CAUSES

The majority of the people that fall into human trafficking come from poor families with little or no education. With their limited amount of marketable skills, most families are unemployed. Even if families are able to work, their jobs provide them with little pay and little income. Because of the fact that is it usually only the men in the family working, this just leaves less money for the family to use. The women mainly attend to chores or stay home and take care of the children. With only one paycheck to really live off of, it becomes more and more difficult to provide for their needs. (Santos, Aida F. Belarmino, Noreen. Ignacio, Raquel B.)

With no job opportunities, many women decide to move away from their homes. The best place for them to go, from what they believe, is into the urban areas where there are more employment opportunties. This is also where human trafficking occurs. While some go into sewing, sales or factories, others fall into the “entertaining business”. Many say they are forced because they had nowhere else to go and have families to provide for. (Santos, Aida F. Belarmino, Noreen. Ignacio, Raquel B.)

The majority of the victims are forced into exploitation by threat, intimidation or maltreatment. Others work a regular job but are transferred into the trade because they were told that there would be more money as opposed to what they might usually earn. An interview in one source states, “Because of their economic conditions, some of the respondents said that if they could be assured that they would not experience any more sexual and other kinds of exploitation abroad, and obtain legal documents, they would ‘try their luck’ abroad again. The majority said they would never go back.” (Santos, Aida F. Belarmino, Noreen. Ignacio, Raquel B.)