Tackling human trafficking

• Published date: 02 February 2023
• Publication title: Nigeria - The Nation

Human trafficking is the recruitment, transportation, transfer, harbouring of people through force, fraud or deception, with the aim of exploiting them for profit.

Men, women and children of all ages and from all backgrounds can become victims of this crime, which occurs in every region of the world.

Mostly, people who are most vulnerable to human trafficking are women and children and they are subjected into forced labour, slavery, servitude and prostitution. The people who engage in human trafficking business are called human traffickers.

According to NAPTIP statistics from 2019-2022, 61 per cent of human trafficking in the country happens internally, while 39 per cent is generated from cross-border trafficking, therefore there is need to stop and curb this evil act.

Human trafficking violates human rights and traffickers use their wealth and power to deceive and force the poor, less privileged, ignorant and vulnerable people in the society into all kinds of human exploitation that violates the fundamental human rights of the people involved.The traffickers often use violence or fraudulent employment agencies and fake promises of education and job opportunities to trick and coerce their victims.

Some of the signs of human beings trafficked are people living with employer, poor living conditions, multiple people in cramped space, inability to speak to individual alone, physical abuse, among others.

Political instability, civil unrest, internal armed conflict and natural disasters may result in an increase in trafficking. The destabilisation and displacement of populations increase their vulnerability to exploitation and abuse through trafficking and forced labour. Above many other factors that cause human trafficking are the traffickers themselves. Beyond cultural practices, the profit, vulnerabilities of certain people groups, lack of human rights,traffickers are the ones who choose to exploit people for their own gain.

Meanwhile,some of the effects of human trafficking are physical and psychological abuse, such as rape, beating and torture ,delay in education and human capacity development, vulnerability to sexually transmitted diseases such as syphyilis, gonorrhea and HIV/AIDS. These diseases are capable of cutting their lives short and can reduce their productive contribution to the society.

Victims of human trafficking are mostly faced with unprotected sex which could result into unwanted pregnancies, stigmatisation...