Violation of human rights

It is impressive how in the twenty-first century violation of human rights it is still a

problem.
The human traffic it is a violation of liberty and dignity of human beings. It is
commercialization of women, men and children to profit-making as: sexual slavery,
forced labour, organ extraction, drug dealing, among others...
This kind of people have serious problems in life has lack of money and family issues, so
they are looking for a better way to live.
Usually the traffickers know their problems and take advantage of that, promising a
better life than what they had.
This kind of people are treated like objects and it is unbelievable how it is still a thing to
treat people like they are less then you nowadays just because they have a different skin
colour or a different culture.
The traffickers have no compassion or regret for people with maybe less money and with
a lot of problems in their life’s, and just needed help not more problems.
It is very serious crime and unfortunately still common in the world perhaps our
knowledge about human rights and quality.
Lastly, I want to end this text with a Nelson Mandela’s quote:
“To deny the people their human rights are to jeopardize their humanity. To impose a
miserable life of hunger and deprivation is to dehumanize them.”

Maria João Costa, 12.º LH3

 Human Trafficking

Human trafficking is one of the most widespread illegal activities in the 21st century,
because in the search for better living conditions, many people are deceived by criminals
who offer high-paying jobs. These criminals act everywhere, depriving the freedom of
individuals who dream with a better future.
Human trafficking is characterized as: the recruitment, transport, transfer,
accommodation or reception of persons, resorting to the threat or use of force or other
forms of coercion, abduction, fraud, deception, abuse of authority or the delivery or
acceptance of payments or benefits to obtain the consent of a person who has authority
over another for the purpose of exploitation. Therefore, this problem consists in the act of
trading, enslaving, exploiting, depriving lives, in other words, it is a form of human rights
violation. Usually, victims are forced to carry out forced labour without any remuneration -
prostitution, domestic services in small factories, among others. They already arrive in debt
at their "work" destination, as they must pay the traffickers very high amounts for travel,
lodging, documentation, food, clothes, etc. The problem is that this debt, through the
collection of high interest rates, takes proportions that can never be paid. Thus, criminals
start to threaten and torture the "debtors". Women are the main target, as the financial
return to traffickers is higher, since prostitution, the activity most developed by women, is
the fate of 79% of victims of human trafficking. Forced labour, exercised by men, women
and children, represents 18%. This activity moves about 32 billion dollars a year, depriving
the lives of more than 2.5 million people.
However, human trafficking is considered to be one of the most serious violations of
human rights and must be understood as a social phenomenon, highly violating and
involving, in many cases, deprivation of liberty, exploitation, and the use of violence.is a real
social and economic problem, for which all States should be obliged to cooperate with each
other, together with existing non-governmental organisations throughout the world. In this
sense, a common jurisdictional policy of interaction should be created to combat this
human scourge, based on the assumption that, Human Trafficking is the third most
economically profitable business in the world, followed by Drug and Arms Trafficking. I
would venture to say that this problem exists because we continue to ignore this scourge,
which translates dramatically into a serious and unequivocal violation of human rights.
Today, this phenomenon represents a topic of great importance.

João Araújo n°17

Laura Rocha n°19
12LH3
 Human trafficking

We know it as one of the most profitable businesses ever and for depriving thousands in
exchange for billions. But are we fully aware of this reality? Are we able to feel and try to
understand the despair that is placed at the surface of our skin?
In fact, it is rare for the victim to be forcibly taken anywhere, since they themselves are
victims of miserable illusions, of the ambition for a better life, and they see in the proposals
before them a course towards a prosperous future.
We think, “how is it possible for someone to leave everything behind? To leave without a
set direction, without knowing what awaits them on the other side?”
We question ourselves about this and it is necessary to understand that a relationship of
trust is developed between the trafficker and the victim. The trafficker takes advantage of
the victim`s vulnerability and assures him of false promises, helping him to get out of the
unfortunate reality in which he lives. Later, only when the dream loses all that essence and a
dense fog suffocates the body, does the victim infer that she has been enticed and given
over to an entirely blind fate.
He realizes that he is at the mercy of another. He faces the cruelty and coldness that
binds certain souls, from the moment he realizes that there is no plane ticket waiting for
him and that he will not walk among the clouds, but in an ignoble vessel destined for dozens
of people. This is how illegal transitions are made, usually by sea, in which all trafficked
people are exposed to deplorably inhumane conditions, with a large number dying of
asphyxiation, drowning, thermal shocks, and others even reaching the extreme and
committing suicide.
When crossing the sea, which link African and Latin countries to the destinations of the
trafficked, including Europe, Asia and North America, there is a complex difficulty for the
authorities to recognise the victims at the various borders.
On the other hand, it is not only women and men who are deprived of growing and living,
but also children who in their pure and delicate innocence are mostly destined for the sex
industry, such as prostitution and pornography.
 As far as the traffickers are concerned, they are physically differentiated but they cross
psychologically and have control over everything and an intimidating impact on the victims,
and it is practically impossible for them to see the so-called light at the end of the tunnel.
The victims are all dominated by shame, driven by apathy for everything, consecutive
memory loss and tiredness. They are subjected to forced labour, to a life chained to fear,
stars without a single ray of light, surrounded by crowds and embraced by nothing,
loneliness and suffocating cries that break the last threads of hope. They know a life of
suffering, they become cold. They suffer quietly, they struggle in silence against their own
insecurities, day after day, letting themselves be seized by the fear that fills infinite voids.
We are not mentally aware of the catastrophic reality; we are only sensitive, and this is
where the contrasts arise. We are afraid to do something, unaware of the whys; we defend
problems that ourselves drive forward. We always want to help, extend our hand and be
noble, but we feel that we are going to face something extremely dangerous. From here on,
we are also victims of something, in this case the fear of a reality to which we close our
eyes.

Sofia Freitas nº26 11ºLH2

 Human being trafficking

Human being trafficking is an illegal trade and one of most cruel actions that happened in
our History. It´s a crime, which consists in the national or international movement of people,
in order to be used in all kind of commerce.
Our society is evolving, but, at the same time, is diverging. On one hand, people are so
desperate, that believe in everything, just to get a better life.
On the other hand, there are humans that take advantage of people´s dreams. Through a
simple “job offer" or "a promise of a better life", they attract crowds for their business.
However, the reality is different: innocent people are kidnapped; enslaved; raped. Besides,
their rights aren´t respected and they live in inhospitable places.
Accordingly, European Commission’s report, Portugal is the second country (in European
Union) with more human being trafficking victims. Between 2015 and 2016, 339 cases were
register. 248 of them were abused of labour exploitation.
Our society is becoming more selfish. We just care about us. However, there are a lot of
ways to help. Each of governments should create more schools, with free learning ,in order
to form and raise awareness in citizens; Besides, we should welcome this people, instead of
marginalize them; Another thing that we, citizens, can do is participating in NGOS, in order
to be informed about this subject.
To conclude, human being trafficking can continue damaging people´s lives, unless we
don´t act. It depends on us.

Raquel
 Human trafficking

Human trafficking is a human phenomenon that has occurred since the dawn of
humanity and consists of social practice in which a human being has property rights over
another. It arose due to the social need to hierarchize the communities, for some to enjoy
certain privileges, others would have to work hard, and sometimes be forced to abdicate
their freedom.
Several civilizations made use of human trafficking and only after centuries of judging this
practice did, they become aware that it was not moral, abolishing it legally and officially.
However, it is well known that trafficking in human beings did not end with the decrees
of the law proclaimed. This phenomenon “creeps in” until today, taking different faces and
more effective camouflages.
Forever and in almost all civilizations, advanced, there was a strong patriarchal sense of
social organization, which assigned women a submissive role, never that of women as an
intelligent, psychic and physical entity. Many theories tried to defend and justify the
inequality between men and women, and many were successful, until very recently, when
there was an ideological awakening to the absurdity of the situation.
Each year, thousands of girls and women are “recruited” and coerced. In the 2000 report
by the United Nations Population Fund, it was estimated that “4 million women and girls are
sold each year”. UNICEF estimates the number of children affected by human trafficking to
be 1.2 million annually.
Recently, the Supplementary Protocol to the United Nations Convention Against
Transnational Organized Crime, aimed at preventing, suppressing and punishing trafficking
in persons, in particular women and children, refers to trafficking as “recruitment,
transportation, transfer, recession or reception of persons, by the threat or by the use of
force or other forms of coercion, by kidnapping, fraud, abuse of authority or a situation of
vulnerability, or by the acceptance of payments or benefits to obtain consent so that one
person has authority over another for exploitation ”. Exploitation includes at least
prostitution or other forms of sexual exploitation, forced labour or services, slavery or organ
harvesting.
 These violent and degrading crimes lead to the social destruction of the person, to the
progressive loss of his identity and personality through the confiscation of passports,
violence, the exercise of reprisals against his family, humiliation.
The universal declaration of human rights was drawn up in the 18th century and is the
document that enshrines the idea of equality for all human beings, regardless of their race,
religion, nationality, age, or sex. Several countries have since integrated these principles into
their constitutions, but the truth is that they did not delay in adopting restrictive measures
to their application.
In short, after analysing this social phenomenon, it is possible to draw some conclusions
about it, such as the fact that the different human connotations that this practice had, has
always been a changing phenomenon in terms of perspectives: the types of trafficking that
occurred, its fundamentally economic and racial motivation, but mainly that this
phenomenon is not over and that it can have many faces, but it is in our hands, as informed
people, to act in solidarity with all those who are still affected by this evil.

Francisco Manuel Varela Lopes, nº12, 12LH3