What Is Human Trafficking?

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Understanding human trafficking
Buying and selling of human beings for the purpose of exploitation is human trafficking, also known as slavery. Human trafficking is not only sex work, but it refers to exploitation of any kind - for cheap labor, for organ trade, and for sex.
Human Trafficking according to the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organised Crime (most comprehensive definition on human trafficking).

Kinds of human trafficking:
1. sexual exploitation in the form of prostitution, forced marriage, or child marriage;
2. labour exploitation in the form of forced labour, bonded labour, domestic servitude, or begging;
3. exploitation for medical purposes like organ transplantation or commercial surrogacy;
4. sports sex tourism;
5. and military use of children, popularly known as child soldiers.

Myths related to human trafficking
1. Human trafficking is only prostitution. WRONG. It also includes child labor, forced marriage, organ transplantation, sex tourism, bonded labor, child soldiers, etc.
2. Human trafficking affects only poor people. WRONG. It perpetuates all economics stratas and all countries.
3. Only the social workers and the Government can do something about it. WRONG. We all can.
4. Victims and survivors do not deserve to be respected. WRONG. They deserve to be respected. We perpetuate demand.
5. Human trafficking should involve movement of people from one place to another. WRONG. Trafficking is also employing a child at your house or exploiting a domestic worker.
6. Victims of trafficking are women and girls only. WRONG. Anybody can be a victim of human trafficking - men, women, girls, boys, anyone. 

Human trafficking is a transnational organised crime
Traffickers have a strongly knit network that transpires national boundaries. Irrespective of the distance from the source to the destination area, victims are exploited over and over; by people who lure them, people who transport them, those who act as intermediaries, and those who finally use them. Human Trafficking is a very meticulously planned, organised, and a well-executed trade of human-beings.

According to the International Labour Organization, human trafficking generates around 150$ billion in illegal profits per year. Victims of slavery are as young as 5 years old. Many experts believe that this is, however, only the tip of the iceberg.

Human Trafficking and Development

Human trafficking has visible linkages to critical development issues like poverty, unemployment, illiteracy, gender bias, and lack of awareness, among many others. Therefore, it cannot be analysed and approached in isolation. It has to be seen in a spectrum  with other development issues.

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