Human Trafficking is a crime against humanity. It involves an act of recruiting, transporting, transferring, harbouring or receiving a person through a use of force, coercion or other means, for the purpose of exploiting them. Every year, thousands of men, women and children fall into the hands of traffickers, in their own countries and abroad. Every country in the world is affected by trafficking, whether as a country of origin, transit or destination for victims.

Human trafficking is the fastest growing criminal industry in the world. In this modern form of slavery, traffickers use threats, intimidation, and violence to break their victims' will and resistance. Every year traffickers generate billions in profits at the expense of millions of people around the world.

Sex trafficking is one of the most lucrative sectors regarding the illegal trade of people, and involves any form of sexual exploitation in prostitution, pornography, bride trafficking, and the commercial sexual abuse of children. Under international law, any sexually exploited child is considered a trafficking victim, even if no force or coercion is present.

An annual trafficking report, estimates that between 600,000 and 800,000 people are trafficked across international borders annually. Around half of them are believed to be children. Women and children pose a higher risk for trafficking into the sex industry each year. In March 2001, the European Commission reported that an estimated 120,000 women and children are being trafficked into Western Europe each year.

Women from Eastern Europe (especially Latvia, Lithuania, Moldova, Romania, Albania, Ukraine and Bulgaria), Southeast Asia (Thailand) and West Africa (Nigeria and Sierra Leone) are known to be trafficked into the UK for sexual exploitation, according to the Poppy Project, set up in 2003 to provide accommodation for women who have been trafficked into prostitution.

Despite this staggering reality, governments around the world are only beginning to address the problem. In most countries, traffickers operate with almost total impunity even in the most severe cases. A lack of awareness in the public exacerbates inaction by authorities. Today, however, trafficking is one of the major concerns of both governments and organizations active in the migration field, and has become a priority for those working in many other policy areas such as human rights, health, law enforcement, and social services.

While poverty and inequality are important factors in making certain populations more vulnerable to being trafficked, they are not the primary cause of trafficking.

There are various NGO’s all over the world who are working with governments and Donor organizations to draft laws and create antitrafficking strategies, through campaigns and advocacy programs.

There is a hostel in the centre of Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, called the Good Samaritan Association, whose purpose is to improve the quality of life of women and girls of sexual violence. They work with the Ethiopian Government to track down and return victims of human trafficking back to Ethiopia. On their return they live in the shelter for 3 months while every attempt is made to find their families. While at the shelter, they undergo counselling. Children as young as 8-14 are trafficked internally for money and some to Arabian countries such as Saudi Arabia to work as prostitutes.

By Lamide Akinsanya