Globalization And Its Impact on Human Trafficking In Mexico
In Henrietta L. Moore’s, “Global Anxieties: Concept-metaphors and pre-theoretical commitments in anthropology,” she defines globalization or the global as “just such a concept-metaphor, a space of theoretical abstraction and processes, experiences and connections in the world, important not only to social scientists but now part of most people’s imagined and experienced worlds.”[1] The notion of the global is associated with aspects such as mass migration, mass media, flexible capital, global consumerism, transnational communities, etc. In turn, globalization is associated with theoretical abstraction since it does not involve direct face-to-face interactions and is also extended over space and time.[2] The above are all illustrations of how globalization connects the world. Globalization, like most things can be both beneficial and detrimental. Along with all of the positive aspects of globalization, there are negative aspects such as the trafficking of persons and drugs. Trafficking tends to distort national boundaries and borders, because it has no limit and has become one of the most dangerous and lucrative crimes in the world. Although trafficking is not new to Mexico, it is a relatively recent phenomenon in regards to the scholarly research being conducted on the subject. That is, the following segment will analyze scholarly research on trafficking in Mexico and how it relates to the ambiguity of globalization.
It is internationally recognized that trafficking in persons is modern-day slavery, and involves victims who are coerced into sexual exploitation and/or labor. Human trafficking for the purpose of sex trafficking is defined by the Anti-Trafficking Training Program as “the recruitment, harboring, transportation, provision, or obtaining of a person for the purpose of a commercial sex act.”[3] UNICEF reports that over 1.2 million children are sexually exploited each year. Moreover, according to U.S. Department of State approximately 800,000 individuals are trafficked across national borders, which fails to include those trafficked domestically within their country of origin. The majority of transnational trafficking victims are females, and it is argued that approximately 50% are minors.[4] Human trafficking is not only a global phenomenon, but is also a high volume and extremely lucrative crime. The United Nations estimates that “the total market value of illicit human trafficking is $32 billion – about $10 billion is derived from the initial ‘sale’ of individuals, with the remainder representing the estimated profits from the activities or goods produced by the victims in this barbaric crime.”[5] That is, human trafficking is the second most lucrative crime in the world. The most lucrative crime is drug trafficking.[6]
Renovo Media: What FBI is calling the largest human trafficking operation to end in charges in the United States.
Human trafficking along with drug trafficking are not only a global phenomenon, but also a high volume domestic occurrence, in regards to trafficking in North America, and specifically Mexico. In “Trafficking for Sexual Exploitation” Martti Lehti and Kauko Aromaa argue that approximately 60 – 80 percent of trafficking is domestic, and argue that current estimates of human trafficking underestimate exploitation of minors. The article focuses on the vacillation of trafficking of persons in Western countries, including those in North America. North America according to Lehti and Aromaa, is a major destination and transit area. Still, there is also large-scale internal trafficking with the main destinations being the United States and Canada. The situation in Mexico however is very different from the other two countries. Although still a major destination area, Mexico is also a major source and transit country. That is, the central trafficking routes from Eastern Europe, Latin America, and Asia go through Mexico before they arrive at their destination in the United States.[7]
Although there are not an abundant amount of scholarly articles and literature exclusively on human trafficking in Mexico (it seems as if the issue is overshadowed by drug trafficking in many cases), there are of course many organizations and non-profit advocacy groups such as iEmpathize that focus on spreading awareness. In addition, there are individuals that are dedicated to raising awareness through not only activism, but also education and knowledge on the primacy of sexual exploitation in Mexico.
In “A Conceptual Analysis of Women Trafficking and Its Origin Typology,” Arunkumar Acharya explains the relevance of migration in regards to trafficking of women and constructs a typology considering migration patterns from the origin area to the destination area. Acharya focuses on developing a conceptual definition of women trafficking, because although sex trafficking is becoming an imperative global problem, “its lack of a conceptual definition makes it hard to distinguish between illegal migration and trafficking.”[8] By way of explanation, even though Mexico has ratified the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime, and its Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in People, Especially Women and Children, which states that Mexico is legally bound to put its provisions into practice by applying them as part of its domestic law, “trafficking is not yet duly criminalized in accordance with current international standards.”[9] Furthermore, because Mexico has not clearly defined sexual exploitation and trafficking in the domestic law, there is thus a lack of uniformity in the criminalization of trafficking offenses at the state level.
In “Research on Human Trafficking in North America: A Review of Literature,” Elzbieta Gozdziak explains that the lack of literature on human trafficking in Mexico as opposed to that of the United States and Canada is because the Mexican government has supported few efforts to limit and eventually eradicate human trafficking. Gozdziak provides information on non-governmental organizations that have created projects to analyze and eliminate human trafficking in all three nations in North America. She explains “Mexico is the largest source of undocumented migrants and a major transit point for third-country migration to the United States, but these statistics usually refer to illegal and smuggled migrants without making any attempt to even hypothesize whether any of them might be victims of trafficking.”[10] As a result, it is suggested that NGOs need to direct research to exploring policy shortcomings and the emergence of organized trafficking, rather than relying on the legal frameworks already in existence. Namely Gozdziak proposes to establish more systematic methods of data collection and evaluating the impact that human trafficking has on the lives of victims, their families, and consequently their communities.[11]
Elzbieta Gozdziak proposes to develop new directions in the research of human trafficking specifically in Mexico by constructing different systematic methods of data collection. In congruence with her suggestions I feel as if it would be beneficial to at first combine human trafficking research with drug trafficking research in Mexico, since drug trafficking is not only prevalent in Mexico, but also because the literature is already there, and the two are often linked to one another. In “Sex Trafficking: The ‘Other’ Crisis in Mexico,” Amy Risley explains that while drug trafficking is a major problem, it is not the only crisis situation in Mexico. Risley outlines “the nature of sex trafficking internationally,” summarizing that “this crime against humanity, generally victimizing women and girls, continues to grow.”[12] She argues that there is an abundance of research on drug-related violence and trafficking in Mexico, whereas research on sex trafficking in Mexico is only beginning to grow. She focuses her argument specifically on Mexico because not only is it a destination country, but also is a major origin and transit country. That is, although drug trafficking is a major problem in Mexico, so is human trafficking, and Risley contends “deeply rooted gender inequality and weak laws, in addition to high monetary remuneration, are to blame.”[13] For that reason, she suggests that more theoretically sound, empirically supported research is needed in order to develop political and social change in regards to women’s rights in Mexico.
In regards to how drug trafficking has affected human trafficking, in “Female Drug Smugglers on the U.S. – Mexico Border: Gender, Crime, and Empowerment,” Howard Campbell explains the various degrees of female drug trafficking and how those factors influence their lives. He explicates that economic and cultural factors such as social class strongly influence female involvement in drug trafficking in Mexico. Campbell focuses on each social class and argues that higher class females within drug trafficking receive not only greater economic benefits, but also may achieve power and a relative independence from male dominance. This of course is not the case for “low-level mules” and those who rather than smuggling drugs are just negatively impacted by the repercussions of drug trafficking.[14] That is, according to Campbell this category of women who are associated with those in drug trafficking, but are not smugglers themselves are often victims of female violence, including sexual violence and consequently human trafficking. Even more disturbing, often times high-level female smugglers exploit other low-level mules and “fourth category women” into sex trafficking as a vehicle for power and ironically, female empowerment.[15]
It is estimated that 14,500 - 17,500 victims are trafficked into the U.S. each year.
Human trafficking is but one example of the harmful effects of globalization. It involves mass migration of women and children for the purpose of sexual and labor exploitation. Additionally, it involves global consumerism in that this is a global phenomenon that is funded by consumerism and has no boundaries. Flexible capital is also relevant in that in regards to a capital structure the cost of capital (victim in this case) is minimum, while the market price share (value upon trafficking) is maximum. Furthermore, human trafficking impacts transnational communities in that traffickers and trafficking organizations have grasped the opportunities offered by advances in not only transportation but also communication technology. That is, this global connectivity on transporting women from origin to transit to destination areas has a definite impact on politics, economics and society as a whole. By way of explanation, it is disappointing that when researching the negative aspects of globalization it seems as if trafficking [in regards to Mexico] is not a major issue, when in fact it is an extremely high volume and lucrative global crime that is a direct correlation of globalization and the global.
[1] Henrietta Moore (2004). “Global Anxieties: concept-metaphors and pre-theoretical commitments in anthropology.” Anthropological Theory. 4 (1): 71.
[2] Ibid., “Global Anxieties.” 74.
[3] “Explore the Issue: Trafficking.” iEmpathize. Web. 11 May 2011. <http://www.iemp athize.org/>. Sex Trafficking.
[4] Ibid., iEmpathize. Explore the Issue: FAQ’s.
[5] Ibid., iEmpathize. Explore the Issue: FAQ’s.
[6] United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime. Web. 11 May 2011. <http://www.unodc .org/>.
[7] Martti Lehti and Kauko Aromaa (2006). “Trafficking for Sexual Exploitation”. Crime and Justice. The University of Chicago Press: 34 (1): 133-227.
[8] Arunkumar Acharya (2009). “Un Analisis Conceptual del Trafico de Mujeres y su Tipologia de Origen”. Andamios: Revista de Investigacion Social 6 (12): 299-322.
[9] “CEDAW: Country Reports.” Welcome to the United Nations: It’s Your World. 18 Dec. 2007. Web. 10 May 2011. <http://www.un.org/womenwatch/daw/cedaw/reports.htm>. Mexico, 2006.
[10] Elzbieta Gozdziak, M (2005). “Research on Human Trafficking in North America: A Review of Literature”. International migration (0020-7985), 43 (1-2): 110.
[11] Ibid., “Research on Human Trafficking in North America”. 122.
[12] Amy Risley (03/2010). “Sex Trafficking: The “Other” Crisis in Mexico?”. South Eastern Latin Americanist (0049-1527), 54(1): 99.
[13] Ibid., “Sex Trafficking: The “Other” Crisis in Mexico?” 114.
[14] Howard Campbell (2008). “Female Drug Smugglers on the U.S. – Mexico Border: Gender, Crime, and Empowerment”. Anthropological Quarterly 81 (1): 245.
[15] Ibid., “Female Drug Smugglers on the U.S. – Mexico Border: Gender, Crime, and Empowerment”. 249.
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