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By: Elizabeth Echard, Staff Writer
The word “slavery” usually refers to the transatlantic slave trade that took place from the 16th to the 19th centuries where African people were enslaved and sold to the Americas to work and tend crops on plantations. [1] [2] In 1865, the 13th Amendment to the United States Constitution was passed and abolished slavery in the United States. [3] Many other countries also passed laws banning the transatlantic slave trade and eventually bringing it to a halt. [4] > However, modern day slavery occurs around us every day.
“Modern day slavery” is an umbrella term that is associated with “human trafficking,” or “trafficking in persons.” [5] Human trafficking includes sex trafficking (of both adults and children) and forced labor,including bonded labor, domestic servitude, forced child labor, and unlawful recruitment and use of child soldiers. [6] Adult sex trafficking occurs when commercial sex acts, such as prostitution, occur as a result of force, fraud, or any similar type of coercion, or threat thereof. [7] While child sex trafficking occurs in a similar manner, force, fraud, and coercion need not be proven for the crime to be prosecuted as human trafficking. [8] Forced labor occurs when a person’s labor is exploited by force, fraud, or coercion. [9] This is frequently accomplished by the imposition of a bond or debt or by terms imposed on the individual, meaning that, even if the labor conditions become too abusive or the individual is underpaid, the individual is not free to leave their employment. [10] The recruitment and use of child soldiers occurs when children are recruited through force, fraud, or coercion by armed forces to serve as combatants or to provide other forms of labor, while often being physically and sexually exploited. [11]
In 2000, the United States passed the Trafficking Victims Protection Act, which was intended to provide the tools necessary to combat human trafficking domestically as well as internationally. [12] This Act provided for the creation of the U.S. State Department’s Trafficking in Persons (or TIP) Office as well as the President’s Interagency Task Force to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons to assist the United States in organizing anti-trafficking efforts. [13] Some countries have joined in the conventions and efforts of the United States to combat human trafficking overall, while others are only focusing on combatting specific types of trafficking, and some don’t seem to be on the same page at all when it comes to trafficking. [14] [15]
Many countries, including Argentina, Belgium, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Finland, Germany, Italy, Panama, Paraguay, Philippines, Switzerland, and Uruguay, are implementing similar policies, laws, and conventions that the United States is trying to instate to combat human trafficking.[16] Other countries vary in their compliance with the United States’ initiatives.[17] Countries like North Korea, Iran, and Russia are among the worst offenders for failing to take an active part in fighting human trafficking.[18]
The United States, along with the United Kingdom, Netherlands, Portugal, Sweden, Argentina, and Belgium [19] lead the way in combatting human trafficking, but there is much more to be done. The worst offenders of trafficking, and those countries that account for harboring most of the victims affected by this horrific crime, tend to be the least proactive in preventing trafficking crimes. [20] In fact, the top ten worse countries in combatting sex trafficking account for six out of 9 million victims. [21]
The fight against human trafficking has been ongoing for roughly 20 years now, and while some advancements have been made, human trafficking persists as one of the world’s biggest criminal rings. It is difficult to say if new laws or implementation plans will better combat this problem, because ultimately, these are only effective if countries are willing to implement and enforce them. Thus, initiating the next step in combatting human trafficking is a trying feat for lawmakers everywhere.
[1] Becky Little, Details of Brutal First Slave Voyages Discovered, History.com, https://www.history.com/news/transatlantic-slave-first-ships-details (2019).
[2] Slavery in America, History.com, https://www.history.com/topics/black-history/slavery (2020).
[3] 13th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution: Abolition of Slavery, National Archives, https://www.archives.gov/historical-docs/13th-amendment (2016).
[4] Chronology-Who Banned Slavery When?, Reuters, https://www.reuters.com/article/uk-slavery/chronology-who-banned-slavery-when-idUSL1561464920070322 (2007).
[5] What is Modern Day Slavery?, U.S. Department of State, https://www.state.gov/what-is-modern-slavery/ (2020).
[6] Id.
[7] Id.
[8] Id.
[9] Id.
[10] Id.
[11] Id.
[12] International and Domestic Law, U.S. Department of State, https://www.state.gov/international-and-domestic-law/ (2020).
[13] Id.
[14] International Conventions Relevant to Combatting Trafficking in Persons, U.S. Department of State, https://www.state.gov/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/relevant_conventions.pdf (2020).
[15] Hollie McKay, North Korea, Iran, Russia Among Least Active in Combatting Human Trafficking, Report Says, Fox News, https://www.foxnews.com/world/new-report-exposes-countries-doing-next-to-nothing-to-curb-human-trafficking (2019).
[16] International Conventions Relevant to Combatting Trafficking in Persons, U.S. Department of State, https://www.state.gov/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/relevant_conventions.pdf (2020).
[17] Id.
[18] Hollie McKay, North Korea, Iran, Russia Among Least Active in Combatting Human Trafficking, Report Says, Fox News, https://www.foxnews.com/world/new-report-exposes-countries-doing-next-to-nothing-to-curb-human-trafficking (2019).
[19] Id.
[20] Id.
[21] Id.
