Selling Souls : The Effect of Globalization on Human Trafficking and Forced Servitude

Globalization and regional integration have contributed to human trafficking becoming the fastest growing and the third most widespread criminal enterprise in the world after drugs and weapons trafficking. The rush to integrate trading blocs and to compete in the international marketplace has led unscrupulous entrepreneurs and international criminal organizations to create a supply chain of men, women, and children for exploitation in agriculture, manufacturing, services industries, construction, and worst of all, sexual servitude in the sex tourism industry. The crimes perpetrated by human traffickers constitute egregious human rights abuses and crimes against international law. This article examines the nexus between globalization and human trafficking, why human trafficking is growing at a alarming rate worldwide, and what can be done by nation states to control and stop this most insidious international crime