Defining Human Trafficking
What is Human Trafficking[edit]
Human trafficking has often been described as a modern-day form of slavery. The BC Action Plan to Combat Human Trafficking defines trafficking as “the recruiting, harbouring and/or controlling of a person for the purpose of exploitation.” The United Nations Office on Drug and Crime report on Global Trafficking (2009), states that the most common form of human trafficking (79%) is sexual exploitation. The victims of sexual exploitation are predominantly women and girls. The second most common form of human trafficking is forced labour (18%). Although this may be a misrepresentation because forced labour is less frequently detected and reported than trafficking for sexual exploitation. Human Trafficking is a violation of human rights and a serious crime.
In 2000, the United Nations adopted an international treaty, known as the Trafficking in Persons Protocol to fight human trafficking. Amongst other things, this document defined human trafficking as Act + Means + Purpose = Human Trafficking. The graphic below provides details.
In cases involving children, human trafficking is established if it is shown that the child has been recruited, transported, or harboured for the purpose of exploitation. The exploitation of trafficked persons can take many forms as explained below:
Sexual Exploitation[edit]
Trafficked persons are forced into prostitution,forced to perform sexual acts including exotic dancing, massage, and forced to participate in the production of pornography.
Forced Labour[edit]
Forced labour is any work or services which people are forced to do against their will – under the threat of some form of punishment. Forced labour is found in industries such as: agriculture and fishing, domestic work, construction, mining, manufacturing, prostitution and illegal activities often related to the drug industry.
Coerced Organ Removal[edit]
There is a high demand for organs on the black market around the world. Coerced organ removal is often conducted in clandestine clinics, with little or no attention to the person’s postoperative care and little payment to the person.It is important to remember that no one can legally consent to being exploited. For example, someone agrees to move to Canada because they have been promised employment in a legitimate job. Instead, they are coerced through fear and threats of violence, into forced labour. The fact that an individual may have consented to work in Canada cannot be used as a way to justify their working in conditions as described above.
How Does Human Trafficking Differ from Human Smuggling?[edit]
The crime of human trafficking does not require the movement of a person across a border. By definition human smuggling is a transnational crime. Human smuggling, also known as migrant smuggling, means helping someone enter a country illegally in exchange for some form of payment. This can involve dangerous travel conditions or the use of false identity documents under the consent of the smuggled person. People may be smuggled individually or as part of a large group.
In Canada, the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act (2002) makes human smuggling an offence.
Understanding Human Trafficking[edit]
Human Trafficking in Canada[edit]
There is growing evidence of the widespread occurrence of human trafficking in Canada. The RCMP reports that Canadian women and girls are exploited in sex trafficking across the country. Persons from aboriginal communities as well as minors in the child welfare system are especially vulnerable. Local gangs, transnational criminal organizations, and individuals are involved in sex trafficking in Canadian cities and towns. Foreign workers, who may enter Canada legally or illegally, are subjected to forced labour in agriculture, construction, processing plants, the hospitality sector or as domestic servants. The exact number of people trafficked in Canada is difficult to determine because trafficked persons are often reluctant to come forward. Some of the reasons a trafficked person may be reluctant to ask for help include:
- Fear
Traffickers use threats of violence, actual violence and sexual assault to instill fear. Often, internationally trafficked persons fear deportation if they go to the authorities. Traffickers also threaten violence to family members if the debt is not repaid.
- Debt Bondage
Many people who have been trafficked owe money to their traffickers for transportation, visa fees, food or drugs. They are told they cannot go free until the debt is paid. The amount is often arbitrarily increased so that the debt bondage continues.
- Dependency and Isolation
The trafficked person likely has no family or social network. Surroundings and culture maybe unfamiliar and they don’t know where or who to turn to for help. The trafficker may forbid conversation and keep moving the trafficked person from place to place so they cannot get to know anyone. The trafficker may take away identity documents and provide drugs or alcohol to complete the dependency. Children are particularly vulnerable to extreme isolation.
- Trauma Bonding
Trauma bonding occurs when a person develops positive feelings towards their trafficker, usually caused by being isolated and being controlled by the trafficker.
- Shame and Guilt
A person who has been trafficked may feel too ashamed by their experiences to ask for help. It can be particularly acute for males because it not commonly recognized that they also can be trafficked.
Who is Trafficked?[edit]
Anyone can be trafficked. Traffickers prey upon people who are vulnerable. There are many factors that contribute to world wide vulnerability, including:
- Political Instability
War, civil unrest, and natural disasters can lead to forced migration whereby people end up homeless, without work, without family nearby and living in constant fear.
- Poverty
Traffickers offer poor and marginalized people false promises of a better life. These people may take greater risks in their attempts to provide for themselves and their families.
- Racism and the Legacy of Colonialism
Racism and colonialism contribute to the marginalization of people, particularly indigenous populations. Colonialism is the practice by which a nation controls a foreign territory for the purpose of exploiting its resources and people. The legacy of colonialism continues to impact entire communities as people struggle to exercise their basic civil and human rights.
- Ethnicity
Aboriginal women and girls are uniquely vulnerable to human trafficking because they are more likely to be impacted by other factors associated with residential school abuse, gender inequality, poverty, domestic violence or the child welfare system.
- Gender Inequality
In many cultures, women are seen as being of less value than men. Women are paid less for equal work, have fewer rights, less health care, less education, less property and may be expected to be submissive to men.
- Addictions
Traffickers sometimes supply drugs to break down resistance, cause dependency and coerce people into forced labour or sex. As a trafficked person becomes addicted, the trafficker uses that vulnerability to maintain control.
- Mental Health
People with mental health issues may struggle with limited capacity to consent, assess risk or detect ill intentions. Traffickers are skilled at detecting these vulnerabilities and manipulating them to their advantage.
- Gang Coercion
Females can be exploited by entering a gang as a girlfriend of a gang member and then being sold for sexual acts. Often youth born into gang involved families are expected to contribute to the family business in any way the gang deems fit.
- Online Vulnerability
Traffickers increasingly use social networking and video chat sites to lure, advertise and exploit people. Traffickers then use explicit or compromising photos to further their control - threatening to publish these images online where family members will see them. Online social networking sites are now prime recruiting locations, replacing easier to monitor locations such as shopping malls, schools, bus stations and parties. Children and youth are particularly vulnerable to being lured this way.