Labor and Sex Trafficking as the Form of Human Exploitation

Located in Oosterpark, Amsterdam is the National Slavery Monument commemorating a dark historical period of the country. Locals and tourists alike gather in front of the monument to pay their respects to an atrocity of the past. But what they are not aware of is that in the same city, slavery is still alive and well today. What we have thought of as historical slavery has taken a new form, one much harder to identify. Modern slavery, in the form of human trafficking, is an epidemic currently plaguing our society. It is present through the means of domestic servitude, debt bondage, and sexual exploitation. The relatively recent recognition of this as a crime means that there is still a lot of work to be done in this field. It is important to note that in the Netherlands, all forms of trafficking take place, however sex trafficking is the most visible. With The Netherlands being the top destination for human trafficking, it is important to examine the historical background, scope of the problem, and contributing factors such as legal, cultural, economic, structural, and political factors, to adequately address the situation and prevent it from following an increasingly alarming trend.

Slavery is not a new concept. It has been around since the beginning of time, and has been found in all societies. In the Netherlands, the real emergence of slavery began in the 1600s. During this time, the Dutch East India Company was established to protect trade interests in the Indian Ocean. The Netherlands was involved in several different trade agreements and became the largest slave trading nation in the world, with colonies in Asia, Africa, and South America (The Free Library, 2014). The dominance that the country exhibited during this time helped to build it up, and the country is still reaping the benefits of these actions today. The main motive for slavery is to make a profit, which is accomplished by means of cheap labor. This pattern of colonization continued until the 1800s and in 1863, The Netherlands formally abolished slavery, one of the last colonial powers to do so; However, it would take approximately another ten years for the slaves to finally be freed (The Free Library, 2014).

Even though slavery in the traditional sense was outlawed, a new form of exploitation arose. Human trafficking, in its various forms of forced labor and sexual exploitation, became more popular. In 1911, Article 273f was included in the Dutch Penal Code, criminalizing all forms of trafficking (Siegel, 2009). Although trafficking is criminalized, that by no means decreased how often it occurred. After the fall of the Berlin Wall, economic turmoil and poverty made exploitation of people easier than ever before. It now became easier for people to travel throughout Europe where the Iron Curtain had restricted them before and in a trend that wasn’t entirely too surprising many of the women trafficked were coming from Eastern Europe. Another contributing factor that led to the increase in human trafficking was the fact that the Netherlands has many port cities. The constant movement of goods in and out of the country made it easier to smuggle people into the Netherlands who then become the most vulnerable to being trafficked. On October 1, 2000, the Netherlands became the first European country to legalize prostitution as a profession (Siegel, 2009). Because of this, the UNODC lists the Netherlands as the top destination for human trafficking victims as the prevalence and legalization of prostitution makes it hard for officials to differentiate between prostitution and sex trafficking.

Statistically, it can be tough to confidentially say how many individuals are trafficked annually, this issue is even more compounded in the Netherlands since the legalization of prostitution. Human trafficking is a highly complicated phenomenon that has many vital, ongoing causes, which includes legal, economic, cultural, structural and political factors. These five components are the most important when examining how and why trafficking takes place.

In the Netherlands Criminal Law Article 273f of the Dutch Penal Code criminalizes the Trafficking of Human Beings (THB), regardless of whether this takes place across international borders or within the Netherlands. Anyone who wilfully profits from the exploitation of another person is considered to be guilty of THB. The same applies to anyone who forces another person to provide him/her with the proceeds of that person’s sex work. The maximum penalty for THB without aggravating circumstances (circumstances that lead to death or serious harm) is six years in prison. Trafficking under aggravating circumstances is punishable with a term of imprisonment not exceeding eight, ten, twelve or – when the offence results in the victim’s death – fifteen years.

The economic system of providing sexual services for money or other forms of compensation has been around since the beginning of time, as the saying goes ‘prostitution is the oldest profession.’ But time and geographic location have yielded different opinions of prostitution; views range from tolerance of such acts in more lenient countries to a sentence of death in others. The Netherlands has had a long history of tolerance and acceptance and when the Dutch government took a poll in the late 1990’s of how it’s people viewed the legalization of prostitution, 73% of Dutch citizens were in favor of the legalization of prostitution and felt that it was socially and morally acceptable (Weitzer, 2009).

As a result of legalization in late 2000, the Netherlands can now regulate the business of selling sex, they can provide health services to sex workers monthly to better prevent sexually transmitted diseases, as well as fight illegal activities linked to sex work like underage prostitution or victims of human trafficking forced into the sex industry. Although it should be noted that many sex workers did not benefit from such legalization and a large number of them who could not become legalized have instead moved underground. Some of these workers would rather have the cloak of anonymity, so they choose to not become legalized, but end up forfeiting many benefits that they could have had access to in the process of doing so. But the ones that prompt the most concern are the sex workers who may want to, but cannot apply to become legal sex workers since they have no legal recognition in the country. Often these sex workers without papers are victims of human trafficking and made their way into the country through illegal avenues (Drenth & Slob, n.d.).

The Netherlands has in essence aided in the set up of both legitimate and illegal sectors in the sex economy and surprisingly legalization of prostitution has made it harder to reach and provide services or protection to illegal sex workers and they are falling farther and farther off the radar and into the underworld. There are well over 25,000 known sex workers in the Netherlands, and it is believed that the ratio of legalized to illegal sex workers is roughly 1:1, so an estimated 25,000 vulnerable people are stuck in situations of sex trafficking (Drenth & Slob, n.d.). This further removes them from accessing the legal rights offered by the country, leading to the subjugation of even greater abuses.

Along with various economic factors, there are also many cultural factors that can influence the ease of human trafficking. The Netherlands is home to one of the largest red-light districts in the world. Amsterdam has become a popular destination for international sex tourism with approximately 15,000 to 30,000 prostitutes employed (Drenth & Slob, n.d.). The legalization of prostitution in the Netherlands has two main objectives: to improve the rights of sex workers and to separate crime and human trafficking from the sex industry (Vanderstok, 2010). Although legalization has had some positive outcomes, there is still a setback with sex trafficking and instances of violating the rights of sex workers.

The cultural practices of many European countries, including the Netherlands, contribute intensely to trafficking. The devolution of women in a European society makes them particularly vulnerable to being trafficked. The Netherlands is very open with sexuality and is exposed daily to prostitution, especially through the Red Light District in Amsterdam. This exposure of prostitution can have a negative effect on citizens, as many mistake sex trafficking for prostitution. In turn, desensitization of this issue becomes prevalent. Young women begin to think that prostitution and sex trafficking is just a way of life there or a decent way to an improved lifestyle. The gender roles in the Netherlands is something that has significantly progressed over the years, but still remains a problem. However, there is still inequality of women, making the crime seem less significant and more acceptable for women to be exploited.

Combined with the various economic and cultural causes of human trafficking, structural factors also play a part. One of the most established structures of today is national borders; however, since social ideals are always morphing, structures are constantly changing. As globalization has taken hold of the world, borders have become more permeable. When it comes to immigration, historically the Netherlands has been internationally recognized for “its tolerant and humane environment for first- and second-generation migrants” (Van der Woude, Van der Leun, & Nijland, 2014, 1). Today, the Netherlands is part of the 26 European countries that make up the Schengen zone, in which internal border controls have effectively been abolished. The goal of the Schengen visa is to provide those living in this zone a basic human right: freedom of movement (Schengen Visa, 2015). As travel across borders decreases in costs and increases in ease, traffickers inevitably turn to these permeable borders. Balarezo (2013) mentions that developed countries have better monitored border control, yet “we would expect trafficking between the Netherlands and Germany because of their permeable land borders (along with other countries in the Schengen Area)” (p. 79). Essentially, countries are less likely to have a human trafficking problem with low levels of corruption and high levels of institutional capacity; however even developed countries can become hot spots for human trafficking.

Further, the rise of the internet has led to better communication with customers around the world and a way for traffickers to “recruit potential victims, to blackmail victims with images or [exploit] victims through webcam exposure” (Staring, 2012, 1). The internet can even make things more difficult for police to catch traffickers and customers.

The political climate of a nation also factors into the prevalence of human trafficking. Since the 1960s, Dutch politics has been considered very liberal in the international realm (Political Systems, 2016). These liberal ideals have played a part in influencing the country’s legalization of prostitution. Balarezo (2013) notes “the legalization and permissiveness of prostitution allows for the same political and social attitudes toward human trafficking, especially if you cannot physically differentiate between someone trafficked for prostitution and someone who works in prostitution” (p. 33). Because it is easy to confuse victim of trafficking with a prostitute, officials have a harder time of accurately counting victims and providing the right services.

The Netherlands is a transit country for other Western European countries, but also a destination country for those coming from Eastern and Western Europe, Northern Africa, and Asia. The largest number of victims come from the Netherlands, Bulgaria, Romania, and Nigeria (“Trafficking in Human Beings,” 2013). Various factors influence the ease and prevalence of human trafficking. In the Netherlands, the Dutch Rapporteur found that “prostitution is not a synonym for human trafficking, but the prostitution industry has proved to be particularly prone to be used for trafficking purposes” (“Trafficking in Human Beings,” 2013).

Further, the country’s liberal culture/political system and permeable borders play a role in the amount of human trafficking in the Netherlands. While the national government works to eradicate sex and labor trafficking, the vast majority of policies enacted by municipalities in the Netherlands are focused on anti-human trafficking efforts in the prostitution industry. Though exploitation occurs outside of the sex industry, including inland shipping, the agricultural industry, and forced begging, the majority of trafficking in the Netherlands is sex trafficking (“Trafficking in Human Beings,” 2013). To break it down even further these researchers are suggesting that the fact that The Netherlands took the step to legalize sex work only exasperated the trafficking situation that stemmed from the unique circumstances that made The Netherlands both a transit and destination country. In fact, the suggestion is that with legalization the country moved further towards being a destination country where trafficked women would end up working permanently in the sex industry instead of merely using The Netherlands as a passing route towards greater markets like Italy or Spain.