Combating Human Trafficking

Combating Human Trafficking

Over the past several years, human trafficking has become a sizable world-wide problem. Human Trafficking has had a considerable affect on the World and United States. To combat this, several laws and initiatives have been enacted. While this allows for some headway in combating this problem, there are still several things that we can do to help. This review of literature on Human Trafficking focuses on these areas and provides the information on the steps that can help combat this epidemic.

Human trafficking, also known as trafficking in persons is slavery. The United Nations defines human trafficking as "The recruitment, transportation, transfer, harboring or receipt of persons, by means of the threat or use of force or other forms of coercion, of abduction, of fraud, of deception, of the abuse of power or of a position of vulnerability or of the giving or receiving of payments or benefits to achieve the consent of a person having control over another person, for the purpose of exploitation". The Department of Justice notes that human trafficking frequently involves the trafficking of women and children for sexual exploitation and also often involves exploitation of agricultural and sweatshop workers, as well as individuals working as domestic servants.

The University of Pittsburgh's Legal Paper (Jurist Law) estimates that human trafficking victimizes some 800,000 people worldwide. (Jansen, 2006) While the article "Slavery in the Suburbs" (Smith, 2007) reports it's an industry that's worth some $32 billion worldwide. Trafficking in persons is also the third most profitable criminal activity after illegal weapons and