SAN DIEGO, CA–"How many of you believe slavery is dead?" asked Susan Tiefenbrun, a professor at the Thomas Jefferson School of Law during a speech, "Well, I'm going to tell you that it's not. It rears its ugly head in the form of human trafficking."
Speaking at "Stop Traffic," an event held at the I-House Great Hall, University of California, San Diego, on Friday, Feb. 29; Tiefenbrun and other presenters addressed the issue of human trafficking and its current state. According to Wikipedia.org, human trafficking is defined as the trafficking of humans for forced labor, slavery, prostitution, child soldiers, and for the removal of organs.
Also explained was the difference between smuggling and human trafficking. For example, while a person is usually free to do as they please after being smuggled, a person who is trafficked is unable to leave and is enslaved by the trafficker through various means.
"It is the third most lucrative international crime. The first being the trafficking of weapons, the second trafficking drugs, the third is the trafficking of women and children," said Tiefenbrun, later continuing by saying, "Slavery is a universal crime. If you take one child and enslave that one child, you enslave the whole world."
According to the 2007 Trafficking in Persons (TIP) Report by the U.S. Department of State, there are an estimated 4 to 27 million people in forced or bonded labor, and sexual servitude worldwide, of which 80% are women and 50% are minors. The document also mentions that, "Annually, according to U.S. Government-sponsored research completed in 2006, approximately 800,000 people are trafficked across national borders, which does not include millions trafficked within their own countries."
A 2005 estimate put the number of human trafficking victims brought into the U.S. each year at 14,500 to 17,500 according to the "Attorney General's Annual Report to Congress on U.S. Government Activities to Combat Trafficking in Persons, Fiscal Year, 2005."
In regard to the statistics, Tiefenbrun mentioned that it is difficult to obtain an accurate number as many victims dare not step forward in fear for both their own safety and that of their families, and many of those who engage in human trafficking are members of international criminal organizations. Another issue is that although some of the smaller brothels and traffickers are caught and prosecuted, the members of the criminal organizations behind the trafficking remain largely untouched as the victims are usually too scared to speak out against them.
Deputy Sheriff Rick Castro from the San Diego Sheriff Department shared about his own encounters with people who have been trafficked in San Diego and why this problem has become more prominent in recent years: "Ever since 9/11, trafficking has taken a different turn. Traffickers used to bring in all the victims directly into the United States."
Castro continued by saying, "But ever since 9/11 with all the heightened security throughout the United States, they've been forced to bring their victims into other countries; generally Canada and Mexico, because a lot of their security practices at the airports have gone unchanged. So that's why we're seeing a tremendous increase of victims of trafficking coming into the San Diego border."
Castro also mentioned that he has directly encountered human trafficking victims and has also arrested a number of criminals behind it, saying, "I've interviewed well over one hundred victims of trafficking. You can see and feel the pain in their eyes."
With victims normally transported from various nations, especially those which are poverty stricken or torn by wars; victims are lured through a number of deceptive means; traffickers typically make promises of work and education, yet when the victim arrives at the destination, they are then enslaved.
"The United States actually has a leadership role in this [fighting human trafficking]," said Tiefenbrun, "We've actually engaged in education of parents and women to identify a trained agent out there who is out to capture a young child and throw her into a life of slavery. So we spend money, millions of dollars abroad in countries where this enslavement takes place."
Tiefenbrun explained that a major step in the United States was the passing of the Victims of Trafficking and Violence Protection Act in 2000. This act made it so that women who are enslaved and forced into prostitution are regarded as victims rather than criminals. The act also provides them with necessary medical attention and services and gives them the right to work and stay as permanent residents in the U.S. if they assist in the persecution of the perpetrator. The traffickers themselves will then face the maximum sentences for their crimes.
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