Human Trafficking
by
Christopher Dodson
Executive Director, North Dakota Catholic Conference
December 2008
Right behind drug dealing, it is tied with arms dealing as
the second largest criminal activity in the world. It
counts approximately 700,000 victims every year. An
estimated 17,500 persons are victimized by it each year in
the United States. These victims include young children,
women, and men. And yet, many Americans are unaware of its
existence or pervasiveness. It is human trafficking.
Human trafficking is a modern form of slavery. It is the
recruitment, harboring, transportation, provision, or
obtaining of a person by force, fraud, or coercion, for the
purpose of sexual exploitation or forced labor.
The Catholic Church has condemned human trafficking and
established social services to help its victims. At the
same time, she has called for laws against human
trafficking and changes in social systems to address the
root causes of human trafficking.
The Fathers of the Vatican II, reaffirmed the
Church’s historic concern about forced labor, stating
that “slavery, prostitution, the selling of women and
children, [and] disgraceful working conditions where
[people] are treated as mere tools for profit, rather than
as free and responsible persons” are
“infamies” because they are an affront to very
nature of the human person.
In more recent years, Pope Benedict XVI, Pope John Paul II,
and representatives of the Holy See have strongly condemned
human trafficking as an intrinsic violation of human
dignity that all governments must address. Bishop
conferences around the world responded by putting increased
pressure on governments to enact new laws and enforce
existing prohibitions on human trafficking. The U.S.
Conference of Catholic Bishops played an important role in
getting the the Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000
passed and implemented, and has contracted with the federal
government to provide services to the victims of human
trafficking.
Victims of human trafficking can be highly skilled, but
most are poor and desperate. They see migration as a way to
escape oppressive and dire conditions. At the same time,
there is “demand” in more developed countries
for forced labor and sex trade services.
Human traffickers promise unsuspecting victims an
opportunity to travel to a foreign land for employment and
housing. Some arrive at their location legally. At the end
of the journey, however, they are forced to work in the sex
trade, domestic services, or manual labor. Their freedom to
legally move about is removed by physical and psychological
coercion or abuse.
Some victims are never discovered. Those that are often
traumatized by physical, mental, and psychological abuse.
Many become ill with disease or become infected with HIV.
Human trafficking is not a problem only in some distant
land. Thousands of persons are trafficked each year in the
United States for forced labor and prostitution. Some may
have arrived here with the intention to work legally. Upon
arrival, they are confined and not allowed to travel. The
traffickers hold whatever legal documents the victims may
have as a method of coercion. Whenever Americans engage in
“sex tourism” or turn a blind eye to work
conditions, they contribute to the environment which allows
human trafficking to flourish.
The Human Trafficking Victims Protection Act provided a
good start to addressing the problem. The federal
government can, however, do more. In the meantime, states
have started enacting their own laws to crack down on human
trafficking. These laws supplement federal enforcement,
close loopholes, and provide additional tools for
prosecution.
The North Dakota Catholic Conference is working with North
Dakota Attorney General Wayne Stenehjem on legislation for
the 2009 legislative session to ensure that our
state’s laws address human trafficking to the fullest
extent possible. At the same time, the North Dakota
Catholic Conference will take this opportunity to inform
people about this crime against humanity and how you can
assist in the global effort to eliminate human trafficking
and help its survivors.
Stay tuned to the North Dakota Catholic Conference web site
for more information during the upcoming legislative
session.
