ARRANGE BABIES, A FORM OF HUMAN TRAFFICKING:
IMPLICATIONS FOR FAMILY LIFE
By Ignatius Ibanga
Historian, blogger & writer on Contemporary Issues
Historian, blogger & writer on Contemporary Issues
INTRODUCTION
Human trafficking and
exploitation has been in existence across the globe for thousands of years.
From the ancient Greek and Romans to the medieval times, and up until today,
humans have been subject to various forms of physical and sexual slavery. Since
creation, the world has witnessed many challenging issues that have caused
human race enormous problems. From the Biblical great flood of Noah’s era to
the 40 years journey of the Israelites to the Promised Land. The events of
slave trade between 17th – 19th centuries greatly too
shaped global history.
However,
the advent and activities of human trafficking – the modern day slavery have
confronted mankind all over the world in a complete new dimension and leave the
international community down to the family with much problems than the actual
slave trade era. Human trafficking has metamorphosed over the years to a more complex
and international crime that often defiled intelligent and detection. Arrangee Babies, a form of human
trafficking becomes even more and highly prevalent and with organised
syndicates of classified network perpetuating in arranging babies for buyers of
different class and rate. The world is constantly engaged with human – face
problem.
According
to the United Nations verified data, as of 2012, 40,177 cases of trafficking
were reported in the 2010 – 2012 period – and these are only the known cases. Broken
down, it is a total of 13,392 persons trafficked a year; 36 trafficked every
day; an average of one person trafficked an hour. 152 nationalities have been
trafficked to 124 nations. 49% of the trafficking victims are women, and 33%
are children. 21% of total trafficking victims or 8,437 victims are young
girls.
This
article therefore is an attempt to discuss the implications of human
trafficking on family life with particular focus on arrangee babies as a form
of human trafficking.
WHAT IS HUMAN TRAFFICKING?
According
to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), human trafficking is
the act of gathering, moving, receiving, or keeping human beings by threat,
force, coercion, or deception, for exploitative purposes. This includes “the
exploitation of prostitution of other or other forms of sexual exploitation,
forced labour or services, slavery or practices similar to slavery, servitude
or the removal of organs.”
BRIEF HISTORY OF HUMAN
TRAFFICKING
The
earliest form of global human trafficking began with the African slave trade.
Since the American and the Europeans continents were involved as buyers, and
the different African groups were both items of trade and middlemen. However,
this trade was legal prior to the first law against slavery by the British in
1807. After the cessation of the African slave trade, “white slavery” came into
light. It is the procurement by use of force, deceit, or drugs of white woman
or girl against her will for prostitution. When this form of slave trade (human
trafficking) gained attention, governments began to cooperate to fight it. The
crisis of the First World War drew attention from its efforts against white
slavery. After the Second World War, the member-nations of the United Nations
adopted the United Nations Convention for the Suppression of the Traffic in
Persons and Exploitation of the Prostitution of Others in 1949, the same year
as the document on human rights.
Arrangee Babies: The practice of arrangee
babies budged into the lucrative business of human trafficking as a plot and scheme
to outsmart governments and organisations against the illegal industry of
trafficking in human person. Here, high smart men and women some health
personnel engaged in arranging babies between the age 1 – 5 to ready and willing
wealthy couples who do not have a child. Some of the buyers of these arranged
babies are very high political/public office holders thereby making the fight
against it extremely very difficult.
IMPLICATIONS FOR FAMILY
LIFE
Trafficking
has become such a problem, in terms of geographic spread and volume, that the
United Nations criminalized it under the protocols of Transnational Organized
Crime in 2000. Human trafficking is evil and will not have any positive effect
on the victims who are exploited, their families and communities. Hence
its implications
is holistic and the first of its impact given that trafficking is based on the
exploitation of individuals, all victims of trafficking are subject to
physical, psychological, and social impacts. Victims are exposed to serious
health risks, such as HIV/AIDS, STI exposure, forced abortions, depression as
well as serious mental health risks. Anxiety, insecurity, fear, and trauma are
all recorded products of trafficking.
Emotional
imbalance, mood swing are equally some of the impacts too. All these seriously
affect family life because the victim of trafficking are deprived of a family
and cut off from normal social activities for prolonged period.
CONCLUSION
In
conclusion therefore, human trafficking - arranged babies is a form of modern
day slavery, an ill wind that blows nobody any good. It is a violation of the
fundamental human rights of the victim and affects his/her normal functioning
in the society. The activity greatly destroys family life as the biological
mother of the arranged baby is forever psychologically traumatized. Even the
family that bought the arranged baby perpetually lived in fear and work daily
to conceal the truth from coming to light. It is a global issue that must be
addressed by all. We should do our best as individuals, families, church,
communities and the larger society to fight and eliminate this evil in our
society and world.
REFERENCE:
- Agatucci, Cora.
"African Timelines Part III: African Slave Trade & European
Imperialism." African Timelines. Central Oregon Community College, 01
Jan. 2010. Web. 11 Dec. 2011.
- United
Nations Convention Against Transnational Crime, 2000.
- www.caritas.org/activities/women_migration/caritas_migration_trafficking
- Ouagadougou
Action Plan to Combat Trafficking in Human Beings, Especially Women and
Children, Tripoli, Nov. 2006