Hillary Clinton: Global Economic Crisis Fuels Trafficking

by Amanda Kloer

Published June 16, 2009 @ 10:59AM PT

I said it here months ago, but Secretary of State Hillary Clinton confirmed today that the global economic crisis is fueling human trafficking around the world.  Her statement was made as part of the release of the 2009 State Department Trafficking in Persons Report. 

Economic pressure, especially in the global economic crisis, makes more people susceptible to the false promises of traffickers. Trafficking has a broad global impact as well. It weakens legitimate economies, fuels violence, threatens public health and safety, shatters families, and shreds the social fabric that is necessary for progress.

Clinton, as usual, was spot on with her analysis, but let's take a minute to break down the "why" of her statement. 

Part 1: Economic pressure makes people more susceptible to traffickers.  The obvious translation of this statement is that as workers who were already living in poverty get poorer, they become desperate and willing to take on riskier and more dangerous work. True, but it also means families whose children were in school may be pulling them out of school to put them to work in factories with exploitative conditions.  It means women in abusive relationships may be less likely to leave their partners because fewer jobs are available.  It means trafficking victims in prostitution may find that as the nightly customers decrease, the beatings for failing to make their quota for their pimp increase.  In short, economic pressure can both drag people into trafficking, and make the trafficking worse for those already suffering. 

Part 2. Trafficking weakens legitimate economies.  There are thousands of unemployed construction workers in this country now looking for legitimate work, work which is being performed by victims of human trafficking.  And every time a trafficking victim is forced to work in construction, the trafficker is impeding both job growth and the economic impact those workers would have if they were employed.  Ending trafficking would mean more paying, legitimate work for workers in industries from agriculture to service to construction.

Part 3. Trafficking fuels violence, public health issues, and social problems.  We have a large enough battle ahead of us to get the economy back on track, so why on earth should we have to use resources to address all the social ills that trafficking brings?  Rehabilitating trafficking victims, reuniting families, and prosecuting traffickers is expensive.  Prevention efforts, on the other hand, not only save lives, they help offset some of these costs.  Recognizing that this economy fuels trafficking is the first step to focusing more energy on prevention.

In short, ending human trafficking makes a lot of economic sense, given the current crisis we are facing.  I'm glad that Clinton sees the effects of our economic crisis on trafficking victims and those at risk, and is willing to address it head on.   

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