A Cargo of Exploitable Souls Understanding The Market for Human Trafficking

At the beginning of starting a business, traffickers will incur large costs, in addition to the low commodity sold. The average fixed cost will decrease as the commodity increases, so the average total cost (ATC) curve will decrease. At some point, an increase in the commodity will increase the cost of ATC, and the ATC curve will move up again. The curve faced by traffickers in the short term is then illustrated as follows. 

Short-Run Supply of Human Trafficking(Wheaton et al. 2009)

Maximum profit or minimum loss occurs when marginal revenue equals marginal cost. 

Why is Human Trafficking Market is Demand Derived Rather Than Supply Derived?

Reviewing preventive and repressive efforts in human trafficking from the supply side (human trafficking victims and traffickers) is a complex and lengthy effort because there are too many victims (ICAT, 2014), and efforts to arrest traffickers are futile given the highly organized organization. Arresting one or more traffickers will only result in a change in the functional position of the perpetrator by another person regulated by the organization. The ICAT Report adds that if the program at the individual level is successful, the program is more likely to move the problem to another location than to reduce the size of human trafficking. 

The analysis on the demand side focuses on the discussion of profit which is the primary motive for trafficking. Profit is the main incentive to enter the human trafficking market and take away the fundamental rights of other human beings. Breaking the chain of human trafficking from the demand side means eliminating the human trafficking market, and there is no place for traffickers to seek profit. More focus on the demand side will help the preventive strategy design process more effectively. 

In the case of prostitution, global demand is always there (Aronowitz & Koning, 2014). In the same study, Aronowitz added that the demand for adult men is the primary driver in demand for prostitution of women, girls, boys, and even against fellow adult men. Elimination of the demand for adult men became the primary key to eliminating the overall demand for prostitution. Raymon (2004) emphasizes stopping demand from adult males means cutting off the flow of profits for pimps, recruiters, and traffickers and even destroying the market itself. 

Apart from being influenced by prices, incomes, and preferences, individual and market demands are also strongly influenced by social and cultural contexts. This includes unequal power relations in society, which can then be linked to patriarchal culture. It was validated by Goward (2003) in the Stop the Traffic 2 Conference, 

"... the unequal power relations that exist in patriarchal societies, power relations that sexualize women and objectify them for consumption." 

The role of the banking system in tracking trafficker's activities. 

Recruitment process