STOP

There are 4 types of victims of human trafficking.

The first type is the victim who is resigned to his or her fate. This victim has been subject to too much abuse, and too many threats to dare to even try to escape their fate.

The second type is the victim who does try to escape, but gets caught in the act. He or she is then subjected to more threats and punishments, and eventually gives up trying to escape as well.

The third type is the lucky one, the victim who gets rescued during a police raid of a bar or brothel. These are the victims who make it to the pages of newspapers and get the opportunity to tell their stories. They also form the small minority of the victims of human trafficking.

The fourth type, is the victim who tries to escape, and does manage to escape...only to end up lost and helpless in a foreign country.

Unfortunately, for this last category of victims, escaping is not the end of their nightmare.

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Why it's difficult for victims to escape

The first challenge is getting out of the premises itself. Human trafficking victims are often confined within the premises and not allowed to go out. Threats are made against their lives and the lives of their family to prevent them from trying to escape.

There is also the fact that the figures of authority which we rely on, do not always carry out their job properly. There are instances where the victims end up having to 'serve' the police and task force officers themselves. Among conflict zones, such as Bosnia-Herzegovina, Iraq, and the Timor-Leste, women trafficked for sexual exploitation are often intended to service the international security and humanitarian workers themselves.

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But the biggest challenge to the victim of human trafficking, is their lack of identification.

Be it lost in a foreign country or at home, human trafficking victims are difficult to identify. This problem with identification leads to difficulties in halting human trafficking.

Such problems arise for a variety of reasons.

Human trafficking victims are often heavily controlled by their traffickers. The traffickers may hold on to the money of the victims, abuse them, or threaten the families of the victims. Traffickers may also tell these victims that they are to blame for their own circumstances and that they will be treated as criminals if caught. With the control exerted by their traffickers, victims are unable to seek help, and often do not even think they deserve help.

--IMAGE/VIDEO--"little Anya thinks that she is the criminal here"--

The victims themselves often lack education, and are thus unaware of their rights or do not see themselves as victims. Experience has led them to believe the threats of their traffickers – that they will be treated as criminals. Thus, even if they wanted to seek help, they may be deterred as law enforcement may be corrupt or feared. In addition, the victims are also used to depending on the traffickers, sometimes viewing them as their protectors or boyfriends. Such perceptions by the victims often lead to hostile interactions with law enforcement officers who might try to help them because they either do not view themselves as victims who need help, or do not trust the officers.

Indeed, fear of the law enforcement and service providers may not be unjustified. Even if they view themselves as victims, others may not. Many a time, people who encounter such victims do not even realise it. Law enforcement may neglect to consider that someone they encounter might be a victim, dismissing them as illegal immigrants, prostitutes, criminals etc. and deport them or throw them into jail. This unfortunately reinforces the message of the traffickers that the victims will be treated as criminals if they come to the attention of the authorities and tightens the hold of the traffickers over their victims.

There is also a general lack of awareness and understanding amongst the public, enabling such trafficking to carry on without much attention. Surveys show that people often do not believe that human trafficking exists in today’s society and particularly in their communities. In addition, human trafficking victims are often misperceived or stereotyped as foreign-born young females who are forced into prostitution. The reality is that victims can come from any group – males, domestic runaways, homeless youth etc. – and may be forced into other types of work.

Those in the best positions to identify such victims tend to be healthcare workers (who may treat the victims for abuse), law enforcement officers, or social workers. The problem is that these groups may not always be trained in identifying victims, especially as the problem of human trafficking tends not to be a priority in most countries.

In fact, instead of receiving protection, the victims of human trafficking often end up being identified and arrested as illegal immigrants.

This is not surprising since many trafficked victims are smuggled illegally into the destination country. Their passports are taken by their traffickers. Nevertheless, some countries are finally recognising that exceptions need to be made to their immigration laws to help these victims. In the United States, for example, human trafficking victims can obtain a T visa to become temporary residents of the U.S. (for more details, read this article). The city of Glasgow, Scotland, offers 30 days of 'safe haven' to women who were trafficked to the brothels. (See this article!)

Unfortunately, the situation is less hopeful in Asia. In Thailand and Malaysia, most sex trafficking victims who are illegal immigrants, would be deported immediately. At home, the UNHCR is of the opinion that the Government has not fully complied with the minimum standards to eliminate trafficking, although it recognises that efforts are being made. Nevertheless the situation is worrying; in 2008 the police arrested 5,047 foreign women for prostitution, who were subsequently deported. At least 53 of them were children, who were deported without being formally identified.

This makes it even more important that we continue to spread awareness of human trafficking among the public!

Most victims of human trafficking are just casualties of circumstance. They are born into a disadvantaged or dysfunctional home and, in their attempt to seek a new life, they become trapped in the web of human trafficking. There is a certain old punk rock song, that seems to encapsulate this quite well:

The police were waitin' when the sun came up
You better move your ass or we'll really get rough
I never wanted trouble but I sure got enough
I'm bad at bein' subtle but I ain't that tough

Signing off,  Debby, Praveeta, Xiang Hui