"Unseen Economy: Human Trafficking leading to Sex Slavery"

Author: Toyon

“I can recall that memory. I tried many times to kill myself. But still I am alive and bearing that terrific memory. I was 10 or 11 years old then. I was sold by my own father to a pimp as a sex slave and traded to different states. I felt like a piece of meat that was sold from men to men, cities to cities. I was child, so small and so tiny. I had image of tears. I was repeatedly used by different men. They tortured me as much as they can, they crumbed me until I bleed and they grasped my body until they felt satisfied. Those big men have big hands. I cried, I trembled, I screamed though no one came to rescue. But I am still alive!”

                                  -(Anonymous)

Image Source: googleimage

Have you ever imagined how large the human trafficking business is? Have you ever imagined who are controlling, who are forcing slavery, sex slavery and who are behind this illegal “Human” business? Are humans trading “Human”? Thanks may be given to some movies for bringing this huge shameless industry to upfront. 

How big the shameless industry is?

No one knows the true figure, but still some approximate estimates suggest that at least 3 million children (girls & boys), women and men are forced across borders every year. The numbers that trafficked and forced to slavery within their home countries are many more. According to The International Labor Organization (ILO) the size of the human trafficking industry is approximately worth $150 billion. And the Profit generated from it was $99 billion in 2015 only from sex trafficking. Furthermore, 15.4 million victims are aged 18 or above and the number of children who are under the age of 18 estimated at 5.5 million.

Figure 1 : Estimation of Forced Labor

Source of data: ILO

Slavery is the ultimate outcome of human trafficking. ILO defined this modern slavery by including different factors of forced labor, human trafficking, forced sexual exploitation and some of the worst forms of child labor.

Hierarchy of Money Dealers or Traffickers:

Those human smugglers can be individual to group networks of criminals and even to highly sophisticated criminal international organizations. Small groups work in field level to collect and distribute where as the whole system has been controlled by shadow leader. They maintain special language between them to communicate with each other though they do not contact face to face ever. They can be the locals, pimps, brothel owners, and corrupt government officials.

Figure 2: Hierarchy of Money dealer of Trafficking

Some figures of Shamelessness:

According to ILO report only 22% of victims are trafficked for sex and sexual exploitation earns 66% of the total (global) profits of human trafficking. Moreover, according to the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) the average annual profits generated by each woman in forced sexual servitude is estimated to be six times more than the average profits generated by each trafficking victim worldwide.(Human Rights First, Fact Sheet, January 2016)

Table 1: Estimated annual profits from forced labor (US$ billions)

Profits per victim are highest in forced sexual exploitation, which can be explained by the demand for such services and the prices that clients are willing to pay, and by the low capital investments and low operating costs associated with this activity. With a global average profit of US$21,800 per year per victim, this sector is six times more profitable than all other forms of forced labor, and five times more profitable than forced labor exploitation outside domestic work. (ILO Human Trafficking Report, 2015)

Figure 3: Annual profits per victim per sector of exploitation (US $)

Source of data : ILO

Does Legal prostitution increase Sex Trafficking?

The term “Trafficking” itself is very tricky. Researchers define it in their own ways; hence, it varies from convention to convention. There have been several research papers that investigated the impact of legalized prostitution on human trafficking inflows. Seo Young Cho and Others (2012) found that the countries where prostitution is legal experience larger reported human trafficking inflows.

On the hand, study conducted by Samuel Lee and others (2015) showed that a decriminalized prostitution market in general accommodates a non-zero level of trafficking, but also that criminalizing the sale or purchase of sex does not necessarily reduce trafficking. They also added that criminalization increases trafficking at the expense of voluntary prostitution, and therefore reduces trafficking only once all voluntary prostitution has left the market. Finally, they ended with that trafficking therefore depends on the prevalence of voluntary prostitution, which in turn depends on demand factors, gender income differences, and the severity of the occupational hazards of prostitution.

What leads the demand side of Sex trafficking:

Image Source: Buzzfeed

The reasons why the sex trafficking exists are not unidentified. The collaborative study conducted by Dasra, a foundation, showed that the net profit margin of over 70 percent makes sex trafficking as one of the most luring businesses. They added that it is comparatively very easy and inexpensive to collect, move and exploit vulnerable girls.

The Business will continue:

Image Source: googleimage

"If milk is available in market why bother buying a cow" - actually the whole system has been developed in this way. There will be never ending argument, there will be numerous policy researches. But the business will never be stopped. It will continue because the reality is much more complicated than thinking. The god father is inside you, in front of you. 

To Conclude:

“It ought to concern every person, because it is a debasement of our common humanity. It ought to concern every community, because it tears at our social fabric. It ought to concern every business, because it distorts markets. It ought to concern every nation, because it endangers public health and fuels violence and organized crime. I’m talking about the injustice, the outrage, of human trafficking, which must be called by its true name - - modern slavery.”- Barack Obama

Human trafficking can lead to sex slavery, drugs and death. Modern slavery is the essential outcome from this human business. Let the policy makers decide to what extent they want to sacrifice the moral social system with the unseen economy that is producing huge billion of money, now a day that becomes an industry.