Introduction
Human trafficking is a global issue caused by interconnected criminal groups and individuals. It involves enlisting, transporting, transferring, harboring, or receiving someone via coercion, such as threats, force, or other methods of intimidation (Muraszkiewicz et al., 2021). Often, victims are abducted or influenced through fraud or deception into consenting to the act. Sometimes, money is paid to gain the consent of another person in control of the victim for exploitation (Muraszkiewicz et al., 2021). Generally, traffickers prey on other people’s dreams, such as seeking a better life elsewhere, to lure them away for their benefit.
Understanding the true scope and scale of the problem is impossible due to human trafficking’s obscure nature. According to estimations, there are a range of 12.3 to 45.8 million individuals who are enslaved in the current world (Barrick & Pfeffer, 2021). The trauma and experiences of human trafficking survivors can leave them with harmful, long-term effects on their mental health.
Background
The vulnerabilities associated with vice are mostly difficult living conditions leading to desperation. People living in poverty are likely victims because of struggles ranging from the inability to afford food and basic needs to high dependency and lack of support (Muraszkiewicz et al., 2021). Traffickers have also targeted the unemployed through deception to convince them to leave their home or country for a better job or life. The position initially sounds promising, but it often differs from the reality upon arriving at the designation.
Unfortunate events like war, natural disasters, or political instability have exposed individuals to extreme hardship, homelessness, and financial challenges (Muraszkiewicz et al., 2021). Such people will likely be desperate to survive, becoming easy targets for traffickers. Finally, lack of knowledge or experience and broken families may lead others, especially young people, to exploitation. Teenagers are likely to be lured by attractive job offers, and people without homes living in isolation are often targeted. There are endless opportunities for human traffickers to exploit poverty, unemployment, unstable families, and inexperience in the world.
Impact of Human Trafficking on Mental Health
Navigating life after trafficking is traumatic and exposes victims to devastating mental and physical health consequences. According to research, about 51.9% of survivors of the vice have been diagnosed with mental or cognitive disability (Gezie et al., 2018). Other research has ascertained that the victims become more prone to developing post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) (Banu et al., 2021).
Trafficking survivors experience high rates of PTSD due to repeated and prolonged traumatic experiences, like physical and sexual violence and near-death experiences (Banu et al., 2021). They frequently have flashbacks, including physical and mental symptoms like a racing heart or sweating, nightmares, frightening thoughts, anxiety, depression, difficulty sleeping, and angry outbursts (Gezie et al., 2018). Symptoms usually condition such individuals to avoid places, events, or objects that are reminders of the traumatic experiences. They may also avoid being easily startled or triggered, have thoughts or feelings related to the incident, feel guilty or blame, and lose interest in enjoyable activities.
Most victims of trafficking are already exposed to extreme living conditions, such as poverty, unemployment, and worse shelter conditions. Living in such a deplorable state or deprivation has already subjected them to mental struggles, which makes survivors more vulnerable to PTSD and other mental health issues than the general population (Banu et al., 2021).
Traffickers occasionally use victims as pawns in their criminal acts. For this reason, they have the slightest concern for the prey’s mental and physical well-being. Therefore, traffickers subject them to poor living conditions that affect their immediate health. In addition, they regularly lack necessities like food, water, freedom to use the restroom, or even practice safe sex. It may include forceful engagement in illegal activities, like producing or taking drugs, prostitution, theft, and murder. Such an environment is highly unpredictable and uncountable, leading to trauma that can manifest into long-lasting psychological and physical effects if left untreated.
Effects of Human Trafficking on Families
The family is the basic unit of life that provides unconditional love and nourishment of the mind. Separation with loved ones affects the victim and the family physically and mentally. Instances where traffickers trick a family into letting one of them go in search of income can be challenging to accept (Marti Castaner et al., 2021). The parents and siblings must live with fear and terrible thoughts of what might befall their kin or the same thing happening to them. If the decision is one-sided, the person responsible will live under recriminations and rejection by others. Sometimes, the family can dissolve, resulting in further emotional and material loss for the remaining kids. If significant time passes without hearing from the kin, anxiety sets in and further breaks the family.
Runways and other vulnerable children may present a different challenge for the parents and siblings. For instance, the parents will live under constant fear that their kid may encounter death, become a drug addict, or be subjected to torture or sexual exploitation.
While such a scenario may strengthen the family in pursuit of the lost loved one, it may also disintegrate the family if one partner is to blame (Marti Castaner et al., 2021). Kidnapped victims could cause terrible fear, grief, and stress as recovery becomes the family’s priority and regular life is put on hold. Human trafficking resulting in death is often complex to overcome. It leaves a permanent void that the family will forever regret, reinforcing bitterness, resentment, and anger in the following years.
Families of those trafficked, kidnapped, or wrongfully detained so that their organs can be taken suffer catastrophic effects. The emotional, financial, and physical loss can mark the onset of PTSD and other mental illnesses for the affected. Research has shown that the impact of losing a loved one to human trafficking is transgenerational, affecting even the children of trafficked victims (Gezie et al., 2018). For instance, the children may be anxious and prone to anger and behavioral issues at school. Similarly, the victim’s family may become overprotective, demanding, and controlling, which exposes the kids to constant stress and anxiety.
Treatment and Life After Human Trafficking
A common assumption about survivors is that once they escape, they can move on and eliminate the traumatic memories. However, it is difficult for victims to erase the horrific encounters and live everyday lives. Occasionally, survivors may exhibit common reactions post-trafficking, such as drug addiction, alcoholism, distrust, disorientation, shock, betrayal, shame, and fear (Barrick & Pfeffer, 2021). All these lead to some forms of PTSD and mental health issues that can be a considerable obstacle for survivors trying to achieve a better life.
Understanding their mental challenges is essential to treat them better and avoid re-traumatizing or exacerbating them. Intention service providers should consider their unique struggles holistically to tailor recovery services to their needs. It includes connecting them with organizations that offer mental health support. Therefore, victims of the vice must begin their physical and psychological support as soon as possible.
The only proper way to help victims of human trafficking is to create a reintegration program. Typically, the platform facilitates safe re-entry into society for post-trafficked persons, like the prison re-entry project (Barrick & Pfeffer, 2021). The approach could be practical for foreign trafficked people, who are often repatriated without significant social support and due consideration for their mental state.
It is also critical to consider that each survivor has varying emotional and physical needs. Some may need psychological help, while others may relocate or return home. Therefore, the program should cater to each survivor’s experience and personal preferences. Lifeline intervention programs also have potential benefits for victims post-trafficking.
Conclusion
Human trafficking is a worldwide problem involving criminal organizations and individuals who use coercion, fraud, or deception to enslave people. According to estimates, 14.6 million individuals are enslaved, with survivors experiencing long-term mental health impacts. Human trafficking victims are frequently victims of volatile living conditions, despair, and financial difficulties. These vulnerable groups are easy targets because of poverty, unemployment, unstable families, and inexperience.
Survivors of human trafficking experience significant emotional and physical health implications, with 51.9% suffering from mental or cognitive problems and more suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). These incidents, including sexual, physical, and life-threatening violence, frequently cause flashbacks, anxiety, melancholy, and trouble falling asleep. Family members who are separated from their loved ones may experience fear, recrimination, rejection, emotional and material loss. Helping victims of human trafficking and aiding their safe integration into society requires a reintegration program and lifeline interventions.
References
Banu, S., Saunders, J., Conner, C., Blassingame, J., & Shah, A. A. (2021). Mental health consequences of human trafficking. Psychiatric Annals, 51(8), 369–372. Web.
Barrick, K., & Pfeffer, R. (2021). Advances in measurement: A scoping review of prior human trafficking prevalence studies and recommendations for future research. Journal of Human Trafficking, 1–19. Web.
Gezie, L. D., Yalew, A. W., Gete, Y. K., Azale, T., Brand, T., & Zeeb, H. (2018). Socio-economic, trafficking exposures and mental health symptoms of human trafficking returnees in ethiopia: Using a generalized structural equation modelling. International Journal of Mental Health Systems, 12(1), 1–13. Web.
Marti Castaner, M., Fowler, R., Landers, C., Cohen, L., & Orjuela, M. (2021). How trauma related to sex trafficking challenges parenting: Insights from Mexican and Central American survivors in the US. PLOS ONE, 16(6), 1–29. Web.
Muraszkiewicz, J., Fenton, T., & Watson, H. (2021). Human trafficking in conflict: Context, causes and the military, crime prevention and security management. International Journal of Refugee Law, 33(2), 368–371. Web.