Conditions of Trafficking

Human trafficking is a topic and a reality that many people ought to be more concerned about. It is currently the third most profitable activity, only to drug and firearms trafficking. Due to the secrecy involved in this, as you could say, industry, it is very hard to get accurate numbers on the quantity of people whom are involved, both as the ones trafficked and the traffickers. However, it is still estimated that 600-800 thousand women, men and children are involved in human trafficking. And, it is hard to believe that these numbers are only going to increase as years go by unless something is done on the issue.

Not to make light of the whole issue, but I am going to take a different spin on it and talk about the conditions in which the people involved in human trafficking live in. To begin, the sweatshops essentially are similar to sardines in a can. A ton of people all crammed into a small area without proper ventilation and worked at an exhausting rate. Not to mention, if the people are in the situation where they pretty much live at work, where they have house (if you can call it that) provided, it is usually filthy, un-kept and even rat infested. So in a way, humans are living in the conditions that could be compared to also that of a chicken coop. Sweatshops are not the only place that have foul living conditions. Agricultural workers do to. They usually are exposed to chemicals and pesticides that are unsafe in all ways for humans being in contact with unless they are properly covered. These types of chemicals, especially in the agricultural field are very harmful, and can have many effects including headaches, sweating, weakness, vomiting and even death. Similarly, however different, are those conditions in which prostitutes often find themselves in. In general prostitutes are often found in the “slums” of large cities, where garbage litter the streets and homeless people sleep in the stoops. Most women who find themselves in this situation, do so either by choice (vary rarely), false lures, such as being promised a higher wage and better living than what they were in, and even being sold or given away by family. These conditions are not only filthy and unbearable, but also, they are sometimes set up like a temporary home. Where there are is almost a changing room type layout of different women in each “room”. Then not to mention, the women are given drugs to keep them at a mind state that they can be controlled. In a way, this then leads to them not really keeping up on the hygiene side of things.

The condition in which people in any sort of forced work setting, whether it be an agricultural setting, or a prostitution setting, no person should have to live in any of those conditions. However, people do and most of the time it is just being over looked. In no way should any person go through anything of what people in human trafficking go through, and it won’t stop until people are more aware of what is going on.

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Sources:
Human Trafficking
Farm Workers and Pesticides
Women and Sweatshops

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