Recruitment

From WolfWikis

What is the Recruitment of Humans for Trafficking?

The trafficking of human beings is the recruitment, transportation, transfer, or entrapment of individuals against their will. It is often referred to as "modern day slavery" because of its similarities to slavery and is said to be the fastest growing criminal enterprise in the world. Trafficking involves a process of using illicit means such as threat, use of force, or other forms of coercion, of fraud, of abduction, or deception. It can also involve the use of power or of a position of vulnerability or giving or receiving of payments or benefits to achieve the consent of a person having control over another person, for the purpose of exploitation. Human trafficking is a multi-dimensional threat depriving people of not only their human rights, but also creates global health risks and increases crime rates among the affected areas. Not only does it have devastating consequences on the victims, it places emotional strains on victims' families and undermines the safety of every nation affected. Recruitment is the first stage of trafficking in human beings. Recruitment occurs when people are seized from their homes for the purpose of trafficking, many of which are taken against their will. Trafficked human beings are often used as...

• cheap forced labor
• prostitution
• members of religious cults
• early marriage
• or child soldiers.

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Where Are People Recruited From?

Everywhere

People are recruited from around the world. It is seen more in impoverished countries, countries which lack proper defenses to protects its people from recruitment for the purpose of trafficking. The vast majority of people who are recruited from Latin America are recruited from Columbia, Peru, and Bolivia. The map below shows how Latin Americans who have been trafficked, are sent to various different places after being abducted. There is, even today, a large amount of people who are being trafficked into the United States. Africa is also a large contributer to the number of people who are being trafficked, with nearly 400,000 people being abducted for the purpose of human trafficking every year.
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When are People Recruited for Human Trafficking?

Now

Contrary to popular belief, slavery didn't end with Abraham Lincoln in 1863. Many believe that trafficking and slavery are a thing of the past, when in fact the truth is that it continues to this day. Experts say the number of people who are trafficked each year rests at about 700,000, with around 14,000 being trafficked into the United States. 80% of the people who are trafficked are women or children. There are about 27,000,000 people living today who are enduring brutal working conditions for no money and under the constant threat of beatings, torture, and rape. [2]

How Are People Recruited for Human Trafficking?

There are often many ways of recruiting individuals for the purpose of trafficking. The most common is the use of brute force. People are taken from their homes, places of work, or off of the streets and held against their will. Capturers often use weapons or their strength to either intimidate people into acting as the capturer wishes or to contain them for transportation. [3]

A large number of people are recruited by false promises of job opportunities or marriages. Because many of the people who are trafficked are from poor, impoverished countries, promises of a better, more productive life or career can be very enticing. They are often promised maid jobs at resort hotels where there will be plenty of work for everyone. They are told they will be working with people like themselves, who are trying to make a better life for their children and families. They are told that adequate housing will be provided and they will make enough money to send back home. [4]

Specific Examples From Latin America

Dominican Republic Sugar Cane

"In the Dominican Republic, the collection of slaves for the busy harvest season is more random. The Dominican army, with the support of the State Sugar Council (known as the CEA), "hauls Haitians off public buses, arrests them in their homes or at their jobs, and delivers them to the cane fields," according to Charles Jacobs. Some of the cane-cutters sign on to work voluntarily. When the number of workers does not meet the harvest's demand, the Dominican army is set into action. The army's captives are forced to work at gunpoint and beaten if they try to escape."

Conference to End Human Trafficking

"A regional conference on "Trafficking in Persons: Theory and Practice in Regional and International Cooperation", held in Bogotá, Colombia, from 19 - 21 November 2003, called for concerted action from Latin American countries. Human trafficking is an issue of growing concern for the Governments of Latin America, with cases of trafficking both within countries and the region as well as to destinations in North America, Europe and Asia. At the conference, experts from the region as well as from Asia, Africa and Europe provided examples of successful strategies in the fight against trafficking in human beings and the involvement of organized criminal groups therein. The conference called upon countries to ratify and implement the new United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime and its protocols on trafficking in persons and on smuggling of migrants. These instruments provide a legal framework for international cooperation with special emphasis on extradition, mutual legal assistance, forfeiture of assets, joint investigations and special techniques to fight transnational organized crime."

What is Being Done to Stop Human Trafficking Recruitment?

• Congress passed legislation so Americans who sexually prey on children abroad can be prosecuted and sentenced to as many as 30 years in prison.
• The Department of Justice has focused on increasing the number of trafficking victims rescued and the number of prosecutions and convictions of traffickers.
• The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is certifying trafficking victims so they may qualify for the same assistance available to refugees. HHS is also running a major public awareness campaign to alert victims in the U.S. that help is available through the hotline number 888.3737.888.
• The Department of Defense has implemented a zero-tolerance stand against any actions by Defense personnel that contribute to human trafficking and is instituting a service-wide mandatory training program.
• The Departments of Labor and Homeland Security, USAID, and other government agencies are executing action plans to combat human trafficking
• In a speech to the United Nations General Assembly, President Bush raised the issue of human trafficking and asked leaders of the world to work together to end it.
• The State Department is working extensively with governments on action plans for prevention, protection of victims, and prosecution

Condoleezza Rice's Speech to End Human Trafficking

"We estimate that up to 800,000 people are trafficked across international borders every year. And millions more are trafficked internally. Victims of trafficking, most of them women and children, are forced, defrauded or coerced into inhumane conditions. They are made to toil on farms and in work camps, in brothels and in sweatshops. Children are even forced to become soldiers. Whatever cruel form of servitude they may take, trafficking victims live in fear and misery. And wherever the trafficking trade flourishes, the rule of law erodes, corruption thrives, public health suffers and organized crime threatens the security of entire communities...As President Bush has said, "nearly two centuries after the abolition of the transatlantic slave trade and more than a century after slavery was officially ended in its last strongholds, the trade in human beings for any purpose must not be allowed to thrive in our times. We must all work to end this terrible tragedy."
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Annotated Bibliography

• http://www.youthforhumanrights.org/watchads/view/psa04_h.html This source provided me with the human rights video. It is a site for "Youth for Human Rights." It is very educational and lists all of the human rights with an appropriate video.

• http://www.state.gov/r/pa/ei/rls/33109.htm This is the U.S. Department of State web page. It helped me get an estimate on the number of people who are currently in the U.S. because of trafficking and where they are coming from.

• http://www.notforsalecampaign.org/Default.aspx This site is called "Not For Sale" and it is an anti-slavery website that I got information on how the people are trafficked.

• http://youtube.com/watch?v=YGAaWjsAOCA This site provided me with the Not For Sale Interview with David Batstone.

• http://youtube.com/watch?v=pOr6jViUhMc This site provided me with the "Human Trafficking..Who funds it?" video.

• www.protectionproject.org This site provided me with an organizational site that helps to stop human trafficking.

• www.protectionproject.org This site helped me to find where people are coming from and where they are going in regards to trafficking.

• http://usinfo.state.gov/gi/global_issues/human_trafficking.html This is another site from the U.S. Department of State. I found a large amount of information on how people are trafficked with this site.

• http://usinfo.state.gov/xarchives/display.html?p=washfile-english&y=2005&m=June&x=20050603162256TJkcolluB0.8428614 This is where I got Condoleeza Rice's speech from.