SLAVERY TODAY JOURNAL
A Multidisciplinary Exploration of Human Trafficking Solutions
Volume 1, Issue 2, July 2014
ISSN: 2333-7222
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This article provides the first concerted effort to combine major relevant factors measuring and contributing to vulnerability to human trafficking in the United States for statistical extrapolation of victim prevalence. While utilizing the human security framework to better conceptualize the risks of human trafficking for vulnerable individuals remains an underdeveloped academic contribution, this project proposes a theoretically more ambitious and complete response to underpin prevalence and forecasting models.
Human Trafficking Specific Jury Instructions: Tools to Increase Prosecutions and Convictions
Alexander Esseesse and Emily Tocci
Human trafficking is a modern form of slavery.1 Victims of human trafficking are faced with numerous and complex issues ranging from bodily injury caused by physical harm to post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) generated by repeated abuse, intimidation, and fear. While varying forms of human exploitation have been in existence for millennia, over the past two decades countries have taken a more serious approach to addressing the problem of human trafficking by enacting legislation, improving resources to victims, and encouraging more education of law enforcement officials.
Human Trafficking Investigations, Implications of Apathy and Inaction, Recommended Solutions
David Hartless
Human Trafficking (HT) is both a global and national epidemic and yet, it has not truly touched the hearts and minds of the Canadian population at large. For example, to date, neither law enforcement/justice training nor investigation is on par with gang violence, drugs, or even prostitution.
Funding and Capacity Building Fuel Cooperation: A Case Study of Counter-Force Networks Fighting Sexual Exploitation and Trafficking in India
Rodney Green, MSc
Historically, organizations combatting trafficking for sexual exploitation in India have struggled to cooperate. Due to the multifaceted demands of protecting vulnerable populations and confronting criminal networks, a lack of cooperation can lead to interventions that are ineffective or detrimental. Multiple case studies have indicated that there are three interrelated challenges that hinder cooperation: complex political landscapes, limited vision and funding dedicated to inter-organizational relationships, and a lack of expertise in particular disciplines. One case study indicated that coordinated funding and capacity building fueled sustainable cooperation to form a counter-force that can more effectively combat sexual exploitation and trafficking in India.
Au Pair Scheme: Cultural Exchange or a Pathway to Slavery?
Tina Davis
There has been a change in the use of the au pair scheme in the past fifteen years that has created a shift from its original intention as a cultural exchange program. Socio- economic change in societies in the South and East has led to a new wave of female migrants seeking legal work opportunities in European countries, and change in the North has led to an increase in demand for domestic workers. The au pair program has become a means to cover these needs. Yet the use of the au pair institution as a temporary domestic work system creates challenges that not only contradict its intention, but also fail to offer labor rights and protection to the migrant women who enter the program to earn money. This article examines the au pair system in Norway, a country known for social and gender equality and a strongly developed welfare system based on social democratic ideals of solidarity. The article focuses in particular on how the au pair scheme is being misused as a temporary domestic work system by both the host families and the au pairs, and the exploitation and human trafficking cases that have emerged as a consequence in recent years.
Human Trafficking NGOs in Thailand: A Two-Site Case Study of the Children Served in Education Programs
Robert Spires, PhD
In this qualitative case study, two Thai Non-Governmental Organizations (NGO) shelters/schools working with human trafficking survivors and at-risk populations of children ages 5-18 were examined. This study takes the stance that the work of the NGOs needs to be understood through the first-hand perceptions and attitudes of NGO staff and the children they serve. Education is an intervention designed to achieve the mission of both NGOs. Education is treated as a means of preventing human trafficking and protecting human trafficking survivors from returning to exploitative situations, though the effectiveness of the intervention is unclear. This study sought an understanding of the perceptions and attitudes of the staff and children at the NGOs. Thematic findings explored cultural, social, economic and political issues impacting the children served at the NGOs. The issues of statelessness and poverty as well as secondary issues were explored through interviews with students, teachers and staff at the NGOs. NGO efforts to reduce the vulnerability of children are discussed, as well as the barriers that both children and NGOs face in vulnerability reduction efforts.
Economics of Child Mining Labor: Estimation of Corporation’s Profits
Roger-Claude Liwanga, LLM
This article estimates the contribution of child labor to the production of mined minerals and calculates the profit made by manufacturers involved in the supply chains of child- labor minerals. Several thousands of children in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) work in the artisanal and small-scale mines under dangerous conditions to extract a variety of minerals, including those used in the fabrication of modern electronics. But there is no detailed data on the scope of productivity of child-miners, the value of their production at the world market, and the profit made by those buying and using their minerals. The lack of data on this issue is occasioned by the quasi-secrecy surrounding the supply chains of child-labor minerals. The paper uses a simple method of estimation based on economic assumptions and available data to calculate the contribution of child-miners in the DRC to the cobalt production at the national and international level, and to estimate the profit made by electronic manufacturers that use cobalt tainted with child-labor in their products.
Book Review: Enslaved: True Stories of Modern Day Slavery, by Jesse Sage and Liora Kasten
Benjamin Thomas Greer
Human trafficking is an abomination that decimates the lives of the trafficked, fracturing their families, and is an act which exploits their labor and bodies, treating them as a renewable resource. Trafficking in people is the fastest growing crime:1 not only in the numbers of victims and profits, but in the world’s consciousness.2 According to the United States, State Department’s 2010 report, there are over twelve million adults and children in forced labor, bonded labor, and forced prostitution worldwide.3 As this emerging issue grows in awareness it is imperative to bear in mind that the victims are people and not just statistics.