Human trafficking is a common issue and world crisis. The FBI reports that cases of human trafficking increasing in the last few years ( Farrell et al., 2019) . Although it is common, many people have only come across the cases through the scenes on movies. Interestingly, the world perceives human trafficking in relation to trade involving children and women who are then subjected to sex. However, human trafficking is a broad issue that rates as the second form of trafficking after drugs. It extends to the case of labor reasons where the victims are subjected to work in various setups such as in manufacturing, agriculture, domestic service, mining, and construction sectors. The paper will address the deontology and virtue ethics theories, in addition to reflecting on the egoism perspective in discussing the ethical issue connected to human trafficking.
Ethical Concern
Human trafficking refers to the deportation, recruitment or harboring of people through coercion, threat, fraud, power abuse or deceit where the person receiving them will have control over them in addition to their exploitation ( Graycar, 2017) . It is unethical to act that denies people their freedom by forcing them into things without their consent. Generally, the aims of human traffickers are focused on making a personal gain. The disregard aspect makes it a morally wrong act by the perpetrators and beneficiaries. Using human beings as “products” to make profits by forcefully shipping and selling them to others who use them as slaves amount to human rights violation and absence of ethical values.
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In the wake of the issue, the government has come up with various regulations and laws to curb the act. For instance, the federal government operates with laws such as the Trafficking Victims Protection Act (TVPA) of 2000 that aims at discouraging trafficking issue ( Reauthorization, 2008). It protects and prevents the citizens in addition to ensuring prosecutions of the accused operators of the act. In the past, human trafficking enjoyed success through deceitful means hence making, many people to end up victims. Unfortunately, people tend to think that human trafficking acts happen in other places and thus remain less sensitive when the threat poses to them hence ending up as victims. Therefore, it led to the separation of individuals from their families. Since people are subjected to forced duties, the victims have no communication abilities to reach out for help making it difficult to regain their freedom. On the other hand, the affected families are forced to move on with their lives as they can only await the government efforts to reach out to their loved ones. Separating people from their families creates psychological torture to these victims who end up being subjected to hardship and unpaid labor.
Virtue Ethics
Virtue ethics is an ethical theory that emphasizes the role of character and the moral philosophy rather than the duty of an individual. Based on this theory, a virtuous person will act in a particular way as they will wish to be done unto them. Generally, traffickers target the weak people in society, especially children, as they have no protection or means for calling for help. Children are easy targets as they are deceived with small gifts and find themselves in the wrong hands. Again, the vulnerability of the poor and unemployed people is very high to the human trafficking vice. The traffickers will give a great offer that promises a better life to the victim yet being a witting form of deceiving them. However, it results in abuse of the victims, which is unethical practice on humanity.
The virtue ethics theory revolved on the judgment on a person’s actions towards others concerning their character and compared it to the normal expected behavior. It points out on the motivations that would drive others into things that they do not agree since they have no knowledge of the consequences but come to realize later that it was not as they expected ( Annas, 2015) . Human trafficking comes against the expectations of the victims, where they find themselves in situations they would never have imagined. Human trafficking under virtuous ethics can be viewed to be unethical because it is an act that a virtuous person would not expect under normal circumstances. It is an act that subjects other not only to the physical but also psychological torture. A virtuous person cannot do an act that subjects another human being to any suffering or torture as in the case of human trafficking.
Deontology
According to Rothman et al. (2017), cases revolving on human trafficking have increased with over 2800 investigation being recorded in 2015 alone. It is clear that the human traffickers have no concerns on the people they subject to their deals but only cares about their gains. Mosser (2013) argues that a person should not take advantage of others to make their gains without considering others. However, this is the opposite case of human trafficking operators. The argument explores the issues of using others to make a certain gain through deceiving, where they do not know about what is happening ( Campana and Varese, 2016) . It is true to consider the human traffickers as individuals do not respect other people; thus, the subject as victims of their acts but are only interested in their selfish motives.
According to the deontological theory, a person will adhere to the duties and obligations they have on others ( Hunt and Vitell, 2016) . It focuses on the relationship between the duty and morality of human actions. It holds that some acts are morally good because they are within the obligation of an individual. In this case, every action taken must be ethically right. Regarding the actions taken by an individual, one must uphold their said duties in addition to adhering to their obligations. However, human trafficking takes a different turn of things from what is promised. In this case, the victims find themselves in things such as forced labor instead of good fortunes promised by the traffickers. Human trafficking, in itself, is an illegal activity that goes on without the knowledge of the authority. Human beings have an obligation to respect the laws and strain from legally wrong acts. Because human trafficking is not within the obligation of any individual, it becomes ethically wrong under the deontology theory.
Ethical Egoism Perspective
All the operators of human trafficking exhibit similar ethical egoism. Ethical egoism is a perspective where the moral agents act in a way that only leads to personal benefits in satisfaction of their self-interest ( Machan, 2015). With the case of human traffickers’ acts, such individuals act in the high and sole interest of their gain. Although promoting ones goodness is right, it becomes unethical in case it happens at the expense of other people. Traffickers take advantage of other people and will never care about them in any way. The key motive of the human traffickers is to benefit by selling them as slaves to their clients. They never look at the interests of the people they are trafficking as long as their self-interests are met.
Conclusion
Human trafficking remains a major global problem and an ethical as well as a legal issue that requires immediate attention. It is an illegal and unethical act that should be discouraged by all concerned and relevant groups and agencies. Based on the virtue ethics theory, a virtuous person would not engage in an action such as human trafficking which subjects people to torture. On the deontology theory, human trafficking is illegal, and no one has a moral duty to engage in illegal activity. The human traffickers usually focus on their self-interests and personal gain without considering what happens to the other people, a perspective that further makes the act illegal. Awareness promotion, enhanced strictness with regulations and coordination between different countries can play a key role in helping eliminate this unethical act that has had serious psychological and physical harms on the lives of the victims.
References
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Campana, P., & Varese, F. (2016). Exploitation in human trafficking and smuggling. European Journal on Criminal Policy and Research , 22 (1), 89-105.
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Graycar, A. (2017). Trafficking in human beings. In Migration, Culture Conflict and Crime (pp. 23-42). Routledge.
Hunt, S. D., & Vitell, S. J. (2016). Personal Moral Codes and the Hunt-Vitell Theory of Ethics: Why Do People’s Ethical Judgments Differ?. Business ethics: New Challenges for Business Schools and Corporate Leaders (pp. 30-49). Routledge.
Mosser, K. (2013). Ethics and social responsibility. (2nd ed.) [Electronic version]. Retrieved from https://content.ashford.edu Bridgepoint Education, Inc.
Reauthorization, V. P. (2008). William Wilberforce Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act of 2008. Public law , 110 , 457.
Rothman, E. F., Stoklosa, H., Baldwin, S. B., Chisolm-Straker, M., Price, R. K., & Atkinson, H. G. (2017). Public Health Research Priorities to Address US Human Trafficking. American Journal Of Public Health, 107(7), 1045-1047.
