Human Trafficking is a paradoxical reality of the world that upholds ‘fluidity of freedom.’ It has been internationally criminalised for its violation of human rights and exploitation. However, the penalising of the crime does not assure its outreach to the victims ‘hidden’ behind the blindfolds of law.
Molly Callahan in her article, Do You Know The Warning Signs of Human Trafficking? rightly states that an important step to combat human trafficking is to identify them. There are victims of human trafficking who have never stepped out of the ‘prison’, once captured, unaware of the existing laws. Besides, there are also those who do not recognise themselves as a victim. Certainly, there are strict international and national laws concerning the crime of human trafficking and rehabilitation for the survivors. However, it is equally important to focus on the identification of the silenced victims and clandestine trafficking networks. If the intricacies of identification are ignored, the law punishing and emancipating the ‘identified’ criminal and the victim becomes superficial.
Quoting Amy Farrell, an associate professor at Northeastern University, Callahan writes that the best-positioned people to identify the victims are the medical personnel; but they have not been trained properly to identify and react wisely. With this awareness, a conference hosted by the Bouvé College of Health Sciences at Northeastern University is a first step toward providing that training.
Callahan writes, “The conference is designed to give healthcare providers and public safety officials some of the tools they need to stop human trafficking and care for its victims.” April 27, 2019. The conference also discussed the law structures of human trafficking and how industrial engineering can help in combating against it.
Human trafficking remains an inevitable danger when victimhood is silenced and trafficking flourishes in disguise of ‘legal’ or ‘paid labour of choice.’ In order to check this inevitability, more awareness about human trafficking through such training programs is a requisite. It also needs to be embedded in the laws as the ultimate success of all social combats. Collectivist combat against the slavery of human trafficking is imperative. Only then the shouts of freedom will be loud and large as the world itself.
Rudrani Kumari