A New Look at Human Trafficking: Book Reviews
Kara, Siddharth. 2009. Sex
Trafficking: Inside the Business of Modern Slavery. New York: Columbia
University Press
Shelley, Louise. 2010. Human
Trafficking: A Global Perspective. New York: Cambridge University Press
Kara and Shelley both emphasize the
need to approach and understand human trafficking as a business if truly
effective countermeasures are going to be designed. Both authors focus
primarily on the sex trafficking aspect of the phenomena, but Shelley does
expand into the other modes of exploitation human traffickers rely on, such as
forced labor or begging. If we look at human trafficking as a business, the
authors argue that in order to combat it we must change the calculus of the
rational actors involved whose primary motivation is profit. Costs must be
increased on perpetrators and potential profits reduced to make trafficking in
people less lucrative.
Kara argues that globalization has
made it easier to find and transport victims for traffickers. As the world
becomes more interconnected, traffickers can find potential targets across the
globe, and once ensnared can move victims hidden within the legitimate
migration flows. Globalization has also brought poverty to many regions of the world,
where local businesses are pushed out by global competition. This increases the
‘supply’ of victims, boosting profits, as people unable to find work at home
fall for tempting false offers put out by traffickers. Moreover, a greater
supply also has the effect of lowering prices, which in turn increases the
number of customers. This situation allows traffickers to exploit large numbers
of people to meet this high demand, and when coupled with the low risk of being
caught, makes the business highly lucrative.
Shelley
puts forth a similar model that focuses on the ‘push’ and ‘pull’ factors within
human trafficking. Push factors in source countries primarily stem from a lack
of opportunity, as desperate locals look abroad for any opportunity and
unwittingly become trapped by a trafficking ring. Additional push factors include
both weak law enforcement and trafficking laws in source and destination
countries, and corrupt officials and business owners that assist traffickers in
return for a portion of the profits, all of which make the trade possible on a
global scale. Facilitators are across society, from border guards, police
officers, immigration officials, night-club owners, taxi drivers, bankers,
lawyers, real-estate agents, all play a critical role in the capture,
transportation, and exploitation of victims. Pull factors center on rising
demand, mostly in developed countries, that make the trade so profitable. Individuals
who compose demand come from an even broader swathe of society.
The authors both recommend targeting the cost-benefit
economic basis of the trafficking industry to have a significant effect on the
industry. Engaging in trafficking must be made exceptionally costly to
discourage potential traffickers from becoming involved. This would not only
reduce the number of traffickers, but would also push up the cost for customers
as supply decreases, which should decrease demand. Both authors also emphasize
the need to target the financial resources of traffickers. Large amounts of
money must be exchanged and laundered internationally, and by targeting these
flows, costs would increase and profits would decrease for traffickers, making it
harder to conduct business. This should be combined with stricter punishments
for traffickers and the individuals and businesses who help them.
Recognizing the limited resources available to
anti-trafficking efforts in many parts of the globe, Kara argues for the
creation of an international task force that would specialize in countering
slavery. Such a task force should be composed of professionals from a broad
array of fields, enabling a more comprehensive and effective effort. Local
monitoring should also be supported, ‘neighborhood watches’, to watch for
suspicious activity and enable more efficient law enforcement operations. On
the enforcement side, raids on suspected establishments should increase, and a more
efficient judicial process that hands out punishments quicker is needed. Finally,
salaries should be increased for officials involved in anti-trafficking efforts
to discourage bribery, and victim protection programs must be set up to protect
them and their families. However, while such measures would certainly be
welcome and likely highly effective, where the resources would come from, and
how effective such an international effort would be when dealing with states
highly protective of their sovereignty, is not entirely clear.
Shelley provides less specific measures, but
addresses a key weakness in Kara’s anti-trafficking argument. She specifies
that any anti-trafficking program must be contextually designed for the region
of the world it is targeting. Shelly’s five case studies show significant
differences in how human trafficking is conducted across regions. There is no clear
cut model that can be applied to trafficking globally. For example, many source
countries are also destination countries, therefore any anti-trafficking effort
in such an area must be prepared to comprehensively address the economic
conditions that fuel the supply of victims, the traffickers themselves and the
corrupt facilitators who bring victims in and out of the country, the customers
who ultimately provide the profits, and the victims themselves, who are
practically destroyed mentally and physically.
While approaching human trafficking
as a business does help us better understand the motivations of the actors
involved, it is crucial to not limit the anti-trafficking response to strictly institutionalist
measures that focuses primarily on increasing costs to participants. Such
approaches have been used to target drug trafficking across the globe with
varying results. In fact, such crackdowns can have a converse effect by making
the commodity scarcer, pushing up prices, and thus increasing the possible
profits exponentially. As long as large amounts of money are to be made in any
form of trafficking, there will be willing perpetrators. Understandably, it is
difficult to target the benefits side of the rational calculus with law
enforcement and legislation, which cannot exert control over a freely traded
good. However, both authors remind us that there are enablers in legitimate
positions who are crucial to both human and drug trafficking. Perhaps more
needs to be done to increase the costs on corrupt government officials who
facilitate the trade. A key aspect that both authors also touch on is the societal
acceptance of victim blaming, particularly of women within the sex trade.
Female victims are seen as willing participants looking to make easy money by
selling their body, which is very rarely the case in reality. By changing
societal perspective on this issue, greater pressure and disapprobation would
be brought down upon corrupt officials who participate in the trade and on law
enforcement, which often ignores or makes minimal efforts to punish
traffickers. Finally, the economic source of the problem is also emphasized
within the literature. Traffickers are able to lure victims into vulnerable
situations where they can be enslaved because the victims are in dire straits
in the first place, unable to find work in poorly performing economies. As with
so many issues across the globe, economic growth will be key to truly
addressing the problem.
