Solutions to Human Trafficking

While sex trafficking presents a mire of problems reaching from economic, to social, to medical repercussions, understanding to problem is only the first part in devising a solution. Reducing or eliminating sex trafficking requires addressing four mains components as described by humantrafficking.org. The first and perhaps most important going forwards is prevention. Preventative action will be the work that will ultimately end trafficking by eliminating the labor supply. As mentioned in Half the Sky, the victims of traffickers are often poor women, uneducated about the risks and without other economic opportunities. Countries like the Philippines, Cambodia, and Thailand have implemented awareness campaigns targeted at rural communities. The United States has also seen awareness campaigns sponsored by the government. Taking the idea of the carrot and the stick it seems that pairing awareness of the risks with economic opportunities for poverty stricken regions would be an even more effective preventative measure.

For the women who are trafficked need to be understood as victims and thus are victims. The United States made significant progress with its Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000, which humantraffickin.org describes as enhancing pre-existing penalties and providing new protections. As obvious as it may seems, human trafficking is referred to as such because of the movement of people within countries and often across borders. This leaves many victims unable to communicate their plight because of language and cultural barriers. When victims are able to escape or ask for aid they need to feel safe and confident in the hands of the government, making protection a key element.

Unfortunately, victims are only part of the equation, they key to ending trafficking lies most with the perpetrators, both the johns and the pimps. One approach focuses primarily on the johns, leveraging harsh penalties on the clients only, leaving the prostitutes untouched. Half the Sky presents Sweden, which has adopted such an approach, which seems to be working to lower STDs and human trafficking. According to humantrafficking.org, high levels or mobility and the clandestine nature of trafficking pose large obstacles to prosecution. When trafficker cross borders governments are often forced to work in conjunction to prosecute which poses yet further problems. Half the Sky also focuses on police attitude such that there is ample motivation, whether reward or consequence driven, for officers to fully pursue to prosecution of traffickers and johns.

Finally the victims cannot be forgotten once taken from their captors, leaving reintegration and rehabilitation as an important final step. The girls and women who are sexually abused often face stigmatization by their families and communities who may see their girls as sullied. Women need to overcome emotional and physical trauma and often benefit from career training as well.

In conclusion, this meager analysis of solutions for trafficking serves primarily to highlight the extensive reach of the problem and the enormous that will be necessary to fully combat trafficking.