*** Welcome to piglix ***

Human trafficking in the Middle East


The trafficking of persons is the fastest growing and most profitable criminal activity after drug and arms trafficking. According to the United Nations Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children, human trafficking is defined as follows: “Trafficking in persons shall mean 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 of 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. Exploitation shall include, at a minimum, the exploitation of the prostitution of others or other forms of sexual exploitation, forced labor or services, slavery or practices similar to slavery, servitude or the removal of organs.”

According to Kapstein in the journal of Foreign Affairs, the industrial states have failed to put in much effort to alleviate the issue. He believes that the problem is not one of political capability, but political will. A challenge in combating human trafficking in Middle Eastern countries is that the governments deny there is a problem. The lack of political will is partially the result of empty threats from the international community, but most of it can be attributed to deeper economic forces and sociological factors at play. In her article in "Global Tides," Stephanie Doe states that sex trafficking is a sensitive topic in the Middle East for various reasons. On one level, it suggests moral corruption, which implies the waning influence of Islamic values in society. On a more significant level, in most Middle Eastern countries, because the governments are responsible for preserving tradition and upholding Islamic authority, it challenges their ability to retain a nation unified by Islam. Consequently, if the government was to acknowledge sex trafficking as a problem, it could be interpreted as alluding to the state’s diminishing power. It is difficult to quantify how large the problem of human trafficking is because trafficked persons are usually kept out of sight and in inaccessible locations. Human trafficking is an underground activity and the victims are referred to as a “hidden population.” The profits from this industry often go through a process of money laundering, making it difficult to trace the activities of traffickers. Girls and women who are sexually exploited by rape, forced prostitution, or sexual slavery are tainted with social stigmas for the rest of their lives. The link to sexual immorality further exacerbates this stigma. Once that link is created, the damage the woman's reputation can never be undone. In 2003, a study published in the Journal of Trauma Practice found that 89 percent of women in prostitution wanted to escape. Additionally, 60-75 percent of women in prostitution had been raped and 70-95 percent had been physically assaulted.


...
Wikipedia

...