Wednesday, December 19, 2012

How does human trafficking harm the economy?

Roughly 2.5 million people are victims of human trafficking each year. This is roughly the population of Utah.

There is an important difference between migrant smuggling and human trafficking. Migrant smuggling involves the consent of the individual, and involves illegally crossing borders. Human trafficking is defined as “the act of recruiting, transporting, transferring, harboring or receiving persons for the purpose of exploitation, by using or threatening force, coercion, abduction, fraud, deception, or abuse of power against them, or by giving or receiving payment or benefit to those who control them.”

A 2005 International Labor Organization report estimates that more than 2.5 million people are exploited as victims of human trafficking, 1.4 million sexually and 1.1 million in other economic forms. The ILO calculates human trafficking to be a $31.6 billion industry. However, with regards to labor and production, human trafficking damages both the country of origin and the destination. The country of origin loses production capacity, thereby taking away potential GDP. In the destination country, forced labor depresses wages and, in the case of child labor, reduces potential GDP in the future by restricting access to education.

Source: 24/7 Wall St. (http://247wallst.com/2011/02/10/the-12-most-profitable-international-crimes/)

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