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Human trafficking in times of significant humanitarian crises

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Human trafficking exists in virtually every country in some form or another. The easiest targets tend to be the most vulnerable ones — that could mean vulnerable in their life situation (for example, the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children reported that 88% of their endangered runaways are missing from social services), or it could just mean vulnerability at an opportune moment for the trafficker (for example, they hold incriminating photos or video of the victim).

And where are the easiest places to find mass amounts of vulnerable people? Amidst massive humanitarian crises. This could mean natural disasters, violent conflict, or some similar event where you have a massive amount of people, all struggling to get by day after day. They are usually undocumented in some way — they may be registered citizens, but in volatile situations people may not have their identification handy, they may be separated from their group, and they may simply be struggling just to find food or drinkable water. Someone might notice if you don’t come home for a night or two in everyday life, but in situations like these no one is going to notice a missing young girl if no one around knew her to begin with. By the time someone notices, it may be too late.

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  • Michouette

    They seem to instinctively sense fear like animals….and instead of offering sympathetic help, they see it as an opportunity for profit. I sometimes wonder if traffickers grow up knowing what they want to become, or if there are external factors that drive them toward trafficking. We don’t all choose that path.

  • Mic-Mac

    Michouette, I recall from a geo article, about a human trafficker arrested “what can I say; my father was a pimp, my mother was a prostitute…that’s all I have ever known.” Look at the gangs today! Any one that can commit the crimes that they do for initiation, and fun, would have no conscious when it comes to trafficking a child. The sad but true facts of the scum side of humanity.

  • Joy B

    Please keep writing about this, it’s something worth repeating and updating. Especially with our own immigration issues- a lot of people have no clue how vulnerable trying to get to the US and cross the border illegally make people, how often they end up victims and how many people here are being trafficked even as Nannies and Maids or Nail Tech’s. To add to your points on vulnerability, it’s frightening how easily a person can become a victim, especially young women. One of my friends has been sharing articles since her 18 y/old cousin disappeared and was found dead in an abandoned property a few weeks ago. Turns out that there is a pattern of young women, mostly white from 15-30, in the Chicago area disappearing but they are not classed as runaways, and a few bodies turn up in advanced states of decomp. People here jump to a serial killer, but I think human trafficking is probably more likely.

  • Mic-Mac

    Thank you Luke. I like that you continue to do these ongoing articles on human trafficking. It’s horrendous that it goes on around the globe which is why we should never lose focus or stop talking about it.

  • James Walper

    The scary thing about the women being sold into prostitution is its generational now days. There is girls growing up not knowing who their parents are, when or where they were born.