Socialist View (Summer 2006) - People Trafficking: Slave Trading in the 21st Century

Trafficking is a form of modern day slave trading. It involves transporting people away from the communities they live in, across continents, countries or regions, by threat, use of violence or deception with the aim of exploiting them or profiting from their labour. It is distinct from people smuggling where consent is freely given. Trafficking of persons involves adults and minors trafficked for sex and for labour.

Globally, trafficking in human beings is the third biggest area of organised crime after drugs and arms smuggling. The UN estimates that some 80% of persons trafficked are trafficked for sexual exploitation. The International Organisation of Migration states that at least 500,000 women are sold annually most of who are exploited for sexual purposes. An estimated 120,000 people are trafficked into Western Europe each year (European Commission 2001).

The UN has warned that most countries are now affected by human trafficking as either a country of origin, a transit country or a country of destination. Among countries most regularly targeted for victims are: Albania, Belarus, Romania, Russia, Lithuania, Moldova, China and Thailand. In the South of Ireland the problem most recently came to light following a report issued by the Department of Justice and the Gardai. It stated that Ireland was at risk from an increase in human trafficking, but that only a small number of cases have been uncovered. Ruhama, a group which works with women in prostitution, however, has said that this does not reflect the situation on the ground. It alone dealt with more than 30 women who were trafficked to work in the sex industry in 2005. They point out that this is only the tip of the iceberg. Ruhama places this in the context of the dramatic increase in foreign women working in prostitution in Ireland since 2000, with 80-90% now coming from outside Ireland.

This view is supported by media reports in both the North and the South of Ireland which have highlighted cases of women being trafficked for prostitution. The Belfast Telegraph in May this year reported that evidence showed that young girls and women are possibly being smuggled into Northern Ireland and sold into the sex trade. The Women's Aid Federation Northern Ireland gave evidence about human trafficking in the province to the Joint Committee on Human Rights at Westminster. In the United Kingdom human trafficking for prostitution is one of the fastest growing industries. Home Office research in 2000 established that 1,500 women had been trafficked into the country that year for sexual exploitation (Guardian 2 April 2006). The Association of Chief Police Officers has stated that “it is now visible in almost any moderate urban area”. “We are talking about a commodity crime generating very big profits – the commodity is women”.

Generally, women trafficked into Ireland and the UK describe being bought and sold by traffickers on multiple occasions, passing through many different countries. Traffickers often recruit women with bogus offers of work as a waitress or domestic worker. When the woman or girl arrives at the country of destination their passports are taken. They are frequently sexually abused or raped by way of “initiation” and then prostituted in brothels and sex clubs and suburban houses. They are guarded by pimps who take most of their earnings and whose control over them stranded in a strange country, unable to speak the language and without a permit to stay is virtually absolute. If they are uncooperative their family at home may be threatened or they are told they will be passed on to even more dangerous owners.

Causes – poverty, profit and demand

Prostitution and sex trafficking are co-dependent. Prostitution exists because of: the poverty which exists in the countries and communities which these women come from, the demand of the men who are given social and sometimes legal permission to buy women and the huge profits to be made in supplying this demand.

Capitalism and the poverty it breeds creates and sustains human trafficking. It creates the conditions in which women are driven into prostitution and left vulnerable to those promising them a better life. In central and Eastern Europe factors that are leaving women open to exploitation by traffickers are the dismantling of the state provision and supports which existed under the former Stalinist states and their replacement with the complete liberalisation of the market. While these regimes were far from ideal in the past, they did provide employment, education, childcare and health care for citizens. The rampant capitalism that has developed in these countries and the dismantling of state services has led to high levels of poverty and unemployment. As women bear the heaviest burden in cuts in social expenditure, it is they who have suffered most. This has led to internal migration from impoverished regions towards urban areas, cross border migration and emigration. This together with strict immigration controls in richer countries is encouraging a rapid growth in trafficking where huge profits can be made.

The global sex industry is a massive profit making enterprise based on the exploitation of women and girls. Unlike drugs, women can be sold multiple times for profit and the criminals receive less punishment and shorter sentences. The vast amounts of money to be made in the global prostitution industry goes directly into the hands of pimps, traffickers and brothel owners and indirectly benefits tour operators, airlines, hotels and advertisers. It is estimated that the illegal sex industry makes $5-7 billion per year. In the Netherlands where prostitution is legal the sex industry generates almost $1 billion a year. In the UK brothel owners can make up to £1 million per annum, with women being sold for around £8,000. In the South of Ireland, the sex industry is more profitable and more organised that ever before. Alongside the proliferation of lap dancing clubs and sex shops is a thriving brothel and escort industry. Prostitution is a “multi million euro business here” according to the head of the Garda’s Operation Quest which focuses on the sex industry.

Another contributing factor is the demand of men for prostitutes. Trafficking would not be such big business if it were not for the existence of local markets where men are willing and able to buy women and children. The men concerned are not discerning as to where these women come from or how they arrived or are treated. Their demand for the sexual exploitation of women is becoming more accepted in societies where women are increasingly commodified and there is an acceptance of the sex industry as harmless fun. The growth in the number of lapdancing clubs has played a major role in making it “acceptable” to sexual exploit women for profit. Making it ok to see women’s bodies as commodities, as is increasingly happening in the media and advertising, in turn makes it ok to purchase them, which fuels the demand for prostitution. This in turn fuels trafficking by making it so profitable to exploit these women.

Response to this modern day slavery?

The South of Ireland, uniquely in the EU, has no law specifically designed to outlaw the trafficking of women for sex. Little interest had been shown by the government until it came to the attention of the public through a TV investigation of the experiences of women who had been trafficked. This is despite the increasing reports of women who have been trafficked and the fact the National Criminal Intelligence Service in the UK has described Ireland as a transit country between it and the UK (Irish Times 6 May 2006). This lack of action in regard to the human rights of victims of trafficking is in sharp contrast to the energy of the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform and the resources put into deporting people living and working here illegally. In fact those women who do come forward risk being deported for being illegal immigrants. In the UK trafficking laws provides for sentences of up to 14 years. However, like the South, the UK has not signed the 2005 EU Council of Europe Convention on Action Against Trafficking in Human Beings. The Convention directs member states to issue residence permits for trafficked people who may be in danger if they return to their country or if it is necessary to assist criminal proceeding and guarantees a “reflection period” of at least 30 days during which they can receive support and consider what they want to do next. This means that victims of trafficking who come to the attention of the authorities may end up in immigration detention centres and even deported. The Irish Minister for Justice, Michael McDowell has made the incredible claim that to implement these rights in the South could lead to women inventing stories of being trafficked just to be able to remain in the country.

In contrast, the Swedish government has given priority to combating prostitution and trafficking in human beings for sexual purposes. It considers that gender equality is not attainable as long as men buy, sell and exploit women by prostituting them. In Sweden prostitution is regarded as an aspect of male violence against women and children. Since 1999 purchasing or attempting to purchase sexual services has constituted a criminal offence punishable by fines or up to six months imprisonment. The woman and children who are victims of prostitution and trafficking do not face any repercussions. Since the Act came into force there has been a dramatic drop in the number of women in street prostitution. This has not resulted in an increase in “indoor” prostitution. The number of men who buy sexual services has decreased as has the number of women being recruited into prostitution. Public support for the legislation is widespread. For traffickers the law has meant that Sweden is no longer considered a good market for them as it is less profitable. Protection for women and children is a human rights issue that must be addressed through specific legislation to outlaw trafficking. Supports must be put in place to assist those escaping traffickers and victims must to be allowed to remain in the country whether they go ahead to testify against their abusers or not. Equally the demand of men to purchase women cannot be seen as acceptable. Trafficking cannot be stopped unless a stop is put to the commercialisation of women’s bodies in prostitution. As long as it is tolerated trafficking and violence against women will continue.

While legislation and demand are key issues in combating trafficking, poverty, exploitation and the drive for profit are central to the trafficking and prostitution industries. These are the very features on which capitalism is based - the exploitation of humans beings for profit. While measures can and should be taken to protect the women concerned and to legislate against traffickers and the buyers of these women, the inequality and poverty which drive women into this industry are a product of capitalism. Only in a socialist society were poverty and exploitation are irradicated can real equality and human dignity be guaranteed and an end to the nightmare of trafficking and sexual exploitation achieved.