Difference between revisions of "Human Trafficking"

Revision as of 17:47, 17 March 2021

What Is Human Trafficking?

Human Trafficking is the operation of trapping, transporting, and/or transferring people through the use of violence, coercion, and/or manipulation and exploiting them for financial gain ^{[1] [2] [3]}. Exploitation can come in the form of forced labor or marriage, domestic servitude, organ extraction, commercial sex acts, and more ^[4]. This form of modern slavery traps as many as 24.9 million adults and children around the world generating an estimated annual profit of 150 billion US dollars ^[5]. The high profitability and increased ease in recruiting and advertising victims online has contributed to the growth of human trafficking to the third largest criminal enterprise globally with expansion continuing at a rapid rate ^[6].

Overview

The number of human trafficking cases has tripled between 2008 and 2019 ^[7] and has had an estimated 40% rise amid the COVID-19 pandemic. This recent spike is attributed to the slowing of rescue initiatives due to increased travel restrictions and a delayed criminal justice system ^[8].

Grooming

Human trafficking victims who are minors are often described as being “groomed”. Grooming is a process in which over time a predator gains their victims trust with the intent to exploit them. The intended purpose of grooming is to manipulate victims into becoming a willing participant in their own abuse. This reduces the likelihood of a victim seeking help and creates a destructive bond to their abuser that may entice them to continue to return to the abuser. There are six stages to grooming: targeting a victim (1) , gaining the victim’s trust and information (2), filling a victim’s economic or social need(s) (3), isolate the victim from friends and family (4), abuse begins as a form of “repayment” to the groomer (5), maintain control through violence, fear or blackmail (6) ^[9].

Victim Profile

Makeup of Human Trafficking Victims^[10]

Human trafficking victims do not fit a single profile, they can be women, men, boys, and girls. Women and girls make up 71% of victims, females are usually trafficked for marriage and sexual slavery. Men and boys make up 21% and 8% respectively of victims and are often used as forced laborers or soldiers. ^[10]. The most evident commonality between victims is vulnerability. Traffickers exploit psychological, emotional, economic, political, or geographical weaknesses to lure victims. The victims often do not seek help due to fear of traffickers, law enforcement, or even humiliation. In the United States runaway youth and victims of domestic violence or other trauma are particularly vulnerable to trafficking ^[11].

The Internet's Role In Trafficking

More than half of the global population is currently connected to the internet with over 4.13 billion users ^[12]. The rise of internet usage worldwide has resulted in the restructuring of many business models to take full advantage of e-commerce and ease of market access. The human trafficking industry is no exception ^[13].

Recruitment

Recruitment for all types of trafficking has been reported on social media platforms including but not limited to Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, Kik, WhatsApp, and online dating services such as Tinder and Grindr according to The National Human Trafficking Hotline ^[13] .

Grooming In the Social Media Age

Social networking sites are used extensively by children making them an ideal location for finding grooming victims. A 2018 study suggests that 97% of US adolescents aged 13 to 17 were found to use a social media platform such as YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, or Snapchat ^[14]. Some traffickers choose to utilize the anonymity of social media platforms and use a fake account to message potential victims, but others have no reservations on using their personal accounts. Following the aforementioned stages of grooming, traffickers may begin by commenting on post and direct messaging users with extreme flattery and promises of some financial or social gain that they alone can provide. The trafficker will then purchase travel tickets to meet the user face-to-face where the coercion of money, drugs, shelter, food, or gifts will build the abusers control over the victim. Offenders may also take a different route and offer a too-good-to-be-true job opportunity that targets migrant laborers or the unemployed ^[13].

Advertisement

Advertising victims and finding “customers” for their forced services has become far easier with widespread internet access. Large, well connected, established “brokers” are no longer needed to enter the human trafficking industry. Smaller online brokers are emerging and utilizing the advantages of online anonymity and access to a larger market to find customers. ^[15]

Craigslist

Previous "personals" listings page on Craigslist ^[16]

Craigslist is a US classified advertisements website that previously had a section dedicated to “Adult Services” (previously “Erotic Services”) where users could post “adult ads” for sexual services. The company tried initiatives to reduce forced sex postings on the site with charges for posting ads, requiring a phone number to verify the identity fo the user, and even hiring attorneys to manual filter ads. After these attempts the site was still under scrutiny and tried to find more compromises by offering to donate the profit made from this section of the sire to the Advocate for Human Rights but they received substantial government pressure to shut down the Adult Services section ^[17]. Craigslist pointed to the fact that their service’s screening process was considerably more robust than other sex-ad companies and if they shut their platform down buyers and sellers would relocate to these more dangerous outlets ^[16]. Although the company attempted to work with the government and critics to exhibit that they wanted to work with law enforcement to create a safe space for sex workers to advertise, eventually they succumbed to external pressure. The Adult Services section was shut down worldwide in December of 2010. Researcher Mark Latonero cites the Craigslist case as “striking” for the reasons; The lack of empirical research and credible data on the relationship between trafficking and online technologies informing either side of the debate (1), the lack of cooperation between the parties (2), and “a missed opportunity to explore more creative solutions to the problem of trafficking online” ^[17].

Social Network

Beyond online sex marketplaces social networking sites are also frequently used to advertise victims. Nearly 8% of active federal online sex trafficking cases in the US involved advertisements for sex on Facebook in 2017. Traffickers have elaborate methods of posting pictures and hiding location, pricing, and contact information in the caption or comments to obscure the posts true intention from the social media companies. Labor trafficking is also known to be infiltrated on the business pages of Facebook and Yelp ^[13].

Wayfair Conspiracy

Cabinets that caused rapid spread of Wayfair human trafficking conspiracy ^[18]

In June, 2020 unfounded claims of expensive furniture as a front for child trafficking sold by the American home furnishings company Wayfair became the center of a conspiracy theory that quickly became a global trend. The idea originated from the QAnon far-right conspiracy group that believes there is a deep plot against former President Trump and his most loyal supporters. The original poster came across a page of storage cabinets priced at over $2,000 that were “all listed with girl’s names”, viewers were quick to link some of the girl’s names to actual missing children in the United States. Wayfair responded by citing their product naming algorithm for the unfortunate choice in names and the high price because the cabinets were industrial size for commercial use. Any other oddly priced item such as a $10,000 throw pillow was attributed to a price glitch on the website. All items have since been removed to create more descriptive names and product information pages ^[18]. Trafficking hotlines such as the Polaris Project got hundreds of reports relating to this conspiracy. Although public concern was appreciated, Polaris asked to not receive more of these reports and suggested concerned citizens research “what human trafficking really looks like” ^[19].

Maintaining Control

Social media has even made it easier for traffickers to maintain control over their victims by impersonating them online, restricting their social media use, and stalking or monitoring their accounts ^[13].

Anti-Trafficking Initiatives

Corporations

There are many ideas and initiatives surrounding the corporate level to help prevent human trafficking through social media networks, however companies involved have not publicly come forward with a specific plan to limit this use of the platforms. Organizations supporting victims have advocated for social media companies to make actionable changes to make social networking safer for all users, especially those who are more vulnerable to falling victim to human trafficking ^[13]. That being said, there are a few private industries that have taken some initiative to amplify the use of technology to combat human trafficking.

• Google - In December 2011, $11.5 million worth of grants were accumulated to give to anti-trafficking organizations such as Polaris Project, Slavery Footprint, and the International Justice Mission. This allowed for more support for new initiatives using technology.
• Microsoft Digital Crimes Unit and Microsoft Research - Collaborated in June 2012 to support human trafficking researchers who developed ideas for research towards the role of technology in commercial sexual exploitation of children. $185,000 was given to six research teams studying technology-facilitated sex trafficking.
• LexisNexis - Introduced many technology-driven tools that help detect, monitor, and research human trafficking. These tools include an online resource center for attorneys, training institute on civil remedies for victims, national database of social service providers, Human Trafficking Index to track trafficking news.
• JP Morgan Chase - Developed tools that apply anti-money laundering arrangements to human-trafficking networks. For example, an investigation on credit card transactions at a nail salon revealed human-trafficking operations.
• Palantir Technologies - Worked with the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) to improve the process of understanding and analyzing the large amounts of human trafficking data from various initiatives.

Governments

168 countries have criminalized human trafficking but few have addressed the internet's increased role in trafficking ^[20]. The most widespread initiative to reduce the internets increased role in facilitating human trafficking in America came in April 2018. The Allow States and Victims to Fight Online Sex Trafficking Act was passed in the United States. The legislation created state criminal and civil prosecutorial authority against online marketplaces that knowingly participate in sex-trafficking and amended the Mann Act to prohibit using the internet with the intent to promote or facilitate prostitution of another person ^[13].

References

1. ↑ What is human trafficking? (2020, December 18). Retrieved March 12, 2021, from https://www.dhs.gov/blue-campaign/what-human-trafficking
2. ↑ What is human trafficking? (2020, December 18). Retrieved March 12, 2021, from https://www.dhs.gov/blue-campaign/what-human-trafficking
3. ↑ What is human trafficking? - anti-slavery international. (2020, June 15). Retrieved March 12, 2021, from https://www.antislavery.org/slavery-today/human-trafficking/
4. ↑ The Crime. (n.d.). Retrieved March 12, 2021, from https://www.unodc.org/unodc/en/human-trafficking/crime.html
5. ↑ National slavery and human Trafficking Prevention MONTH, 2020. (2020, January 06). Retrieved March 12, 2021, from https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2020/01/06/2020-00065/national-slavery-and-human-trafficking-prevention-month-2020
6. ↑ Human trafficking: A global enterprise. (2020, July 31). Retrieved March 12, 2021, from https://freeforlifeintl.org/2020/07/31/human-trafficking-a-global-enterprise/
7. ↑ Statista Research Department. (2020, November 20). Human Trafficking: Statistics and Facts. Retrieved March 12, 2021, from https://www.statista.com/topics/4238/human-trafficking/#:~:text=Between%202008%20and%202019%20the,greater%20exposure%20of%20the%20issue.
8. ↑ Polaris. (2020, April). Crisis In Human Trafficking During The Pandemic. Retrieved March 12, 2021, from https://polarisproject.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/Crisis-in-Human-Trafficking-During-the-Pandemic.pdf
9. ↑ Peterson, M. (2019, March 1). 6 stages of grooming in human Trafficking: Fight to End Exploitation. Retrieved March 12, 2021, from https://fighttoendexploitation.org/2019/03/01/grooming-in-human-trafficking/
10. ↑ ^{10.0 10.1} Report: Majority of trafficking victims are women and girls; One-third children – United Nations sustainable development. (2016, December 22). Retrieved March 12, 2021, from https://www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/blog/2016/12/report-majority-of-trafficking-victims-are-women-and-girls-one-third-children/
11. ↑ The victims. (2020, April 07). Retrieved March 12, 2021, from https://humantraffickinghotline.org/what-human-trafficking/human-trafficking/victims
12. ↑ Clement, J. (2020, October 26). Internet Usage Worldwide: Statistics and Facts. Retrieved March 12, 2021, from https://www.statista.com/topics/1145/internet-usage-worldwide/
13. ↑ ^{13.0 13.1 13.2 13.3 13.4 13.5 13.6} Anthony, B. (2018, July). A Roadmap for Systems and Industries to Prevent and Disrupt Human Trafficking: Social Media. Retrieved March 12, 2021, from https://polarisproject.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/A-Roadmap-for-Systems-and-Industries-to-Prevent-and-Disrupt-Human-Trafficking-Social-Media.pdf
14. ↑ Mayo Clinic Staff. (2019, December 21). Teens and social media use: What's the impact? Retrieved March 12, 2021, from https://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-lifestyle/tween-and-teen-health/in-depth/teens-and-social-media-use/art-20474437#:~:text=Social%20media%20is%20a%20big,%2C%20Facebook%2C%20Instagram%20or%20Snapchat.
15. ↑ Campbell, F. (2016). An analysis of the emerging role of social media in human trafficking. International Journal of Development Issues, 15(2), 98-112. doi:http://dx.doi.org.proxy.lib.umich.edu/10.1108/IJDI-12-2015-0076
16. ↑ ^{16.0 16.1} Nedelman, M. (2018, April 11). After Craigslist personals go dark, sex workers fear what's next. Retrieved March 12, 2021, from https://www.cnn.com/2018/04/10/health/sex-workers-craigslist-personals-trafficking-bill
17. ↑ ^{17.0 17.1} Latonero, Mark, Human Trafficking Online: The Role of Social Networking Sites and Online Classifieds (September 1, 2011). Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2045851 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2045851
18. ↑ ^{18.0 18.1} Spring, M. (2020, July 15). Wayfair: The false conspiracy about a furniture firm and child trafficking. Retrieved March 12, 2021, from https://www.bbc.com/news/world-53416247
19. ↑ Polaris statement on Wayfair sex Trafficking claims. (2020, July 20). Retrieved March 12, 2021, from https://polarisproject.org/press-releases/polaris-statement-on-wayfair-sex-trafficking-claims/
20. ↑ US. State Department. (2019, June). 2019 Trafficking in Persons Report. Retrieved March 12, 2021, from https://www.state.gov/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/2019-Trafficking-in-Persons-Report.pdf