In Research trends on human trafficking: A bibliometric analysis using the Scopus database, author Sweileh claims that human trafficking has been and remains a social crime around the world today. It has widely spread to different countries and is being practiced by almost every crime organization (Sweileh, 2018). In recent years, human trafficking has become a significant source of income for criminal organizations, making it one of the leading crime business globally. The modern ways of how countries and people interact have a huge contribution to human trafficking activities and made it easier for criminal organizations to continue with this business. Sweileh (2018) notes that human trafficking has become a serious danger to worldwide security and health. It is a crime against human dignity as it undermines human rights like freedom to choose and live freely.
Human trafficking started as a type of slavery of white women in the US. The females who were trafficked were mainly used as commercial sex worker. Girls and women were forcibly moved either through deceit or drugs (Sweileh, 2018). However, during the 21st century, the issue of human trafficking had a slight shift in its focus (Sweileh, 2018). Human trafficking was not only amongst women and girls but also included male children. In this case, human trafficking shifted race, gender and age and not of a specific age, gender, race or ethnicity. Currently, the purpose of human trafficking has expanded and is not only for commercial sexual manipulation but also for forced labor or services.
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Human trafficking is not only a social problem, but there is multidimensionality to it. Different ways have been used to frame human trafficking around the world (Sweileh, 2018). Moreover, human trafficking has different perspectives and views from various people around the world today. Human trafficking has been said to be a gendered sex trafficking issue, a labor and human rights issue and a security issue (Sweileh, 2018). Moreover, people frame it as a foreign issue as well as a transnational and immigration movement issue. When studied deeply, all the problems mentioned above are a cause and impact of human trafficking in its way.
Therefore it can be summarized that human trafficking is a critical issue in society given that it is a forced activity. There are various strategies and ways people find themselves being victims of human trafficking. Some may be given false promises, especially of employment as some may be drugged and moved without their consent. In whatever case, victims of human trafficking have to be supported and given a hand to fight for their rights .
Analysis
Human trafficking can be analyzed and studied from different social perspectives and theories. The social functionalists, conflict theory and social interactionism are the major social theories that can be used to analyze such a case (Lerum & Brents, 2016). In this case, social functionalist is best-suited theory to explain the issue of human trafficking. The social functionalist theory assumes that every part of society has its own function to maintain an equilibrium state in society (Lerum & Brents, 2016). Therefore when a part of society fails to meet its obligation, small adjustments are made to return the society into an equal state. Unlike conflict theory, functional theory functions on the basis that human beings are caring and cooperative as each plays their role in maintaining that balanced state of society.
The social functionalist theory explains how certain human violations, such as human trafficking justified. For instance, it is believed that gender roles existed to maintain equilibrium in society (Winterdyk, 2019). Men were known to engage in labor for wages and also wars as women take care of homes and nurture tasks. In this case, women trafficking was done to meet the sexual needs of men, especially those who were at war. On the other hand, male children trafficking was done so that they can help in meeting the needs of the militant groups (Winterdyk, 2019). Furthermore, social functionalist explains that limited and high demand for organs is a cause of organ trafficking.
Conclusion and Recommendation
Solutions to human trafficking call for combinational input from social experts, the government and other stakeholders to share ideas on how the issue can be averted. In other words, According to the social functionalist theory, human violations under human trafficking are as a result of lack of or limited human needs. The theory asserts that the act occurs because there is a demand for the services on the other end. Other means of preventing human trafficking can be through the creation of Anti-trafficking organizations, empowerment and awareness about the effects of human trafficking. Creating awareness will help people distinguish traffickers and the tactics and strategies they use. Through this, people can be able to avoid being victims of human trafficking.
References
Lerum K, Brents B.G. (2016). Sociological Perspectives on Sex Work and Human Trafficking. Sociological Perspectives, 59 (1). doi: https://doi.org/10.1177/0731121416628550
Sweileh W. M. (2018). Research trends on human trafficking: A bibliometric analysis using the Scopus database. Globalization and health , 14 (1), 106. doi:10.1186/s12992-018-0427-9
Winterdyk J.A. (2019). Explaining Human Trafficking: Modern Day Slavery. In J. Winterdyk J. Jones (eds). The Palgrave International Handbook of Human Trafficking (1-18). Palgrave Macmillan, Cham .
