are rising up in order to make a dent and begin changing how slavery is viewed and handled. These include homes for victims, where they will receive rehabilitation and assistance to become reintegrated into society as free men and women.  For example, at Eden House, “women receive wrap-around services such as counseling, education, and job training,” and addiction rehabilitation. Other programs include Covenant House, Odyssey House, NewOrleans Dream Center, and Baptist Friendship House.
Organizations, institutions, government entities, law enforcement agencies and New Orleans citizens are also teaming up to effectively put a dent in the trafficking business of New Orleans. With the New Orleans Human TraffickingWorking Group, “a coalition of state, civil society, and citizen organizers” has been created to assist in the prevention of human trafficking “through education, advocacy, and research.” In partnership with the Modern Slavery Research Project at Loyola University New Orleans, the Louisiana Human Trafficking Report has been compiled, the “first-ever report on human trafficking in the New Orleans metro area.” The steps that are being taken by these groups and others are beginning to cause a change that will potentially cause a shift in the momentum of human trafficking in the area, making it more difficult for exploiters to continue in their criminal actions and creating an atmosphere oriented to assisting victims.

Changing the Perspective

            There are many reasons that a family – a mother – would send her child away to work. Most times, it stems from love, a desire for a better life for the child. Traffickers promise poor families that their children will be provided an education, food and water, a safe environment. But unfortunately, that is not always the case, and conditions are worse than their parents could even imagine. Conditions are much worse than what pampered first world residents can imagine. The hardest part is the return, if the children even return to their families and integration back into society. It is particularly worse for girls who return because of the stigmas of the work they were probably forced to do.

            It takes strength to own what you have done, what you once were and put it out there for everyone to see, but that is exactly what Circus Kathmandu is doing. 

Circus Kathmandu is formed of 13 professional performers, and they are growing in fans and audiences across the world. The most significant part of this circus is the performers’ stories. They were all once trafficked as children into different circuses or they were living on the streets. These young adults are taking those talents and changing not only the perception of circuses in Nepal but the perception of trafficking survivors. They empower themselves and take back their lives, and simultaneously they empower other trafficking survivors, especially other children who are trafficked into circuses, that there are possibilities on the other side of the trafficking.

            According to Freedom Matters, it is estimated that 12,000 children and girls are trafficked from Nepal into India each years. Some go to brothels or into labor sites but many go to the Indian circuses. Nepali children are wanted in Indian circuses for their “lighter skin and exotic appearances.”  The children are worked tireless, beaten when they do not correctly learn an act, and many of the girls are sexually abused. Shailaja CM was quoted by Fox News saying that some “young girls are forced to carry out privateperformances to groups of men.”  These children go through so much, and it is the similar experiences of some of the performers of Circus Kathmandu that give them the strength to keep performing.

As they continue to train, perform, and improve in their arts, they are creating a dream for other kids. They are also changing the perspective of trafficking victims. They are taking back their agency in one of the best ways: through the arts. They inspire audiences around the world. It is our job to help make sure they continue because they are changing the world and the perspective one show at a time. The performing arts for everyone: to perform and to enjoy. But this is the best kind. The performers of Circus Kathmandu are amazing in every sense. They train hard because they have a dream. From an interview done by The National, one member said the following comment: “I will become famous one day,you just wait and see. Everyone will know Bijay,” says the young performer. “I will not give up.”

Youth Homelessness and Sex Trafficking

Photo from: http://communities.washingtontimes.com

Drug trade, human trafficking, weapon trade. This is the respective order of the most popular criminal enterprises. How can human trafficking be ranked second? It brings in over $32 billion a year, $9.5 billion coming from sex trafficking alone. And what better place to find girls and boys vulnerable and desperate enough to coax into sexual exploitation than those living on the streets.

Homeless youth end up on the streets for a variety of reasons. Some are discharged out of foster care with no place to go, others are released from juvenile correction facilities and have cannot find jobs and have no means of support. Some youth run away from home because of the emotional, physical, and/or sexual abuse they receive at home. Some were kicked out for being pregnant or because their family did not agree with their sexual or gender identity.

Traffickers see homeless youth as easy prey. They normally had hard lives, often including some kind of trauma. Their parents beat them, kicked them out, they have a criminal record, etc. They are vulnerable; give a girl some food and place to stay and she will begin to trust. And that's when the traffickers turn on them. In other cases, the victims have no other choice, because they have no way to support themselves. The only thing they have to sell is their body. The homeless youth will often look for escort services or welcome a pimp in hopes of making a living.

One in four homeless people interviewed at the Covenant House were at some point victims of trafficking or had engaged in sex acts in order to have food or shelter. The appropriate term for this is survival sex. Homelessness leaves people feeling vulnerable enough that they are willing to do things that they would not normally do and open enough that they can be forced into acts they may not otherwise perform. Homelessness is more than a matter of not having food and shelter. It affects the person as a whole: mind, body, and soul.

Why She Stayed

When many people hear about victims of trafficking and domestic violence, their natural response is, “How could those people let themselves stay in that situation? If it were me I would do x, y, and z to get away!” Abuse is a much more complex issue than any person outside of the situation can possibly understand. A person who stops fighting her abuser is not any less of a victim.

There are countless reasons why someone might stay in an abusive situation. Some of the most common reasons are fear, reliance on the abuser for financial support, pregnancy, distrust of authority, and threats. In many trafficking cases, the victims have their passports or other forms of identification taken from them, and they are often toldthat if they try to escape they or their family will be killed or they will be deported. Many of the victims aren't chained up in a basement, yet they are still unable to escape. Fear is a powerful motivator. Fear is paralyzing.

F is an Albanian woman who was forced into prostitution after she refused to marry her neighbor’s cousin (who most likely had plans to prostitute her whether they married or not). One day she was approached by and forced into a car with violence. As F recalls how she was forced into prostitution she says, “For sure, I refused to work; but you would never believe what kind of people they are and what methods they use to keep you feeling as a prisoner, as a victim.” F later admits that she eventually stopped fighting the sex work after her traffickers threatened to kill her family and kidnap her three younger sisters.

 Contrary to popular belief about victims of domestic violence or human trafficking, F is not any less of a victim because she eventually stopped fighting her captors. Instead, F should be seen as a strong woman who did what she had to do to survive.  

Additional Sources: Survivors of Slavery: Modern-Day Slave Narratives by Laura T. Murphy

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