Research Paper: Human Trafficking (Research Proposal Sample)

Human Trafficking
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1.0 Introduction
Despite the efforts exerted by relevant authorities such as the governments, human rights organizations, law practitioners, and researchers, thousands of foreign nationalities are trafficked to the United States annually. Nevertheless, facts about the exact numbers of such victims and those from domestic communities remain unknown, as the operators primarily exist in the black market. The challenges that legal bodies face while attempting to obtain the exact numbers of such criminals include a lack of agreed-upon indicators, the secret nature of the crime, data trafficking systems, and methodologies for identifying and assisting victims. The available data is limited upon reliance on several prosecutions, arrests, and indictments. Research from such fields as domestic violence and sexual assault is the primary source of information on human trafficking due to the hidden nature of the practice and scanty information regarding the activity. Human trafficking is a modern form of slavery that existed in the pre-colonial periods. Therefore, they mean the same except for the timelines in which they were practiced. This research paper explores the nature and origin of human trafficking and the factors that have sustained the unacceptable practice in the twenty-first-century era.
2.0 Literature Review
2.1 The History of Human Trafficking and Factors that Accelerate the Punitive Practice
Human trafficking and the commodification of human beings is no new invention. The practice has been in the world for as long as the world started. The Spanish, Portuguese, and the Americans used Africans' cheap labor to exploit them and discourage their prosperity. They manipulated their discrimination in various forms, such as limiting the equal right to education opportunities to black people, restricting them to manual labor, and using them for their benefits. The majority of the victims of human trafficking, slavery, and commodification of people globally are from Africa and other developing parts of the world. This was contributed to by several factors, including the nature of the developing world leaders. Many African leaders contrasted the punitive system witnessed in America while exploring the possible cause of the practice. A good example is the W.E.B Du Bois and Washington (Mike, 2004). These African leaders had different opinions on how the Africans ought to have reacted to the mistreatments they received from Americans. Perhaps, these could also be part of the contributing factors contributing to black people's persistence and exploitation (Zimmerman, 2011). However, many reasons contributed to the commodification of people and the spread of the slave trade in North America. This essay outlines the different factors that triggered the slave trade and commodification of black people in North America. The factors that will be explored include the low self-esteem among the Africans, the search for gold and silver by the Europeans, the powerful military forces of the Europeans, cheap labor from the black people, and the spirit of capitalism.
Human trafficking and commodification of black people were prompted by the weaknesses of the leaders of the Black people as they held a low view of themselves. The blacks esteemed themselves lower than the whites and struggled to find grounds to compare themselves with the white community and validate the mistreatments they received from the black Americans. They argued on ways they would use to qualify the retrogressive actions of the whites that reaped them off dignity, respect, and self-worth. Accordingly, finding excuses to validate oppressive acts encouraged the white Americans to mistreat them. This can be confirmed by contrasting the arguments of prominent African leaders of ancient times, such as the W.E.B DuBois and Washington. Their opinions were as if the Americans were justified in looking down upon the black people. Therefore, the Africans had no option other than fitting accept the humiliation.
The low perception of the African leaders is summarized below and contributed to an excellent level of laxity in the liberation struggle. Dubois was of conflicting opinion, unlike Washington. He felt that talented black people could do exceedingly better in leadership and other aspects such as management, professional jobs, and white-collar contracts. In his view, black people could equally rise and lead others worldwide. Washington highly esteemed the whites as he downgraded the Africans. According to him, black people were less critical of the community than Americans (Lee, 2005). Therefore, they were inferior and controlled for the better part of their lives. They did not deserve equal leadership chances and white color jobs. The African Americans could hardly deliver without close supervision and instruction on what they ought to do. Therefore, the two reserved conflicting views on the ability of African and American people. Dubious holds that education is a fundamental right for every person irrespective of origin. They do not associate the level of academic success of a person and the intelligence quotient with their appearance or color. Washington was a racist guided by selfish interests and motivated to downgrade the black people. He believed in the slogans of racial discrimination and slavery of African Americans.
Slavery and commodification of people arose due to racial discrimination of the North Americans and a lack of solidarity among the blacks to craft a standard policy against punitive actions. The African leaders who held conflicting opinions of the whites protected them instead of opposing their actions. According to the conflicting arguments of W.E.B Dubois and Washington, racism was deeply rooted in America and contributed fundamentally to the slave trade. However, the leaders of the black people lacked a solid policy that could be applied against racial discrimination and develop equality among people (Du Bois). Even though both were excellent leaders for black communities, they disagreed on the policies of economic progress (Kara, 2011). Their opposing ideas persist to date and can be found in such classes as to how to end racial discrimination, the role of the black people, and what the 'haves' owe the have-nots. Washington believed in the philosophy of self-sufficiency and the ability to support oneself, racial solidarity, and accommodation. He believed that the discrimination that the black people persevered could last for a period if they disregarded it and concentrated on themselves. Therefore, the blacks invested their resources, time, and energy in craft education, farming, industrial skills, and arts while not performing in formal academics (Huda, 2006). The Negros would be better off if they concentrated on their ambitions than the defense of whether they were right or wrong. However, Dubious said Washington's philosophy would only perpetuate the racial discrimination and worsen the situation. He proposed political action and civil actions to defend against exploiting human rights. He partook in the formation of the National Association for Colored People. He further proposed the formation of the talented ten. This was a small group of educated peers. These varied opinions contributed to the comprehensive perspective of the conflict and different ways to minimize it. In one way or another, they both contributed to a concrete racial of racial discrimination and slavery to a more considerable extent.
The abundance of idling fields in North America prompted the authorities to seek alternative sources of labor and make use of them, leading to thought about human trafficking and the actual practice. The native American labor force could not adequately supply the high demand of the black Americans who already resided in North America. Hence, they discovered cheap labor from the black people they captured forcefully and transported to America. This was coupled with the American government's strong and respected military forces worldwide. Therefore, they faced less opposition as they converted people into commodities. The trans-Saharan and the whites from Russia had long supplied North America with enslaved people to work in their extensive sugar plantations. The Africans had proved themselves to be energetic and reliable sources of the workforce. Their demand increased because they were cheap and performed the intended tasks as expected.
The enslaved Black people conformed to slavery and commodification and made it a lifestyle. This pattern contributed grossly to the growing and normalization of human trafficking. The level of rebellion experienced among the blacks was low hence were perceived to be cooperative. Many factors could have contributed to this, including poverty, intimidation, ignorance, and illiteracy. The leaders of the Americans were keen on discouraging black people from getting civilized and educated. They were humiliated and forced to have lean esteem for their abilities. The black people were given complicated tasks that left them tired and unable to think about other constructive agendas such as education and professional jobs (Bravo, 2010). Those identified as sharp and had the potential to liberate their communities were eliminated because they threatened the white tycoons and empires. Thus, the Americans found it easy to employ desperate Africans as farmworkers. They did not discriminate against women, men, or children as the baseline for slavery was the black color. Only the sick and infants were excused in their policy.
Slavery and commodification of the black people were also intensified because the North Americans earned many profits from a sugar plantations. This system has remained ...