NCJ Number
238970
Date Published
June 2012
Length
6 pages
Annotation
This paper summarizes what is currently known about the nature of people-trafficking in Australia.
Abstract
The paper examines how what is empirically known about people-trafficking compares with community perceptions of this crime. People-trafficking is a modern-day form of slavery that involves the recruiting, harboring, or movement of people using coercion, deception, or force for profit. Although exact data on the prevalence and nature of people-trafficking are not available because of the clandestine nature of the offense, estimates are that victims were trafficked from 127 countries and were exploited in 135 countries around the world. Worldwide estimates of the number of trafficked persons range from 500,000 to 4 million, but these data are impossible to verify. It is known that men, women, and children are trafficked for a wide range of purposes, such as sexual exploitation and labor in a range of industries. Other forms of exploitation include illicit adoption, forced recruitment into armed forces or militia, street begging, and the harvesting of organs. This paper draws on findings from research by the Australian Institute of Criminology, academic literature, prosecution data, government reports, and non-government international organizations in examining what is known about the nature of people trafficking in Australia. People-trafficking cases in Australia have involved the movement of people across international borders, with most victims consenting to their initial movement in order to obtain work. It is only after they arrive at the destination country that they realize they were deceived by the traffickers, who exploit them for profit. Coercion and control are achieved through threats of violence, obligations to repay debt, isolation, the manipulation of tenuous or illegal migration, and a sense of obligation. An online survey that obtained public attitudes toward people-trafficking revealed stereotypical perceptions of people-trafficking as involving abduction and confinement that parallels perceptions of slavery. 2 tables and 17 references