A Complex Phenomenon

As the subject of much empirical research, academic debate and advocacy, human trafficking has been deliberated by a range of disciplines and perspectives that intersect and engage with the issue (Lopez & Minassians, 2017: 2; Laczko, 2007: 42; Lee, 2007: 1-2). Fields such as criminology, politics, law, human rights, sociology, gender and public health are but some of these, with the problem interpreted as, amongst other things, human trafficking as slavery, illegal migration, transnational organised crime, a threat to national sovereignty and security, a labour issue, a violation of human rights or a combination of the aforementioned issues (Lee, 2007: 1-2). Transnational human trafficking has also “raised deep divisions on issues of

principles, theories, perceptions, and the strategy to address it” (Sawadogo, 2012: 95).

The phenomenon is convolutedly shaped by, and linked to, global migration dynamics, including the “interests, capacities, and structures of nation states, international and

non-governmental organisations, private companies and criminal groups” (Danziger,

Martens & Guajardo, 2009: 261).

As an international problem, human trafficking is by no means a recent phenomenon (Kabance, 2014: 5; Allais, 2013: 42; Morawska, 2007: 93) and occurs in and between many countries throughout the world (Franco, 2015: 438). With the exception of Antarctica, it has affected every continent on the globe and continues to exist throughout the history of mankind (Kabance, 2014: 5). More than 100 years of global concern regarding the trafficking in human beings have been documented, with Aromaa (2007: 13) pointing to a meeting that took place as early as 1913 between alliances of anti-trafficking groups that discussed human trafficking combating strategies in Madrid.

A variety of exploitative purposes emanate from human trafficking, which include sex trafficking, forced labour, forced begging, forced marriage, involuntary domestic servitude, the harvesting of organs, trafficking in body parts and child soldiering (Prinsloo & Ovens, 2015; Kruger & Oosthuizen, 2011: 51-54; Cluver, Bray & Dawes,

2007: 259). As trafficking is a global crime, victims of trafficking can be found in the world’s restaurants, fisheries, brothels, farms and homes, among many other forms of exploitative activities (UNODC, 2012: 1). Human trafficking for sexual exploitation and forced labour is one of the most rapid growth areas of international criminal activity and one that is of increasing concern to the international community (UNODC, 2012: 1; Miko, 2003: ii). The trafficking of men, according to Allais (2013: 40), is a reality that is underreported due to men traditionally being overlooked as potential victims of trafficking.

The complexities associated with human trafficking as a phenomenon and the inherent challenges linked to efforts to combat the problem are indeed multilayered and enmeshed. The criminal and subversive nature of the crime (Kingshott, 2015; Human Sciences Research Council (HSRC), 2010: iv; Nair, 2010: 40) is often enabled and perpetuated by corruption (Swart, 2011: 26; Transparency International, 2011: 1; UNODC, 2011: 3; UN.GIFT, 2008: 2). Broader focus on the nexus between corruption and human trafficking is much needed (Transparency International, 2011: 1) as corruption is a fundamental reason for the continuation of trafficking and the ability of traffickers to operate with impunity (Whittles, 2017: 12). Furthermore, corruption facilitates the crime and serves as a catalyst for the flow of people by destabilising democracies, deteriorating the rule of law and stalling development. As an operational requirement, trafficking relies on pay-offs to police, judges and ministers at all levels (Transparency International, 2011: 1). Police, immigration officials and the prosecution also habitually fail to identify victims of trafficking (Farrel, Owens & McDevitt, 2014: 139; Shrivankova, 2006: 230) whilst victims themselves often don’t consider reporting as an option due to the perceived, and often real, disincentive for approaching the authorities (Holmes, 2010: 6). The underreporting of the crime is also fuelled by the complex relationships that frequently exist between victims and the perpetrators of human trafficking (Verhoeven & Van Gestel, 2011: 148; Holmes, 2010: 7).

The conflation of trafficking and prostitution (South African Law Reform Commission, 2017: 72; Berman, 2010: 105; Gould, 2010a: 32; Zheng, 2010: 2) is another compounding factor to both an understanding of human trafficking as a complex phenomenon and the formulation of combating efforts. The conflation of trafficking and prostitution is also one of the prickly issues that make up the complex global narrative

around prostitution legislation (South African Law Reform Commission, 2017: 72; Tyler, 2015; Cho, Dreher & Neumayer, 2013: 75; Jakobsson & Kotsadam, 2013: 16), which clearly fits in with Zheng’s (2010: 2) reference to complicated processes in which anti-trafficking, human rights and social justice are intersected. The author underscores opposing definitions of human trafficking and the complex ways in which the intertwined configurations of race, gender, ethnicity and nationality muddle the current dominant discourse on trafficking (Zheng, 2010: 2). Harmful and distorted cultural practices frequently intersect with the crime of human trafficking (Prinsloo & Ovens, 2015; Van der Watt & Ovens, 2012: 19; Ngcukana, 2009: 1; Olujuwon, 2008: 25) and may include the trading of young daughters for the payment of family debt. Daughters are subsequently bounded by labour to support families or forced into child marriages (Olujuwon, 2008: 25). The demand for exploitative services, socio- economic instability, social dislocation and gender inequality in transitioning countries (Sawadogo, 2012: 102; Bermudez, 2008: 12; Haynes, 2004: 223; Singh, 2004: 343) also nurture an environment in which the crime of human trafficking thrives.

The varied and multilayered harms that are experienced by victims of trafficking are significant. Vandenberg and Skinner (2015: 7) point to the fact that victims do not experience harm in “stovepipes”, but rather that their physical, mental, emotional, legal and financial needs all merge into one. Control and power over victims are unequivocally a key characteristic of human trafficking (Stuurman, 2004: 5), which costs the victim greatly as they are harmed both psychologically and physically (Shelley, 2012: 243). As highlighted by Dando, Walsh and Brierly (2016: 1):

“…in contrast to historical slavery systems characterised by whips, chains, and physical imprisonment, modern day slavery is less overt, typically with no obvious visible signs of restraint. Rather, psychological abuse, coercion and mental manipulation play a powerful role in forcing modern day slaves to work in a variety of industries.”

A range of manipulative, violent and threatening acts is commonplace in most trafficking scenarios (Aronowitz, 2009: 58) and includes a variety of abuses such as the confiscation of travelling documents, fraud, deception, linguistic and social isolation, assaults, rape, fears of deportation, and threats of harm to family members (Lopez & Minassians, 2017: 10; Aronowitz, 2009: 47; Logan, Walker & Hunt, 2009: 12;

Haynes, 2004: 226; Kelly, 2002: 34; Hughes, 2000: 635). Debt bondage (Moore & Goldberg, 2015: 27; Kreston, 2007: 41; Hughes, 2000: 633), a control measure widely used by traffickers to subjugate victims, is defined in the 1956 Supplementary Convention on the Abolition of Slavery, Slave Trade and Institutions and Practices similar to Slavery. It is described as:

“the status or condition arising from a pledge by a debtor of his personal services or of those of a person under his control as security for a debt, if the value of those services as reasonably assessed is not applied towards the liquidation of the debt or the length and nature of those services are not

respectively limited and defined” (United Nations, 1956).

The administration of drugs by traffickers is commonly used either to create an addiction among victims or to fuel existing dependencies (Shelley, 2012: 241; Aronowitz, 2009: 47; Gajic-Veljanoski & Stewart, 2007: 344; Haynes, 2004: 226). Drugs are used to recruit new victims, and to retain them in a subjugated state whilst optimising their exploitation (Shelley, 2012: 241). The use of ‘juju’2 _{or voodoo rituals} as a control mechanism over trafficking victims has also been documented (Dunkerley, 2017; Van der Watt & Kruger, 2017; Baarda, 2016; Taliani, 2012; United Nations Interregional Crime and Justice Research Institute (UNICRI), 2010: 38; Mojeed, 2008; Aghatise, 2004; Van Dijk, 2001). The use of juju ceremonies creates multilayered domination by the trafficker and compounds the subjugation of the victim (Tondo & Kelly, 2017; Baarda, 2016: 259; Taliani, 2012: 598).

In the first attempt to empirically differentiate methods of control over victims of human trafficking for sexual exploitation, Ioannou and Oostinga (2015) explored Canter’s Victim Role model (Canter & Youngs, 2012; Canter, 1994), used in studying violent interpersonal offences such as rape and sexual homicide, to interpret and differentiate between sex trafficking control methods by classifying these into the ‘victim as object’, ‘victim as vehicle’ and ‘victim as person’ modes. From a sample consisting of 137 victims of human trafficking and data originating from 37 completed criminal

2 _{An oath-taking ceremony, usually led by a juju priest, takes place during which samples of human}

tissue from the victims such as menstrual blood, nails, as well as scalp, underarm and pubic hair are collected. These have symbolic meanings which are used to manipulate the victim and instil acute fear and a belief that harm will come to them should they renege on the oath undertaken during the ceremony.

investigations, Ioannou and Oostinga (2015: 43) found that the most dominant method of control, which occurred in almost three-quarters of the cases, was the ‘victim as object’ mode. This mode relied on physical forms of control and included the use or threat of physical violence, surveillance, confinement, isolation of the victim, debt bondage and confiscation of travel documents. The ‘victim as vehicle’ control mode was one in which the emphasis was on emotional and psychological control, with a lack of concern or compassion for the suffering of the victim as characteristic of this form. Finally, the ‘victim as person’ style was one where control was attained through manipulation and which pulled together a coercive rather than physical force approach to control the victim with a form of empathy scarcity based upon a general undervaluing of the individual. The victim remained a person to be handled and manipulated (Ioannou & Oostinga, 2015: 44).

Human trafficking therefore represents a truly global problem, with the subjugation of one human being by another as its essence. Many forms of human trafficking exist and victims of the crime can be found in almost every global industry imaginable. It is also common knowledge that the problem is complex and multifaceted with no clear solution. In the next section one of the most contentious and frustrating questions regarding human trafficking will be discussed, which is: ‘How big is the problem really?’