Human trafficking - Make the right choice

  • Published
  • By Kirk Stove
  • 100th Force Support Squadron base training manager
RAF MILDENHALL, England --  Choices - most of us are bombarded with choices every day. Everyone faces choices every day; many people here have the freedom to choose as they please. Yet there are millions of men, women and children across the globe who have no choice when faced with human trafficking.

Human trafficking is a criminal enterprise generating roughly $32 billion per year worldwide. It is the second-largest source of revenue for criminal enterprises; the United Nations International Labor organization estimates more than 12 million human trafficking victims worldwide, with an estimated 600,000 to 800,000 new victims annually.

"Around the world, millions of men, women, and children are bought, sold, beaten and abused, locked in compelled service and hidden in darkness," said President Barack Obama, in the Presidential Proclamation for the 2013 National Slavery and Human Trafficking Prevention Month. "They toil in factories and fields; in brothels and sweatshops; at sea, abroad, and at home. They are the victims of human trafficking - a crime that amounts to modern-day slavery."

The three most common forms are labor trafficking, sex trafficking and child soldiering, according to the U.S. State Department. Most victims are between the ages of 18 to 24, with an estimated 1.2 million children being trafficked each year. It is estimated that 95 percent of victims experience physical or sexual violence during trafficking, with 43 percent being used for commercial sexual exploitation.

So, how does this affect those living in the quiet English countryside regions of Suffolk, Norfolk, and Cambridgeshire? According to the Cambridge Act for Justice, a local group aiming to take a stand against modern slavery, there has been a 50 percent increase in child trafficking into the UK over the last two years, with 80 percent of those trafficked for the purpose of sexual exploitation.

The UK is a significant destination and, to a lesser extent, transit country for men, women and children trafficked for the purposes of commercial sexual exploitation and forced labor, primarily from Eastern Europe, Africa, the Balkans and Asia, according to the U.S. State Department. Migrant workers are trafficked to the UK for forced labor in agriculture, construction, food processing, domestic servitude and food services. The UK National Referral Mechanism of the Serious Organized Crime Agency received 1,186 referrals of potential victims of trafficking from 92 countries of origin in 2012--a 25 percent increase on 2011 referral totals.

Living in the UK , subject to several deployments, many people encounter situations that just don't seem right. If someone is acting suspiciously , what should a person do? Report the activity, don't igore it.

Crimestoppers is a national crime-fighting charity.A campaign was launched Jan. 22, 2013, to fight human trafficking by encouraging the UK public to pass on information anonymously about forced labor exploitation. The Crimestoppers' campaign released a hard-hitting video detailing the harrowing story of one young victim thrust into the human trafficking world.

The purpose of the campaign is to raise awareness of human trafficking and encourages the public to pass on any information they might have about those committing this serious crime. To view the video, go to the Crimestoppers' website: http://www.crimestoppers-uk.org/media-centre/news-releases/2013/crimestoppers-join-fight-against-human-trafficking-6514741.

"It is a grave violation of human rights and a worldwide criminal threat to security, civil rights, and stability, as well as a direct threat to our national foreign policy goals," stated Col. Christopher Kulas, 100th Air Refueling Wing commander in his Combating Trafficking in Persons memordandum .

Everyone should remain vigilant, look beneath the surface, identify and report suspicious activity. Suspicious behavior indicating human trafficking can be reported to the chain of command; 100th Security Forces Squadron at DSN 238-2667 or commercial 01638-542667; Air Force Office of Special Investigations at DSN 238-6747 or commercial at 01638-546747; or the 100th ARW Inspector General at DSN 238-4444 or commercial 01638-544444.