Why are People Trafficked?
People are trafficked primarily to exploit them for various profitable activities, all of which amount to forms of modern-day slavery. At the most basic level, traffickers see vulnerable individuals—whether due to economic hardship, political instability, lack of education, or social marginalization—and coerce them into situations where the traffickers can benefit financially or otherwise. Exploitation can range from smaller-scale forced labor or domestic servitude to larger, more systematic operations involving sexual exploitation, debt bondage, organ trafficking, or forced participation in illegal acts.
Bonded/Forced Labor:
Individuals are compelled to work to repay debts incurred by their families. This can occur in various industries such as construction, agriculture, horticulture, marine farming, textiles, catering, nail bars, care homes, cleaning, benefit fraud, and even in illicit activities like cannabis cultivation.
Sexual Exploitation:
Mostly women and children are coerced or deceived by forcible or deceptive recruitment into engaging in prostitution or other forms of sexual exploitation. This encompasses acts of child abuse and the production and distribution of abusive images involving children.
Criminal Exploitation:
Victims are either forced or coerced due to vulnerabilities to participate in various illegal activities, including pickpocketing, shoplifting, cannabis cultivation, and involvement in County Lines operations. County Lines refers to the exploitation of young people by drug gangs who use them as drug runners to deliver drugs or collect payments.
Domestic Servitude:
Victims are subjected to conditions of servitude within private homes. This includes performing domestic chores, caring for young children, and enduring mistreatment, humiliation, and excessively long working hours with little or no pay. Domestic servitude may also involve sexual and physical abuse.
Organ Harvesting:
This type of trafficking involves the exploitation of individuals for the purpose of harvesting their internal organs. The illicit organ trade thrives due to high demand for kidneys and other valuable organs, some of which can be removed with relatively low risk to the donor's life. However, this cruel practice often also results in the loss of innocent lives.
Other Reasons:
Other forms of exploitation associated with trafficking include benefit and housing fraud, illegal adoption, forced or illegal marriages (including underage marriages), domestic servitude, sexual exploitation, begging, and female genital mutilation.
Overall, the “why” of human trafficking boils down to profit and exploitation. Traffickers prey on people’s vulnerabilities to coerce and control them, capitalizing on the victims’ labor or bodies for financial gain. This exploitation can appear in smaller, hidden forms or at a massive, organized scale—and dismantling it requires both increased public awareness and strong legal measures to protect potential victims and punish perpetrators.