How Human Trafficking Affects Mental Health

Yang Weibin, a masseur from Cambodia saw an ad for a telesales role and agreed without
hesitation as he wasn’t making much money as a masseur. The reason he was so quick to
accept is because his father had suffered a stroke and he needed to support his parents
financially due to his dads medical needs and the fact he is unable to work after having a
stroke. Which would have played into the rashness of his decision as any job advert that
showed that it paid well would have been believable.

He took a plane to the Cambodian capital where he met several men. He was then driven to
a non descript hotel which was different to the one that was advertised. After this, he was
told that he could never leave, which was when he realised that the ad was indeed a hoax.

He was told by fellow victims that they weren’t ever allowed to leave, and that leaving
would result in death. Failure to follow instructions would result in them getting beaten or
even electrocuted, one of the victims had a picture taken of his legs which were very
bruised. We presume these injuries were caused by not following orders.

They were forced to commit various crimes such as crypto fraud to money laundering.
Another worker said that they had to make 15 friends each day, and 5 of those friends had
to spend money on their apps.

Human trafficking would have made Yang feel many different things. He would have not
only felt used, but betrayed also. Given how he is in an Asian country the general consensus
is that as he is a man he should not show weakness and that going to therapy even after
everything he has been through could still be considered as a sign of weakness. He will also
feel a sense of confusion as sometimes victims of human trafficking can be considered
criminals.

COVID has actually assisted traffickers. The reason for this is because during the lockdown,
flights were put to a halt and it allowed them to take advantage because their targeted
countries residents had to stay in their houses and there was a minimal risk of escape due to
flights being halted for a long period of time.

The traffickers actually covered their tracks very well as Weibin did a lot of research before
choosing to apply for this job offer and there wasn’t a anything suspicious found on the
advert initially.

During COVID traffickers were quickly able to adapt their methods to online operations.
However Asian countries were targeted but due to their strict rules it made traffickers turn
to other countries which didn’t have guidelines as strong.
The main reason for this is because Asian regions are very overpopulated compared to the
rest of the world. There is not only overpopulation but also desperation. Unfortunately, a lot
of workers are earning little to no money and seeing adverts like these could very easily
manipulate them if they’re convincing enough.

China have also increased their spending in their region through the belt and road initiative.
Which has improved connectivity but also makes it much easier for organised crime to
expand their reach and make transport more efficient.

There has been a history of people looking past human trafficking which is why it will be so
hard for Yang to open up to somebody and admit what happened to him especially with the
stigma surrounding mental health in Asia especially men.

The law has only taken action recently, with a trafficking hotline that victims can call for
help. The Cambodian police has been working with other Asian police forces such as
Indonesian , Thai and Malaysian police forces to conduct rescue operations and locating
scam centres.

Trafficking victims will suffer from long term trauma and there is evidence to show this. In
Cambodia a study for human trafficking was conducted by Turner-Moss. Just over 3 quarters
(77%) of the study was male.

The study showed that 81% (25/31) reported one or more physical health problems and
57% experienced one or more post traumatic stress symptoms.

This shows the severity of the implications caused, over half of the victims were badly
affected and this will last for a long time if they choose to not get treatment or go therapy.

This isn’t just for cases in Cambodia, this applies to all cases of human trafficking across the
world. In 2016, a human trafficking case by the London School of Hygiene and Tropical
Medicine and King’s College in London, was conducted. 150 people from 30 different
countries were sent to the UK.

Nearly 80% of women of women and 40% of men reported high levels of depression or
PTSD.

A way to combat this would be to find out the effectiveness of therapy across certain
countries, a way to do this is by finding the countries whose therapists have appealed to the
least amount of people and what treatments are the least effective.
Authorities and the government in these countries can intervene and make correct
decisions on what areas of therapy they want to put their funding into this will greatly
increase the effectiveness of therapy in certain areas that need it the most. Especially for
those who have suffered from human trafficking.

1 in 8 therapists deal with a lot of human trafficking victims so it is not an uncommon thing
to deal with. Experienced therapists should be hired for these specific people affected, so
that the best treatment is a guarantee.

The group has come to a conclusion that human trafficking is unacceptable. Further steps
need to be taken by the government and the local authorities to prevent more of these
cases from happening. However sometimes the things countries implement can sometimes
make it easier for trafficking to happen, such as the new roads in China that was previously
mentioned. We also believe that more money should be going into therapy in many
countries, as the majority of victims suffer mentally even afterward.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-62792875

https://ijmhs.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s13033-015-0008-8

https://www.lshtm.ac.uk/newsevents/news/2016/mental_health_trafficking.html