Critical Essay: “What You Need to Know about Human Trafficking” – 20 Topics to Discover

A great paper needs a great topic. The topic you choose will show your teacher how well you have understood the assignment. Unfortunately, leaving your assignment till the last moment can be disastrous to your grade. This is especially true if you have to come up with a critical essay on a tricky subject such as human trafficking.

If you are having a tough time coming up with appropriate critical essay topics about human trafficking, you have come to the right place. The following lines offer a list of 20 topics related to this subject. There is a handy list of references and source materials at the end which you can use as research material.

1. The Cross-Border Challenges of Dealing with Human Trafficking
2. Issues Faced by Law Enforcement During Human Trafficking Investigation
3. Rehabilitating Victims of Human Trafficking: Ethical and Practical Considerations
4. Human Traffickers and Their Methods of Operating
5. Invisible to The Naked Eye: Hidden Forms of Human Trafficking
6. Understanding the Major Indicators of Human Trafficking
7. Human Trafficking as the Modern-Day Slavery
8. Anti-Human Trafficking Campaigns in Cultural Media
9. The Anonymity of the Internet: A Boon for Human Traffickers
10. The Differences between Human Smuggling and Human Trafficking
11. The Aftermath of War: Women Enslavement and Trafficking
12. Human Trafficking: Influence of Cultural Factors
13. The Exploitation of Humanity: How Human Trafficking Became a $150 Billion Global Industry
14. A Perspective on Clients: Who Buys From Human Traffickers?
15. Armed Conflict Zones are Breeding Grounds for The Illicit Trade of Human Trafficking
16. Philanthropy Engineering: How Advanced Tech Can Help Victims of Human Trafficking
17. How Anti-Money Laundering Efforts Combat Human Trafficking
18. Comparing International Trafficking and Domestic Trafficking
19. The Ideal Victim: Predictors of Human Trafficking
20. Using Children for in Armed Conflicts

Since word count requirements vary across the board, we have tried to keep the topics a little generalized. Feel free to narrow them down according to your interests. Remember to limit the scope of your paper to a particular time period, geographical location, a pivotal case, the efforts of a specific humanitarian/aid agency, a specific piece of legislation, the efforts of a specific political figure, or even a documentary.

Since we are here to help, here is a sample paper which you can use as an outline for your critical essay.

Sample Critical Essay on Trafficking for Organ Trade and Body Parts: The Emergence of a Disturbing Dimension in Human Trafficking

Human trafficking is the worst form of abuse that can be inflicted on an individual. The horror of the crime lies in the fact that is negates very humanity of the victims. This modern-day equivalent of slavery continues unabated; the complex nature of the crime makes detecting and controlling it difficult. The most common cases are ones in which human traffickers sexually exploit their victims or force them into hard labor. The less commonly known forms of human trafficking involves an extreme form of cruelty: where the victims are trafficked for organ trade.

According to the UN Global Initiative to Fight Human Trafficking (GIFT), organ trafficking has three basic categories: (1) the victims are somehow deceived or coerced by force to give up the organ; (2) commercial transaction where the victim is not paid or paid less than the promised amount; (3) when the organs are removed without the victim’s knowledge.

A report by the European Parliament (EP) states that organ trafficking and trafficking of human beings for organ removal (TBHOR) has become widespread over the span of the past 16 years. Until recently, most of these cases have occurred in Eastern European countries and Russia. However, the implementation of tougher law enforcement rules has decreased the incidence rates in these countries.

Unfortunately, traffickers have simply switched tactics and moved onto other regions, such as Latin America and North Africa. These regions suffer from economic and political instability. Under such conditions, human traffickers find the ideal victim pool, i.e. people who are already a part of at-risk sections of society, such as migrant workers, those living below the poverty line, members of highly marginalized groups, homeless people, and illiterate people.

The entire process involves a host of people as well as high levels of coordination and organization: the medical professionals who are responsible for the procedure, the middlemen, the buyers, the organ banks where the organs are stored, and transporters who are responsible for the logistics.

The recommendations of legislating bodies and humanitarian agencies state that this issue can only be addressed through proper legislation covering all the aspects of the crime and proper implementation of these laws. National laws of each country should have an anti-trafficking policy. An increase in public awareness of organ donation will drive up donation rates, hopefully closing some of the gap between the number of organs needed for transplantation and available organs. EP also recommends that the donor recipient should be held criminally and morally liable. The technical recommendations include improvement of organ traceability systems.

Human trafficking is a reality that the public in general needs to realize and react to. More awareness, education, and stronger legal frameworks will allow vulnerable victims to escape the horrors of this experience.

This is just a sample that can inspire you to come up with a great critical essay that will win over your instructor. So, make sure that you start working on your paper right away.

References:
Vienna Forum to Fight Human Trafficking, Technology and Human Trafficking 8 (Background Paper, 2008), https://www.unodc.org/documents/human-trafficking/2008/BP017TechnologyandHumanTrafficking.pdf
Trafficking in Persons for the Purpose of Organ Removal (ASSESSMENT TOOLKIT,2015),
European Union, European Parliament. (2015). Trafficking in human organs. Retrieved from http://www.europarl.europa.eu/RegData/etudes/STUD/2015/549055/EXPO_STU(2015)549055_EN.pdf
Lehti, M. (2003), Trafficking in women and children in Europe, in HEUNI papers, no. 18, Helsinki: HEUNI.
Banks, D., and Kyckelhahn, T. (2011). Characteristics of Suspected Human Trafficking Incidents: 2008–2010. U.S. Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Statistics. Washington, D.C.: Office of Justice Programs
International Organization for Migration. (2012). IOM 2011 Case Data on Human Trafficking: Global Figures & Trends. Washington: Humantrafficking.org.
Polaris Project. (2014). “The Victims.” Retrieved January 28, 2014, from Polaris Project: For a World without Slavery, http://www.polarisproject.org/human-trafficking/ overview/the-victims.
Bales, K., and Trodd, Z. (2009). Modern Slavery: The Secret World of 27 Million People. Oxford: Oneworld.
Palmiotto, M. Combating human trafficking (pp. 30-32).