Part 1 - Human Trafficking: Causes, Consequences and Counter-Strategies

Types of Human Trafficking

Human trafficking is one of the most dynamic illicit industries, yielding billions of dollars in profits every year and violating the rights of millions of people. Human trafficking is a complex phenomenon. Its causes and consequences relate, among other issues, to migration, gender, crime, development, labor and violent conflict. There are various types of human trafficking.

The best-known type is the trafficking of women and girls for the purpose of prostitution. But women and girls are also trafficked to work in private households. Moreover, men and boys are trafficked into the sex industry or, more commonly, on fields, in factories, in shops or at construction sites. Fraud and deception are essential elements of trafficking. Traffickers also use the threat of force or actual force against victims and their families. They also make victims comply with their demands by threatening to contact the police and immigration authorities, which may lead to deportation if the victim is not allowed to stay and work in the country. The fact that many trafficked persons have their passports taken away makes them especially vulnerable. In addition, traffickers pay trafficked persons small or no salaries at all.

According to a 2005 estimate of the International Labour Office, forced labor affects at least 12.3 million people globally. Of those, 2.4 million are victims of trafficking (forced labour includes trafficking of persons for the purpose of sexual exploitation). The annual profits of trafficking are estimated at US$ 32 billion.

Besides labor and sex trafficking, there are other forms of human trafficking as well. The gap between the demand for and supply of human organs has created a thriving illicit market in which traffickers deal in organs of people who are tricked into surgeries that often lead to their death. Furthermore, traffickers deal in children for adoption and exploit children, many of whom are disabled, as street beggars and vendors. These are the various ways in which traffickers use people, or rather their bodies, as commodities.

The trafficking of women and girls has received more attention than the trafficking of men. Women and girls are more likely to be trafficked for sexual purposes, whereas men are mainly victims of labour trafficking, which has been overshadowed by sex trafficking. Trafficking laws therefore focus on sex trafficking, as do non-governmental organizations that support primarily women and girls trafficked into the sex industry.