Sex Trafficking on the Rise Around the World due to the 2020 Pandemic
Sex Trafficking was deemed a crime in the year 2000. The crime has risen as women and children have become more vulnerable due to CO-VID. Work diminished, education became more inaccessible, shelters shut down and domestic violence rose. It led to more women and children leaving home to find work and being sold by their family members for profit. (Unknown, European Union, 2020)
Sex trafficking refers to children or women being taken advantage of for the sake of another’s satisfaction (Shared Hope International, Unknown). They are forced by their traffickers (family members, landlords, relatives, strangers) to have sex with usually 10-25 customers without payment. Most of the time, they face health issues with unprotected sex and unsanitary work conditions (Lima, E. 2020). During the pandemic, “because hotels shut down they have had to meet with men on the street or in their own homes” (Lima, E., 2020). Women and children are beaten if they don’t agree to complete the job. They are threatened that if they try to leave the brothel or place of residence then their family members will be killed. They are also brainwashed to believe that the police will throw them in jail instead of protect them.
During 2020, the stats display the rise of trafficking and rescue efforts because of it. Unfortunately stats are low, as CO-VID numbers have taken the center stage:
New York: “New York State Trafficking Victim Referral Process - received 177 referrals between January and June [2020], a 70-percent increase over the same period in 2019. These agencies received more referrals during March and June of 2020 than during the same four-month period in any previous year” (Unknown, New York State, 2020)
India: “…between April and September [2020], 1,127 children suspected of being trafficked were rescued across India and 86 alleged traffickers were arrested, according to Bachpan Bachao Andolan.... Then “in north Jaipur alone, there have been up to 20 police raids and 12 registered cases of child trafficking and child labor since early June [2020], when the lockdown was eased, according to police” (Yeung, J & Sur, P, 2020)
Argentina: “…violence against women in El Salvador has increased by 70 percent during the pandemic. Between March and May [2020] a woman was raped every seven hours according to the country’s National Civil Police.” (Lima, E., 2020)
Mali: “Some 230 cases of child recruitment were reported during the first half of the year [2020], compared with 215 cases for the whole of 2019, according to a UNHCR-backed study….”
European Union: “Europol, Portugal, Spain and the United Kingdom coordinated a Europe-wide joint action day targeting child trafficking. The operation, also supported by Frontex, took place between 5 and 11 October 2020 and involved 12* countries” The actions led to 388 arrests, 19 additional suspects identified and 40 new investigations initiated. Overall, 249 potential victims of human trafficking were identified, 61 of which were confirmed to be minors and the ages of 107 victims have not yet been determined,” (Unknown, Europol, 2020).
The numbers reflect what happens when a pandemic shuts down entire work systems and education systems. Families must fight for survival.
“The International Labor Organization estimates that the lockdowns of the 2020 pandemic have affected a staggering 2.7 billion workers or 81 percent of the world’s workforce. At the peak of the lockdowns in April 2020, according to the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, school closures in 194 countries affected 90 percent of the world’s students at the pre-primary, primary, secondary, and tertiary education levels” (Guest Blogger from Around the World, 2020).
How were families suppose to sustain their lives or their children’s lives (dinner, shelter, healthcare, etc.) when they couldn’t go to their day wage jobs anymore? Or their monthly slated jobs? Salary rated jobs? In India, a teenage boy wasn’t able to return to school because he couldn’t even pay for his own food. The government placed him in a shelter for a month. When asked what his next plans were, to stay or to go home, he answered,
"I'll go where I have to go to survive…I don't have an option, do I?” (Yeung, J & Sur, P, 2020).
Survival has led families to risk their family members’ lives. Some chose to sell their children to traffickers for a profit; most of them tricked into thinking that their children would be given nutritional meals, shelter, money for their household, nicely made clothing, and/or prestigious work or education. Other relatives became greedy and sold their nieces and nephews, or grandsons and granddaughters (Unknown, Europol, 2020). Furthermore, some children and women had to leave home in search of work to sustain their families which led to trafficking, abuse, and paid meager wages (Yeung, J & Sur, P, 2020).
Unfortunately, a lot of the shelters, programs or regular check-ups in the community shut down due to the pandemic, restrictions of the governments or “lack of financial support…In the United States, individuals who managed to leave their human traffickers are now considering—or are being forced to—return to their exploiters as they have lost their jobs, shelter, and medical insurance” (Guest Blogger from Around the World, 2020) For Bihar, India, they have “increased guidelines and advisories but have not done any field check due to CO-VID 19?” according to a Chairperson of Bihar State Commission for Protection of Child Rights.” Even though they have received more calls. (Yeung, J & Sur, P, 2020). What is more important to keep a distance, or to check on the women and children that are in potential danger of sexual violence or death?
Who will protect and rescue women and children from violence, and sexual exploitation in the midst of a pandemic where services are few or non-existent? Everyone is given the opportunity to play a part whether it’s learning about human trafficking to educate children in the neighborhood or to start your own small group to educate the community or to educate men to become apart of the solution instead of the problem. “Nongovernmental organizations are engaging online platforms and creating new Internet ventures to provide much-needed opportunities for victims of trafficking. Organizations like AnnieCannons are creating long-term employment solutions for victims of trafficking in tech-based jobs [Tech Against Trafficking]” (Guest Blogger from Around the World, 2020). Other opportunities include to donate from $5 to 5,000 to anti-trafficking organizations (research first); provide educational and business tools for trafficked children; or to set up work programs or micro loans for trafficked women.
Works Cited
Guest Blogger for Women Around the World (2020) The Evolution of Human Trafficking During the COVID-19 Pandemic Council on Foreign Relations
https://www.cfr.org/blog/evolution-human-trafficking-during-covid-19-pandemic
Lima, E. (Aug. 2020). How Covid-19 made sex trafficking in Latin America much worse? America The Jesuit Review
Unknown (Aug. 2020) Governor Cuomo Announces New Campaign to Raise Awareness of Human Trafficking. New York State
Unknown. (Dec. 2020) Mali: COVID-19 and conflict lead to rise in child trafficking UN News
https://news.un.org/en/story/2020/12/1078982
Unknown. (2020) Tacking human trafficking: more urgent than ever in CO-VID times Europa
Unknown (2021) What is Sex Trafficking? Shared Hope International.
https://sharedhope.org/the-problem/what-is-sex-trafficking/
Yeung, J & Sur P. (Oct. 2020) The pandemic has created a second crisis in India- the rise of child trafficking. CNN
https://www.cnn.com/2020/10/24/asia/india-covid-child-trafficking-intl-hnk-dst/index.html