A complete economic and social moratorium has been the standard governmental response to the Covid19 pandemic. On a daily basis, we are updated about further steps to be taken to address the outbreak. We are told about the numbers of infected and deceased. Yet there are consequences which are rarely discussed. Consequences which rarely affect the majority but which have profound effects on hidden victims. One example is victims of human trafficking and modern day slavery.
Little concrete evidence has been gathered on the effect Covid19 measures have had on those caught up in human trafficking. Some claim that lockdowns, of the type most commonly associated with Covid19, have led to a reduction or suspension of trafficking and slavery activities. Whilst any reduction is a positive consequence, it masks the full picture.
While new human trafficking activities may decreased during lockdown, it does not mean that these types of activities have ceased entirely. In the UK for example, on April 22, 2020, the Metropolitan Police discovered a number of human trafficking victims at four brothels in Westminster, London. The majority of the victims were Chinese, with a minority from Romania and the UK. Six people were arrested, including four on suspicion of modern day slavery and proceeds of crime offenses and two on suspicion of money laundering.
Furthermore, as the UN warns, “There are fears that COVID-19 is making the task of identifying victims of human trafficking even more difficult. They are also more exposed to contracting the virus, less equipped to prevent it, and have less access to healthcare to ensure their recovery. Essential and practical operations to support them have become a challenge, due to countries adjusting their priorities during the pandemic.”
A reduction in human trafficking activities does not result in instant improvements for those who have been trafficked. To the contrary, it is highly likely that these victims will continued to be abused and denied access to any medical or other assistance they may need. Lockdown has also resulted in a spike in domestic violence. This is correlated with the reduction in living conditions faced by many victims of trafficking, including those in domestic servitude or sex slavery who are all too often victims of domestic violence.
It is not only the physical effects of Covid19 which gives cause for concern. Researchers have observed an increase in online sexual exploitation. Indeed, children are believed to be at heightened risk of exploitation. While school closures cause risks to benefits that the most vulnerable children obtain through education, including shelter and nourishment, risks to online exploitation are also heightened. Children are spending more time online. Many researchers report an increase in demand for online sexual abuse material, with this comes an increased in the associated risks of online grooming.
Stock photo. A child worker breaks bricks in Dhaka, Bangladesh, on June 11, 2019. (Photo credit: ... [+]
Furthermore, the UN has recently reported that “Dramatic increases in unemployment and reductions in income, especially for low wage and informal sector workers, mean that significant numbers of people who were already vulnerable find themselves in even more precarious circumstances. From the garment industry, agriculture and farming, to manufacturing and domestic work, millions of people who were living in subsistence conditions have lost their wages. Those who continue to work in these sectors, where trafficking is frequently detected, may also face more exploitation because of the need to lower production costs due to economic difficulties, as well as due to less controls by the authorities.”
The Arise Foundation, an organization working to combat human-trafficking worldwide, reports that in places like India, exploited communities of migrants, tea garden workers, brick kiln workers, domestic workers and other daily wage earners, have been abandoned by their employers. Their wages, and in some cases accommodation, have disappeared and they have no way to make money. They are left to their own devices, without assistance. Indeed, migrant workers cannot access assistance in the places where they migrated. They are only entitled to assistance in their “home areas.”
Because of the situation Covid19 creates or contributes to, many organizations are having to step up their efforts to tackle poverty, famine, and to assist victims of human trafficking. Aid agencies are warning that victims of human trafficking are often denied access to shelters, a direct cause of COVID-19 measures. Some shelters have had to close because of infections. There is a general lack of basic services such as housing, healthcare and other services, which helps only to exacerbate the vulnerabilities of those trafficked. Organizations, such as the Arise Foundation, have established an emergency Covid19 response fund to allocate microgrants to their frontline network. They report that their networks have requested funding, not for sanitiser, masks or medicine, but for food. This speaks for the severity of the issue.
During these challenging times, we cannot forget about those that are the most vulnerable. We must ensure that the needs of these groups are adequately addressed and the harms they exposed to are minimized. While prioritizing public health, assistance to those most vulnerable individuals must continue. They are dependent on it. If such assistance ceases, there will be people who prey on the dire situation those people find themselves.
