Re-Victimization of Human Trafficking Victims by the Criminal Justice
Introduction
Among the global phenomenon of crime that has recently come to criminal justice is human trafficking in the united states. Despite the significant effort made on the provision of assistance on victims, investigation, and utilization of multiple legal remedies, there are considerable challenges in combating human trafficking. Among the issues that face policymakers, law enforcement, and social service providers in the United States is the lack of accurate data related to the number of victims in human trafficking (Surette, 2018). Such data is the basis that individuals concerned with the issue can lay a foundation on finding an appropriate method of solving the problem, such as allocating resources to address the crime and its victims. In the United States, there are obligations placed on the states by protocol against trafficking in persons laid under article 5 (Hemmings et al., 2016). The obligations stipulate that domestic criminal justice should be used to combat and prevent human trafficking. The implication is that individuals committing trafficking crimes should be subjected to criminal justice and sentenced under domestic law. Therefore, the paper seeks to examine whether criminal justice victimizes human trafficking victims when prosecutors cannot convict human trafficking facilitators.
Human trafficking in the United States
Human trafficking refers to force, coercion, or fraud to gain commercial sex or some labor. Globally, millions of men, women, and children go through the trauma of human trafficking. The act occurs to individuals from any community which encompasses any gender, race, nationality, or age (Nichols & Heil, 2014). In most cases, victims are lured into trafficking situations through the false promise jobs that pay well, romantic relationships, manipulation, or the use of violence. Human trafficking thrives in most cases globally due to fear of the traffickers and law enforcement and language barriers, therefore, deterring victims from seeking help. In some cases, human trafficking may involve movement while not in others, which implies that one can also be a victim of the latter in their hometown.
In the united states and other parts of the globe, the traffickers seek vulnerable individuals in multiple ways, thus making them susceptible. For instance, traffickers look for people who are challenged economically, psychologically, emotionally. Political instability, natural disasters, and lack of social safety net play a considerable role in promoting acts related to human trafficking (Farrell et al., 2013). Consequently, due to the trauma caused by traffickers, individuals in that situation may end up failing to identify themselves as victims, therefore, making them not to seek help. Numerous myths and misconceptions exist on human trafficking. For instance, many people perceive human trafficking as the involvement of women in forced prostitution, which is only one aspect of human trafficking.
The most typical types of human trafficking in the united states include forced labor, sex trafficking, and debt bondage. As per the U.S department of government, forced labor, which involved involuntary servitude, is the most common type of trafficking globally. Sex trafficking consists of forced participation in commercial sex acts out of proportion that affect women and children. In the united states, an individual with age under 18 years is considered a trafficking victim when involved in commercial sex. Transnationally, women and girls make up 80% of the trafficked sex victims (Ambagtsheer, 2019). Children who are interested in sex trafficking add up to 1 million annually. Debt bondage is another type of human trafficking where one is forced to pay a debt. Types of labor that victims may be forced into include construction, health, elder care, hotel services, prostitution, strip dancing, janitorial services, manufacturing, agricultural work, hair, and nail salons. Industries that are mostly involved in human trafficking as per the records include construction, agriculture, catering and restaurants, entertainment, domestic work, and the sex industry. These industries benefit economically from the latter.
Role of criminal justice in combating human trafficking
In the U.S, there exists a wide range of individuals working for the states in the prosecution of offenders associated with human trafficking. Among the criminal justice actors that we shall major on are the prosecutors who have a wide range of responsibilities such as deciding whether there is enough evidence to prosecute the suspects on human trafficking. Consequently, prosecutors cooperate with investigators such as the police, to build a strong case against the accused. Additionally, the brief their evidence in a victim sensitive manner and inform victims of the court procedures. They are also responsible for preventing re-victimization by ensuring that victim rights are protected during the trial process.
Furthermore, prosecutors are responsible for seeking an order from the court that prohibits the publication of the victims and their families’ location and identity. Besides, prosecutors are mandated to apply for reparation or compensation orders when the law demands. The implication is that the responsibility of preventing the re-victimization of human trafficking victims lies in prosecutors (Nichols & Heil, 2014).
Suppose the prosecution of human trafficking facilitators fails. In that case, the victims face a rough time in their lives; for instance, getting back to the community requires both physically and psychologically. Saving the victim’s lives involves the recognition of critical indicators. For example, as an individual intending to save a life, one might query why the victim appears to be disconnected from the community, family, and friends. Also, the presence of multiple bruises in the healing stage can indicate a victim (Ambagtsheer, 2019).
Consequently, the observation of why a child stopped going to school or the dramatic change of behavior are among the key indicators that exist. However, every trafficking act has specific indicators, implying that one requires vast knowledge. Besides, these indicators do not thoroughly prove human trafficking since they may also emanate from other situations. It is estimated that globally, more than 24 million victims make it an issue that requires attention (Bouché, 2011). Furthermore, since scholars have labeled human trafficking as modern-day slavery, then the number of victims supersedes the number of slaves that historically ever existed.
The United States highly discourages the practice of human trafficking, where individuals found guilty face strict measures that have been put into place. Also, federal laws and policies ensure U.S citizens who are victims of human trafficking secure services and benefits available to victims who do not obtain certification from the Department of Health and Human Services. An example of such a regulation is the Justice for Trafficking Victims of 2015. Additionally, the policies address children in foster care by Preventing Sex Trafficking and Strengthening Families Act, Public Law 113-183 (Busch-Armendariz et al., 2014). These are just a few examples of the laws that have been implemented in the United States that play as vital tools for the prosecution of human traffickers. The implication is that the United States stands against human trafficking, as shown by various measures and policies enacted to combat it.
Challenges in combating human trafficking
Despite the criminal justice enacting various measures on how human trafficking can be prevented, the problem seems to be increased over the years. The implication is that criminal justice is not doing enough to curb the issue altogether. The outcome is that human trafficking offenders remain within the community and commit the crime again. Consequently, research shows that victims of human trafficking are not attended to correctly and, in some cases, end up being re-victimized (Ambagtsheer, 2019). For instance, women and children involved in sex trafficking and come out as survivors of a failed prosecution mostly end up in the streets as prostitutes. The police, on the other hand, are mandated to prevent the occurrence of such events. The outcome is that the victims are apprehended and sentenced.
In some cases, the streets victims commit petty crimes and end up being sentenced for committing severe crimes. Such events in the contemporary United States seem to be on the rise, with the victims being individuals formerly involved in trafficking. On the other hand, criminal justice also faces challenges in preventing re-victimization. For instance, identifying human trafficking victims is the basis for gaining an accurate date on the issue. However, human trafficking cases are challenging to identify by law enforcement personnel since disentangling them from offenses like prostitution is problematic. The problem arises later after other criminal justice processes. Also, labor trafficking victims are challenging to identify ad in some cases, in-existent (Nichols & Heil, 2014). Besides, most human trafficking cases are not classified on the latter’s incident reports, making it challenging to identify and investigate them. Delay of state crime reporting programs in creating classification reports for cases from local law enforcement systems also plays a considerable role in criminal justice’s ineffectiveness.
The outcome of such challenges is that the human cases are underreported, and victims undercounted, thus leaving the victims unattended and susceptible to possible re-victimization. The implication is that criminal justice unknowingly re-victimizes human trafficking victims. Consequently, the prosecution process fails due to the challenges outlined above, making the issue severe.
Conclusion
Human trafficking is an issue that has been on the rise in the contemporary world. In the united states, measures and policies have been enacted to combat crime, for instance, protocols against trafficking laid under article 5. Due to multiple challenges, such as charging trafficking offenders with lesser crimes, the victims are left unattended since resources are not allocated to their aid. Consequently, victims of human trafficking find themselves in situations that get them prosecuted and sentenced like prostitution. If the victims are accorded the requisite attention physically and psychologically, they possess a chance to recover and move on with their lives. However, it is not the case. The implication is that a lot needs to be done to help the victims ranging from correctly reporting the claims and, according to them, a high priority during processing. Additionally, the press should look deeper into the issue and expose unattended cases that will probe responsible individuals in the criminal justice to look on them with more seriousness.
References
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