Should Republicans support looser human trafficking laws?

Human trafficking- Is a crime against humanity. It involves and act of recruiting, transporting, transferring, harboring or receiving a person through a use of force, coercion or other means, for the purpose of exploiting them. http://www.unodc.org/unodc/en/human-trafficking/what-is-human...

elements of human trafficking On the basis of the definition given in the Trafficking in Persons Protocol, it is evident that trafficking in persons has three constituent elements;

The Act (What is done)

Recruitment, transportation, transfer, harboring or receipt of persons

The Means (How it is done)

Threat or use of force, coercion, abduction, fraud, deception, abuse of power or vulnerability, or giving payments or benefits to a person in control of the victim

The Purpose (Why it is done)

For the purpose of exploitation, which includes exploiting the prostitution of others, sexual exploitation, forced labour, slavery or similar practices and the removal of organs.

To ascertain whether a particular circumstance constitutes trafficking in persons, consider the definition of trafficking in the Trafficking in Persons Protocol and the constituent elements of the offense, as defined by relevant domestic legislation.

http://www.unodc.org/unodc/en/human-trafficking/what-is-human...

Victims of human trafficking are often women that are held against their will and are used for means of being raped and prostitution. Often times these women are victims of witchcraft as well. One women enslaved in Scotland explains how she was held against her will:

{In one of the testimonies to a Glasgow charity, a 21-year-old told how she was branded and forced to take a “witchcraft oath” to prevent her escaping.

She said: “I had to take the oath. I was given this mark on my hand. I was told that this mark, if you tell anyone what has transpired, you are going to die.

“They gave me a razor blade to eat, they took my armpit hair, they removed my nails from my toes and my fingers.

“They removed the hair on my body, they tied it up and put it in this shrine, then they tear my body and told me that if I tell anyone, ‘you will just die’. When I saw the shrine, it was so big, I was so scared.”}

http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/uk-world-news/sex-trafficki...

Often times these women are used in brothels across the world. They are lucky to have a chance to be alone with all their pain. often time s these women are sexual abused up to 10 times a day, by complete strangers:

{Money was paid to a madam who forced her to work seven days a week and beat her if she failed to keep customers happy.

She said: “It was so painful, they were so rough, they didn’t care, they just wanted satisfaction.

“I saw more than 10 men a day and because I was new, everyone wanted to have me. People waited for me.

“When I finished with one they say go and have this liquid, wash up. My body was so painful.”}

http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/uk-world-news/sex-trafficki...

Perhaps just as dark and painful is the forced labor part of human trafficking, because often times it includes forced labor and rape.

Forced labor is prevalent in developing countries, but it's also widespread in the U.S. Farm workers across the country, for example, are lured here with promises of great jobs, good pay and a better life—and end up being forced to work, living in locked trailers or homes from which they're not allowed to escape and threatened with punishment if they try, robbed of their wages and subjected to physical and/or verbal abuse.

For example, from a New York Times story: "Slave labor in Brazil is directly linked to deforestation," said Cláudio Secchin, director of the Ministry of Labor's special antislavery Mobile Enforcement Team. "There are more and more cattle ranchers who want to increase the size of their herds, but to do that they need more space, so the clearing of land is a constant."

Also in Brazil, from Entrepreneur: "slaves cut down forests and burn the wood into charcoal that is then used to make steel. The United States imports over half a million tons of Brazilian steel each year to produce everything from toys to cars to office buildings."

“Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction.” Amendment XIII - 1865

Human trafficking the United States Some of the victims are found here, but most are from other countries and are transported to the U.S. California is a common distention for this. "The link between human trafficking and other criminal activities such as human smuggling, drug trafficking, money laundering and organized crime, increases the potential for other violent crimes. The U.S. Department of State reports that the impact of human trafficking on surrounding communities includes increased crime and gang activity, child exploitation, public health problems and depressed wages."

http://oag.ca.gov/sites/all/files/pdfs/publications/Human_Tra... pg.16

How human trafficking affects children in the U.S. "Trafficking can involve school-age children—particularly those not living with their parents—who are vulnerable to coerced labor exploitation, domestic servitude, or commercial sexual (i.e., prostitution)."

http://www2.ed.gov/about/offices/list/osdfs/factsheet.html

Growing up I had my own share of being a forced laborer and sexually exploited by an uncle. At 4 years old I had to learn the hard way what oral sex. While I was not the person receiving I was the one that was molested and Sodomized. Personally I believe 4 years old is too young to learn about sex in any fashion, especially this one. A year or 2 later I started working for my grandparents for 5 dollars a day. and then eventually they paid 20 to 40 dollars a day for manual labor. They often hired illegal Mexicans which made more money than me. It was a huge ego blow. My self worth felt very low. Its still takes me back a little when I think about. Similar things happen all around the country. "In North Carolina last week the mother of a five-year-old girl was charged with human trafficking after being accused of offering her daughter for sex. The child was later found dead. The crime was horrific, but the distinction between trafficking and simple, sadistic child abuse might not be immediately obvious."

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/nov/22/people-traffickin...

Figures from the State Department reveal that 17,500 people are trafficked into the US every year against their will or under false pretences, mainly to be used for sex or forced labour. Experts believe that, when cases of internal trafficking are added, the total number of victims could be up to five times larger. And increasing numbers of trafficked individuals are being transported thousands of miles from America's coasts and into heartland states such as Ohio and Michigan.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/nov/22/people-traffickin...