Human
Trafficking: "Trafficking
in persons, also known as human trafficking, is the modern practice
of slavery. It is the third largest criminal industry in the world
today, after arms and drug dealing, and is the fastest growing.
Traffickers generate billions of dollars in profits every year
while victimizing millions of people around the globe. Trafficked
persons are forced or coerced into labor or sexual exploitation.
Under international law, all children who are commercially sexually
exploited are considered trafficking victims, even if no force
or coercion is used. Sex trafficking is one of the most lucrative
sectors of the trade in people, and involves sexual exploitation
in prostitution or pornography, bride trafficking, and commercial
sexual abuse of children. Labor trafficking is widespread not
only in situations of domestic servitude and small-scale labor
operations, but also in sweatshops and farms that are subcontracted
to major multinational corporations." -- Polaris Project
Internet Trafficking:
Internet trafficking is the trafficking of persons through the
use of the internet. The internet is a major tool used in the
trafficking of persons both within the U.S. and globally. Opposition
to internet trafficking is not opposition to the internet, but
rather its use as a conduit to traffic human beings.
Examples (but
not limited to): "Mail Order Brides": An incredible recommended
film is Say I Do. This film focuses on Filipinas entering the
United States through mail order bride agencies. Mail order bride
services are a form of international online dating. However, the
migrant status of these individuals increases their vulnerability
to exploitation in a number of forms. The exploitation can be
directly facilitated by the dating agencies which set up trips
abroad for the men that bear a striking resemblance to sex tours,
or the women can find themselves in an exploitive situation upon
arrival in a foreign country where they lack financial resources,
family support, language ability, and understanding of the legal
system.
Promoting false advertisements:
We have come a long way from print media. While newspapers and
the yellow pages continue to be utilized for advertisements, the
internet has made advertising simpler and quicker, requiring only
the click of a button. The internet can be used to advertise a
false job. Many victims of human trafficking initially responded
to an advertisement placed on the internet. Such advertisements
may or may not come from legal establishments, but the victim
may soon find herself in slave like conditions or otherwise forced
or pressured into performing a job quite different from that for
which she signed up.
The use of the internet to sale people:
Websites that host the sale of products have now become highly
criticized for their ability to also sell people!
Check out our forum for news updates on examples.
Check out this recent example: http://www.wjla.com/news/stories/0308/507808.html
Pornography is no longer isolated to print media; you
can
now easily view pornography online and pay by credit card.
Pornography is essentially a form of prostitution (scholar-activist
Catherine MacKinnon makes this link, but so does the
Merriam-Webster Dictionary). A law that you may refer to that
solidifies this is the Protect Act in which it is illegal
to sell the pornography of children.
Promoting Sex Tours through the internet: sex tour is
a trip to
a destination where sexual services are available to tourists.
Organizations like Equality Now are hitting this issue hard!
Countries such as Thailand have received much attention recently
in the U.S. media and the Lifetime miniseries Human Trafficking
accurately portrays the sex tourism that is typical in the Philippines.
The use of email to contact individuals about "employment"
under
false pretenses: Recently one of our very own coalition members
received an email. The email said:
"Can u turn 15
truck drivers for 15min
in one night? Ok, That's $2000 minimum per night.
I'm a driver. I run 48 states.. We can do this all over the
country. Plenty of money out
here! Be a truckstop hoe. nothin wrong wit that. We need more
cute sexy ones.. not Crackheads!!!
I am 25 yo clean european man. Please send me Your info with
pic and i will send You mine."
Myths: - It
is a myth that internet trafficking is less serious then human
trafficking.
The internet is just another medium that can be used, and is being
used increasingly, to facilitate human trafficking.
- It is a myth that ending internet trafficking will end all
human trafficking.
Human trafficking takes on a myriad of forms. For abolition to
succeed, we must tackle human trafficking on multiple fronts through
law enforcement, policy, and awareness.
- It is a myth that a desire to abolish human trafficking
on the internet is tantamount to being anti-internet. The
goal of this coalition isn't to convince you to like or dislike
the internet. Our goal is to provide a a space to discuss and
increase awareness of the role of the internet in human trafficking.
As the internet becomes increasingly important in our households,
we must be aware of the ways in which people are vulnerable to
exploitation and trafficking through the internet.