Presentación y análisis de los resultados

In the last decade the issue of trafficking of persons has captured the world’s attention, and it has been thrust into the spotlight of mainstream social justice movements. Despite varied approaches, perspectives, motivations, and frameworks that have been applied to the dialogue of ending all forms of exploitation, trafficking, and modern-day slavery, scholars, practitioners, and people of all faiths agree that the trafficking or enslavement of persons is a violation of an individual’s human rights and their innate human dignity.

In order to craft an appropriate response to this modern injustice it is important to

first understand the complexity of what is meant by the terms “human trafficking” and “modern-day slavery”.

What is Trafficking (and What It Isn’t)

Human trafficking and modern-day slavery are widely used synonymously. Kevin Bales, President of Free the Slaves, defines slavery as “a relationship in which one person is controlled by another through violence, the threat of violence, or psychological coercion, has lost free will and free movement, is exploited economically, and is paid nothing beyond subsistence”.6

By international standards, human trafficking is the recruitment, transportation, transfer, harboring or receipt of persons, by means of the threat or use of force or other forms of coercion, of abduction, of fraud, of deception, of the abuse of power or of a position of vulnerability or the giving or receiving of payments or benefits to achieve the consent of a person having control over another person, for the purpose of exploitation.” (United

6 Kevin Bales, Zoe Trodd, and Alex Kent Williamson, Modern Slavery: A Beginners Guide (Oxford: Oneworld Publications: 2009), 31.

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Nations Palermo Protocol, 2000).7_{The diagram below may help explain the definition of}

trafficking further (Note: all three elements must be present).

Source: UNODC (2013)8

More simply put, human trafficking is the “deception and/or coercion (the method) to move a person (the action) into an exploitative situation (the purpose)”.9

Human trafficking therefore is part of a larger framework of slavery and exploitation. As Bales says, “Trafficking is simply a mechanism or conduit that brings people into slavery. It is one process of enslavement itself, not a condition or result of that process.”10

When approaching the issue of trafficking, some may imagine only young, poor women being moved across borders for purposes of sexual exploitation. In reality, trafficking and slavery target women, men and children alike, from all backgrounds and socioeconomic statuses, for labour, sex, recruitment of child soldiers or other exploitive purposes.

It is globally estimated that around 800,000 men, women and children are trafficked annually across international borders into slavery; and that the number of slaves in the world today is 27 million people, although it is important to note that both statistics are widely disputed, under-researched, and purely estimates11_.

In their journal article Human Trafficking is More Than Sex Trafficking and Prostitution:

7 “Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children, supplementing the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime”, (United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, 2004), 41. http://www.unodc.org/documents/treaties/UNTOC/Publications/TOC%20Convention/TOCebook-e.pdf

8 UNODC “What is Human Trafficking” http://www.unodc.org/unodc/en/human-trafficking/what-is-human-trafficking. html

9 Sverre Molland. “Human Trafficking and Poverty Reduction: Two Sides of the Same Coin?”, Juth Pakai 1:4 (2005), 28. 10 Bales, Trodd & Williamson, Modern Slavery, 35.

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Implications for Social Work, Alvarez and Alessi argue that keeping a narrow focus on women and sexual exploitation directly impacts our identification and assistance of victims of other forms of exploitation, as well as our prevention strategies and messaging, and essentially our influence to affect change at a grassroots and government levels.12 _In fact, victims of trafficking are commonly found in a wide variety of industries including “construction, manufacturing (e.g. textile, metal, wood), industrial fishing and fisheries, agriculture, domestic servitude, mining, quarrying, food processing, forestry, leather and tanning, carpet weaving, [and] livestock.”13 _{It becomes very personal considering} that enslaved and exploited people produce commodities that are sold in our global markets, such as grains, coffee, cocoa, sugar, cotton, and gems.14

Tangled: Migrant Workers in Penang is a short documentary that outlines the exploitation and injustices faced by migrant workers in Malaysia, some of whom are unidentified victims of trafficking. Southeast Asia is the number one destination for migrant workers. Within the region, Malaysia is an important destination country for an estimated 2-4 million migrant workers (20 percent of the workforce). These workers are employed in various sectors of primarily “3D jobs” – dirty, dangerous, and disgusting – such as the manufacturing, construction, domestic work and food industries. The documentary explains a “system” of injustice through which people from all across Asia coming with hopes of finding economic solutions for their families in Malaysia go through a process of being cheated by local agents, asked to sign contracts by middle- men that are not in their native language when they arrive in Malaysia, and the unjust power of recruiters, outsourcing agencies, and employers over workers.

By definition alone, and even more so by modern day examples, we understand human trafficking and the broader issue of modern-day slavery to be a grievous injustice demanding our response. On this point there is little disagreement between secular and Christ-following communities. However, the motivation toward response and the methods whereby we engage may differ based on our understanding of the Biblical mandate against exploitation and the coinciding call to administer true justice, and show mercy and compassion to one another.

For the remainder of this paper we will use the term “human trafficking” as understood to be an increasingly exploitative process that is part of the larger framework of modern- day slavery.

12 Maria Beatriz Alvarez & Edward J. Alessi, “Human Trafficking is More Than Sex Trafficking and Prostitution: Implications for Social Work”, Affilia 27:2 (May 2012) 142-152.

13 International Organization for Migration. Caring for Trafficked Persons: Guidance for Health Care Providers (2009), 19. 14 Kevin Bales and Rebecca Cornell, Slavery Today (Toronto: Groundwood Books, 2008).

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Gray Areas

In the case of human trafficking, there are many commonly held assumptions that prevent “doers of justice” from engaging effectively. One of those assumptions relates to an overly simplified, often black and white, view of perpetrators and victims.

It is easy to come to the table with an emotional response against the perpetrators and compassion for the victims with little understanding that each side of the equation requires much education and solidarity with the oppressed and with each other. It also requires a response of mercy and compassion, as lines between exploited and exploiter are often blurry.

For example, perpetrators aren’t always foreign managers or pimps, but sometimes are parents, relatives or economic systems. What happens when you get to know them? Traffickers or other “perpetrators” have names, families. Perhaps they have a broken past or were abused as children. Perhaps he was forced into the business to pay off a debt. Likewise, victims aren’t always forced into the trade, but some enter with a degree of consent. What happens when you find out that the trafficked girl didn’t fight back? That she actually volunteered for the job? Perhaps not knowing what all would be entailed, but she thought it would be an improvement over her current abusive situation at home. And at least in this abusive situation she would be making some money for her family.

And what about the young boys who are victims of sexual exploitation? Or the man who voluntarily migrates to earn money for his family but finds himself enslaved on a deep-sea fishing vessel for the next two years of his life? He chose to move, so does that mean he is or is not a victim of trafficking?

Effective engagement in this issue requires a departure from black and white thinking to humble yet bold steps into uncomfortable gray areas. It requires abandoning our fascination with sensational stories about raids and rescues, and instead humbly exploring opportunities for restoration of all individuals involved in the framework of exploitation.

In the last chapter in From Human Trafficking to Human Rights, a compilation of experts writing about the connectedness between trafficking and the framework of human rights, Kevin Bales points out how the rescue-raid approach not only inappropriately portrays victims as helpless creatures, but more importantly, it overlooks their own resilience and personal strength to overcome slavery.

“It is easy to think about slavery in a simple way, as evil slaveholders and innocent slaves, a crime that is truly black and white in its moral contrast. Often, from this viewpoint, slaves are victims who need to be

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rescued - helpless, dependent, a little pathetic, and, we expect, grateful for a chance of freedom. What this view misses is the resilience and strength of people caught in slavery, their endurance, intelligence, and compassion.... If we are going to help this push to freedom, we need to recognize and respect the power in every person in slavery, especially when slaves join together and make a decision to struggle together for their own freedom.”15

Researchers and practitioners alike agree that the issue is far from black and white.

The issue of human trafficking must be looked at through a broader lens than only sex trafficking or it’s root cause being merely poverty. A more holistic approach, including safety, rehabilitation, and empowerment, as well as inclusion of love, care and rehabilitation for perpetrators can address the injustice with more sustainability and success.

Dynamic and Multifarious

Human trafficking is far from an isolated issue needing an isolated response. It interconnects with multiple forms of injustice and human rights violations - gender inequality, domestic violence, poverty, globalization, labour abuses, and family breakdown to name a few. The complexity of this multi-layered issue can be further understood through looking at the root causes or systemic breakdowns that lead to an individual’s vulnerability to exploitation.

In their book Modern Slavery: A Beginner’s Guide, Kevin Bales, Zoe Trodd, et al. list some root causes and reasons that trafficking is a growing problem, including “insufficient penalties for traffickers, the growing deprivation and marginalization of the poor, restrictive migration laws, and lack of information about the realities and dangers of trafficking.”16

Generally speaking, similar factors of vulnerability can make men, women, and children prey to being trafficked into various forms of exploitation and slavery. Using the context of Cambodia to outline some common push, pull, and facilitating factors to being trafficking, the table below outlines some of these contributing causes.

15 Allison Brysk and Austin Choi-Fitzpatrick, ed. “The Anti-Slavery Movement: Making Rights into Reality”, in From

Human Trafficking to Human Rights: Reframing Contemporary Slavery, (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: University of Pennsylvania

Press, 2012), 197.

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Source: Adapted from USAID and The Asia Foundation17

In The Irresistible Revolution, Shane Claiborne challenges followers of Jesus to do justice for the individual while also tackling the structural and societal injustices that the individual is suffering under. He urges us to see our brother and sister, and also the broader scope, by asking “who owns the pond” from which they have been fishing. He challenges us to not only follow the example of the Good Samaritan by lifting up the oppressed lying on the road, though that is indeed important, but also to transform “the entire road to Jerusalem”. He borrows a quote from Dietrich Bonhoeffer who said: “We are not to simply bandage the wounds of victims beneath the wheels of injustice, but we are to drive a spoke into the wheel itself”.18

The following graphic shows the complexity of the “wheels” needing intervention with respect to trafficking in persons in Cambodia, which can easily be contextualized into other country settings, as well as the interconnectedness and complexity of such interventions.

17 Review of a Decade of Research on Trafficking in Persons, Cambodia. http://pdf.usaid.gov/pdf_docs/PNADS386.pdf, p. 36

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Source: USAID and The Asia Foundation19

Understanding the complexity of issues of injustice such as modern-day slavery is important as it forces us to remain humble by being open to learning and dependent on the God of Justice rather than on our worldly responses and programs. It forces us to accept the burden of stepping into a mess that we alone cannot fix, but as a community of Christ followers we are able to join hands and see the Restorer of Justice intervene.

The Call Into Complexity

At this point, it is easy to be overwhelmed by the complexity of the issue, and this paper cannot even begin to unravel the nuances of the issue let alone propose concise solutions. However, by offering a taste, it is the author’s hope that it would create an appetite to dive into the complexity of issues such as this.

Christians are called not to look at human trafficking as a “silo” issue of sexual exploitation with a clear perpetrator and victim, but instead to understand and enter the complexity of push, pull and facilitating factors, bringing the character of Christ to the

19 Review of a Decade of Research on Trafficking in Persons, Cambodia. http://pdf.usaid.gov/pdf_docs/PNADS386.pdf, p. 36

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equation to facilitate deeper, structural root causes that can create sustainable change.

This understanding and “entering in” requires a commitment to education.

In the opening chapter of his book Irresistible Revolution, Shane Claiborne defines “ordinary radical” as one “who wants to get at the root of what it means to love, and to get at the root of what has made such a mess of our world”.20 _{This means that the} beginning of an effort to release the oppressed must start with an examination of the root, structural causes of injustice, including but not limited to greed, power, and broken relationships. A great place to start for educating yourself about an issue is to look for recommended resource lists of films, books, and articles, normally published on the websites of respected organizations.21

There are no easy answers to complex challenges like those referred to in this paper, and there is no single strategy, program or organization that alone can provide a solution. However, through humble collaboration of hearts and minds aimed at carrying God’s presence into these situations, leaving authorship and ownership in the hands of God rather than in the hands of men, breakthroughs begin unfolding.