A Cargo of Exploitable Souls Understanding The Market for Human Trafficking

Before traffickers transfer the victim to the destination country, there is an illegal recruitment process that requires the potential victim to pay a certain amount of money. Traffickers use the excuse of the money as training costs, processing fees for temporary visas, visa extension fees, contract fees, and residence deposits (Polaris, 2018). In a Centro de Los Derechos del Migrante (CDM) study, 53% of workers surveyed paid USD 590 before departure. Meanwhile, The National Domestic Workers Alliance's 2017 report said the average cost of the recruitment process was $3,000 - USD 9,000. The high cost of recruitment requires potential victims to borrow funds from other parties, which increases the relationship between recruiters and potential victims. Potential victims seek funding sources through family, friends, and loan sharks (informal), as well as formal loan institutions. According to CDM, 47 percent of respondents have taken out a loan to meet recruitment needs, with interest rates ranging from 5 to 79 percent (Ibid, nd; Polaris Project, 2018). These activities are carried out at certain bank branches to the recruiter's destination account. In the United States, the Polaris Project (2018) found that the agriculture, land cultivation, and hotel industries employ many workers who use temporary visas associated with debt bondage. 

Operational Process 

Analyzing trafficking activities through financial institutions requires complete guidance on potential actions exhibiting trafficking characteristics. In 2014, the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) issued a guideline, which caused suspicious activity reports (SAR's) related to trafficking activities to increase by 900 percent (United Nations University, 2017; Polaris Project, 2018). 

Financial institutions play an important role in detecting trafficking activities because they store data on traffickers and victims. Data stored in financial institutions is very vital in the process of seeing trafficking activities. In an interview with the Thomson Reuters Foundations (2017), Nigel Kirby from the UK's National Crime Agency said financial institutions hold important information regarding perpetrator data, operating processes, and funding processes. This role is the main key in facilitating the police investigation process, which usually only stops at the status of a suspect. Collaboration with various sectors, anti-human trafficking non-profit organizations, and the police can maximize the crucial role of financial institutions. 

Guide in Preventing Trafficking 

Education and knowledge about trafficking in persons for all individuals in society is the primary key in eradicating human trafficking (Chutikul, 2011). Prevention from the demand side relies on education because of its ability to influence behavior. The Office of The High Commissioner for Human Rights (2002) explains that preventive efforts must also include factors that affect the vulnerability of a community group, such as poverty, inequality, discrimination, and other forms of injustice. The process of knowledge transfer and education itself cannot be separated from the role of the mass media. Mass media, including newspapers, radio, articles, magazines, books, films, and the like, are the key to handling human trafficking in the long term. According to Straubhaar et al. (2011), a change in the knowledge, attitudes, emotions, or behavior of each individual or person who consumes the media results from continuous exposure to mass media. All countries can then carry out preventive efforts through education, both source and destination countries. 

Reference

08-58296_tool_9-2.pdf. (n.d.-b). Retrieved November 28, 2021, from https://www.unodc.org/documents/human-trafficking/Toolkit-files/08-58296_tool_9-2.pdf

An Introduction to Human Trafficking: Vulnerability, Impact and Action. (n.d.). 140.

A-Roadmap-for-Systems-and-Industries-to-Prevent-and-Disrupt-Human-Trafficking-Financial-Industry.pdf. (n.d.). Retrieved December 1, 2021, from https://polarisproject.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/A-Roadmap-for-Systems-and-Industries-to-Prevent-and-Disrupt-Human-Trafficking-Financial-Industry.pdf

Awareness and education are key to beating human trafficking. (n.d.). United Nations: Office on Drugs and Crime. Retrieved December 1, 2021, from //www.unodc.org/unodc/en/frontpage/2011/February/awareness-and-education-are-key-to-beating-human-trafficking.html