Human trafficking: Mental, emotional and

physical scars
Comments: 0 | Leave A Comment
Feb 23, 2013
By Silvia Casabianca

19

Human trafficking involves any illegal trade of human beings for the purpose of forced labor.

Sometimes the next thing after being smuggled into the country is that women are forced to
become prostitutes to pay their debt to thecoyotes. But human trafficking is not limited to
sexual exploitation and its not limited to women; it involves any illegal trade of human
beings for the purpose of forced labor.
Victims end up with scars on the body, the mind and the spirit.
Human trafficking was a topic addressed by President Barack Obama on Sept 26 at
theClinton Global Initiative as one of the most pressing global challenges.

It ought to concern every person, because its a debasement of our

common humanity, Obama said. It ought to concern every community,
because it tears at the social fabric. It ought to concern every business,
because it distorts markets. It ought to concern every nation, because it
endangers public health and fuels violence and organized crime. Im
talking about the injustice, the outrage, of human trafficking, which must
be called by its true namemodern slavery.
The president also commended three brave women who attended the event and took the
stage at Manhattans Sheraton Hotel ballroom during the conference, in front of hundreds of
businessmen, politics and philanthropists from across the planet.
Sheila White, sold for sexual services; Marie Godet Niyonyota, kidnapped by Congolese
rebels and held prisoner for a long time; and Ima Matul, who came from Indonesia looking
for work and ended up working 18 hour days for people who beat heron one occasion,
almost to death.

Human trafficking scars on the body

Fifteen years ago, in what initially seemed an altruistic action, business owners Marie and
Willie Pompee adopted a poor nine-year-old Haitian girl and brought her to live in their
sumptuous home in Broward, FL. But instead of a bed, the girl was forced to sleep on the
floor and when she was not in school, she had to do all kinds of domestic chores. During the
time she was with the family, the couples son raped her continually.
In 2004, Marie Pompee was indicted by a federal grand jury while her husband and son fled
the country.

Human trafficking involves any illegal trade of human beings for the purpose of forced labor.

Also a few years ago, Jose Tecum brought a Guatemalan girl to Florida where he kept her
captive and he raped her repeatedly. When his wife called 911 after a domestic violence
incident, the police discovered and rescued the girl. He was convicted for kidnapping, sale
into involuntary servitude, bringing in and harboring aliens and fraud and misuse of visas
and permits.
These cases are not isolated.
Victims of human trafficking often suffer physical damage due to beatings, hard labor and
poor nutrition. Common physical injuries caused by rape include bruises, inflammation of
the vulvo-vaginal area and anal bleeding. If the victim is a girl, rape can easily cause tears in
the vaginal-rectal area. These injuries can affect their sexual life forever.

Human trafficking scars of the mind

How can a human trafficking victim place trust again in another human being?
The symptoms vary according to the experience, the age of the victim, and support received,
being the worst for victims who have been kept in captivity and raped repeatedly.
Ive seen terror in the eyes of victims of slavery and witnessed their mistrust of everybodys
motives. Their minds are damaged from captivity and because they become trial witnesses,
they know someone wants them dead and constantly fear retaliation on themselves and
family members.
They feel guilty and ashamed; they constantly wonder what could they have done differently
to escape their circumstances. In many cases, they cant even trust their own judgment any
more.
Its not uncommon for people exposed to human trafficking to suffer symptoms of PostTraumatic Stress DisorderPTSDwith common nightmares, intrusive thoughts and
flashbacks.

Sometimes the next thing after the smuggling into the country is that women are forced to become
prostitutes to pay their debt to the coyotes.

It takes months for these people to be able to step out of the shelter where they are kept after
being rescued. For some, the emotional effects oftrauma can be persistent and devastating.
Mental health services should be provided to these victims.
However, many of them avoid treatment because they feel ashamed and they dont want to
revisit what they experienced.
For U.S. minor victims, barriers to accessing mental health services are linked primarily to
the issues of confidentiality and concerns that someone will find out what has happened to
them, lack of identification documents, lack of insurance, and system-related jurisdictional
issues, a2008 HHS report by Heather J. Clawson, Amy Salomon, and Lisa Goldblatt Grace
says.

If the abuse is not inflicted by a parent or legal guardian, the case is often seen as outside the
jurisdiction of the [Child protection] system. In such cases the minors fall through the cracks
and do not receive services they need.
Referral sources for mental health treatment or counseling are even more limited for youth.

Human trafficking scars of the soul

Tecum used his victims beliefs against her. He took a lock of the girls hair and one of her
shoes, and then threatened her to use them in witchcraft ceremonies. She followed and
obeyed him because she thought he controlled her soul.
Most victims of human trafficking are lured to their tragic destiny under false pretenses.
Their spirit is crushed under the circumstances and they experience lack of faith, despair and
isolation.
Theyre offered fabulous jobs in the United States that turn to be picking tomatoes in fields
that look like concentration camps or becoming a 30-guys-per-night prostitute in a trailer.
Most of the victims of human trafficking are smuggled into a foreign country and hence they
are afraid of authorities, have no money, cant communicate because of language barriers,
and they cant escape their circumstances because they are unaware that even if they dont
have papers, they still have human rights.

http://voxxi.com/2013/02/23/human-trafficking-mentalemotional-scars/

Effects of Human trafficking on children

Effects of human trafficking on children
By Bukola Oriola
Human trafficking does not only affect victims, it takes a toll on the child or children of the
victim. Many a times, victims strive to survive, even when they do not know the way out to
protect their children. Thank God that this is also what gives way to the lucky ones, as it
sometimes lead them to their freedom.
The effects of human trafficking on children therefore include but not limited to
Psychological abuse
Trauma
Fear of being unsafe or unprotected
Lack of trust in other people
Resentful towards other people
Hardship
They might end up with the trafficker if the victim is deported

http://bukolalove.hubpages.com/hub/Effects-of-humantrafficking-on-children

Psychological and Physical

Effects Of Sex Trafficking On
Its Victims
By Tara Grimes December 7, 2010

"I was on the swim team, I was a cheerleader and I was involved in student council," Natasha, a victim of sex
trafficking told AMW. "I feel like I lived a picture perfect life."

Natasha was 19-years-old when she was approached by a woman while shopping at the mall.
The woman told her she loved her makeup and had been looking for someone to join their
makeup team. They did make-up for movies and fashion shows. She told Natasha she
thought she would be perfect for the job and gave Natasha her business card in case she was
interested. The offer seemed legitimate to Natasha and after a phone interview, filling out
some paperwork, and a makeup test she was asked to meet the woman and the womans boss
at a restaurant to go over some final details. But while she was at the restaurant, something
felt wrong.
I felt like the woman started being short with me, and uncomfortable,Natasha told
Americas Most Wanted. I felt like she was looking at her boss in a weird way. I started
getting a completely different vibe.
She decided to leave the restaurant and never come back, but the woman and man had
different plans for her. As soon as she stepped outside the restaurant, she was forced into a
car and kidnapped. She was taken to a home and left in a room for days without contact to
the outside world. Once she was taken out of the room, her life changed forever.

Rosa was just 13-years-old and working as a waitress in a small Mexican village, when a
family acquaintance told her about a higher paying waitressing job in the US that could help
support her family. It took awhile for Rosa to convince her family to let her take the job, but
finally she did. Soon after, she and a few other girls traveled on foot across the border to a
rundown trailer where they were told they would be working. But that work, she was told,
was not waitressing it was prostituting. At that point, Rosas life changed forever.

For these two girls, it was a life they never imagined, but once they were in it, it was a life
they couldnt get out of. Both became victims of the sex (human) trafficking industry.
According to AMW,
Rosa was gang-raped and locked up like a prisoner until she agreed to do what she was told.
She lived under 24-hour watch and was forced to engage in sexual relations with up to 30
men a day. When she got pregnant, she was forced to have an abortion, then sent back to
work the next day.
As for Natasha,
According to Natasha and the police, Spyder had many girls working for him. To control
Natasha, police say Spyder threatened to kill her family if she ever tried escape. Natasha told
AMW she was also physically beaten when she didnt comply with his rules.
The fear was constant, Natasha said. It was constant: please dont hurt my family. I will
do whatever you want.'
For millions of people around the world this fear is real. According to Initiative Against
Sexual Trafficking, it is estimated that somewhere between 700,000 and four million
women, children and men are trafficked each year, and no region is unaffected. (Numbers
are varying however because many organizations report different numbers, as can be seen in
the photo below.) UNICEF reports more than one million children enter the sex trade yearly.
The stories you read above about Natasha and Rosa are common in the sex trafficking world,
both for men and women. Traffickers typically lure women to the U.S. with false promises of
jobs as waitresses, nannies, models, factory workers, and other work. The Department of
Health and Human Services also say traffickers lure people by false marriage proposals
turned into bondage situations, parents, husbands, and boyfriends selling the victim into sex
trade, and people being kidnapped to be taken into an operation. Men can be forced into
working at brothels, sweatshops, construction sites and fields. According to UNFPA, as illegal
migrant workers, they may be subjected to sexual violence, horrific living conditions, threats
against their families and dangerous workplaces. Once lured, the victims are prevented from
leaving by fear and heavy security. They can also be confined, starved, beaten, raped, and
shamed.
Recently Ive noticed many stories in the news about being people jailed for running these
sorts of operations. But what goes unreported is the effects sex trafficking has on the victims.
Although the justice of having the traffickers jailed, Im sure feels good, they still have to live
with the psychological and physical trauma.

Photo from East Villagers Non-Profit News

So what does happen to these victims once they go through this horror? Documentation isnt
too in-depth, especially the effects on men, but it is shown that:
women in the sex industry sustain the same kinds of injuries as women who are battered,
raped and sexually assaulted. The difference is that when women are subjected to these same
injuries in the context of prostitution, the violence is ignored, or redefined as sex. Rough
sex, sadism, and rape are often accepted as job liabilities or occupational hazards. When
unwanted sexual behavior is perpetrated against non-prostituted women on the job, it is
called sexual harassment. When men in a sex club or brothel pay for the same behavior, it
is accepted as commercial sex work.
According to the Department of Health and Human Services, heath risks include:

Drug and alcohol addiction

Broken bones, concussions, burns

Traumatic brain injury perhaps resulting in memory loss

dizziness, headaches, and numbness

Sexually transmitted diseases

Sterility

Miscarriages or forced abortions

Other diseases like TB and hepatitis

According to a study done by Dr. Janice Raymond at the University of Massachusetts,

Amherst and Donna Hughes at the University of Rhode Island, 35 percent of the US women
and 7 percent of international women they interviewed reported major bones, such as ribs
and vertebrae, and smaller bones, such as fingers and toes were broken. Eighty percent of the
US women and 50 percent of the international women reported bruises. Almost half of the
US women reported head injuries that may have caused unconsciousness and required

stitches. Sixty-five percent of the US women and 38 percent of international women reported
vaginal bleeding. Fifty-three percent of the US women reported other injuries that included
sprains and stab wounds.
Even more disturbing is the access or should I say non-access these people have to health
care when they needed it. Raymond and Hughes write two-thirds of the international women
they talked to didnt have access saying,
I never ever went to a doctor, even when I was pregnant.
I wanted to. There was a local doctor who came to see us, but he couldnt do much. I
couldnt go there myself, they didnt let me.
The study says less than 35 percent of the international and US women reported that they
had been seen at a hospital or clinic. All of the US women said the health service was good
compared to the 44 percent of international women. About 40 percent for both of these
groups said the doctor they saw were aware they were in the sex industry, but only one
woman was referred to the social services. One-fourth of the women even reported doctors
were brought into the sex establishments.
While in the industry and even after escaping, the victims face an array ofpsychological
effects:

Mind/body separation and disassociated ego states

Shame

Grief

Fear

Distrust

Self-hatred, suicide and suicidal thoughts

At very high risk for Post-traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) which can include
anxiety, depression, insomnia, physical hyper-alertness, and self-loathing

Fortunately for Natasha she was rescued and although she lived in horror for 10 months, she
has turned that horror into good. Natasha has worked with advocate groups to help other
victims and has brought awareness to sex trafficking by speaking out about it at several law
enforcement conferences. Now after eight years, Natasha has finally overcome what
happened to her. But for many others, they will never be able to say the same.
Sex trafficking can happen anywhere, even in your own neighborhood. Before this past
summer I never imagined I would ever come close to seeing a case of human trafficking with
my own two eyes. But then a story broke about a man who was accused of raping a 15-yearold girl in the same town where I had my internship. The rape turned into a case of sex
trafficking. Watch my story below to see what happened to this girl:

http://healthcrimeinthenews.wordpress.com/2010/12/07/hum
an-sex-trafficking-violence-psychological-physical-trauma/