How Asian culture contributes to trafficking industry?

Po Chiao Chen

word count: 700

How Asian culture contributes to trafficking industry?

What provoke an exponential growth in human trafficking nowadays? 700,000 to 2,000,000 women and children are trafficked yearly worldwide and approximately 2,000 to 6,000 women and children are trafficked in daily basis. Modern human trafficking is ten times greater than trans-Atlanta slave trade in 19th century. Yet, why is the modern human trafficking a lot worst? Is it because of globalization, technology advancement, or culture? In fact, culture is a major factor in human trafficking. Coercion prostitution usually takes a big part in the human trafficking industry. A 1999 CIA report estimated that 45,000 to 50,000 women and children are trafficked annually to the U.S., with approximately 30,000 women and children from Southeast Asia, 10,000 from Latin America, 4,000 from Eastern Europe, and 1,000 from other regions. This statistic demonstrates that Asian is major victim in the trafficking industry. Why is Asian girls are exceedingly vulnerable when it comes to being trafficking by trafficker. This could be due to the culture in Asian.

First and foremost, in Asia country kids are expecting to obey family, and parents and females are usually considered less valued than man. For instance, man will receive the most support from the family, meanwhile, girl will receive limited amount of support from the family. In addition, some females will be sold as property or bargained with. Often time human trafficker will disguise as an agent and deceive the girl and her family that she will have a better life and steady income to support her family. Usually family will believe the agent and either give or sell their daughter to the trafficker. Furthermore, girls who are escaped or removed from prostitution and a trafficker will likely to be so lost that they don’t really know where they necessary belong due to cultural factors. Since in Asian culture, those girls might feel like they financially failed and disgraced their family. Therefore, usually these girls will have no direction in their life and eventually commit suicide or crime in a foreign country. There is a Thai saying that captures the filial piety concept: “repaying the breast milk” (todtan bunkhun). Meaning that people wouldn’t willing to purchase a breast milk that has been drink or use before which is analogy that people wouldn’t accept these girls who been in prostitution. In addition, girls who been rape or in prostitution are disowned and ostracized by their family or community. Even though this girl did successfully escape from their pimp and return home. The society will not accept them, because they are shameful and dirty since they have been in prostitution. There is a Vietnam saying that completely describe why the society wouldn’t bolster these kinds of girls “Someone ate out of my bowl and left it dirty.”

In some cultures, parents tend to send their children to live and work with other relatives in exchange for a promise of education. Some of times trafficker will use this opportunity to deceive the parents and their girls. The trafficker will usually pretend to be an employment agents and swindle parents to hand their children to them. Usually they will say that they will offer a fine job to their kids and their kids will be able to financially support the family. Unfortunately, this girl will then be trafficked into sex industry in a foreign country.

According to Rita Chi-Ying Chang, a professor in George Mason University came to the conclusion that the other contributing culture factor is that the Western stereotype of Asian females. Trafficker thinks that Asian females are vulnerable, obedient, hard working, submissive, passive, docile, shy, demure, softly spoken, eager to please, exotic, thus, this is why people use the phrase of China doll refer to Asian female. These culture factors have urged the trafficking industry and the sex industry.

In conclusion, Asian culture is definitely one of the major factors that provoke the entire trafficking industry. These culture factors exemplified that why Asian females are typical victims of the prostitution. These Asian females were trafficking by trafficker isn’t just because their financial situation, in fact, culture has more contribution than poverty in human trafficking.

MLA citation:

"Human Trafficking Facts | Sex Slavery and Trafficking | Soroptimist." Human Trafficking Facts | Sex Slavery and Trafficking | Soroptimist. Soroptimist, n.d. Web. 10 Oct. 2013.

Telly, Andrew F. "UN Says Human Trafficking Appears To Be Worsening."RadioFreeEurope/RadioLiberty. Radio Free Europe, 13 Feb. 2009. Web. 10 Oct. 2013.

CHUNG, RITA CHI-YING. "Global Studies Review." Global Studies Review RSS. George Mason University, Fall 2006. Web. 10 Oct. 2013.