The global costs of human trafficking

Dana Graber Ladek

 

Information leaflets and medical kits being distributed to fishermen during a boat inspection conducted by Thai government agencies. Photo: IOM/2017

 

PHUKET: Tomorrow is ‘World Day against Trafficking in Persons’ – a day where we give a voice to the many victims of trafficking who live among us, but have been forced into silence due to threats to their life, retaliation against their family, feelings of hopelessness, or being enslaved and physically unable to speak out. 

Human trafficking is big business. Globally, billions of dollars in profit are made from a criminal practice wherein millions of people, hoping for better lives, are enslaved. The actual numbers are hard to estimate, but we know they are staggering and estimates continue to grow. 

In Southeast Asia, data from those assisted by the International Organization for Migration (IOM) show that the region is a hotbed of trafficking, accounting for a quarter of all cross-border cases identified worldwide. Most victims do not travel far as movements are largely intra-regional and domestic. 

Most of us who read columns like this know what human trafficking is – the exploitation of people made to work in unjust circumstances through use of force or other means of coercion. We know that victims of trafficking are often subjected to abuse such as rape, torture and unlawful confinement, among other forms of physical, sexual and psychological violence.

What we tend to be unaware of is the pervasiveness of the crime. In Thailand, there is a perception that trafficking is primarily limited to women in the sex industry. While it is true that the majority of profits are derived from the lucrative sex trade, profiteering from trafficking and exploitation of people is also present in many more sectors, and does not discriminate between genders. Men, women and children are all at risk.

 

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-- © Copyright Phuket Gazette 2017-07-29

Of course Thailand is no stranger to this appalling trade.