Human trafficking has become a serious global phenomenon and is drawing increasing attention from every quarter. The irony, however, is that as much as efforts are made towards curbing the inhumane act, the geometric rise in human trafficking is alarming and disturbing. The study argues that culture plays very significant roles in the proliferation of trafficking in persons. Moreover, as true as it may appear that trafficking is frowned at in contemporary times, the dynamic nature of culture and underlying worldviews continue to advance the cause and practice of human trafficking. Using selected cultures in Nigeria to back up its claims, the research contends that intrinsic to most Nigerian cultures are un-weeded roots that enhance the practice of trafficking in persons. These are deep cultural practices, which have sunk deeper to the worldview level, and as such, they are quite difficult to eradicate. The way forward proposed by the study is cultural revamping, which can be achieved formally and informally. In the same vein, it is a passionate appeal for intercultural intelligence.
TopIntroduction
The menace of trafficking in persons is a serious global social concern that has drawn attention from every part of the world. It is a global issue as there is hardly any part of the world that is not involved in this illegal trade. Bringing it home, Nigeria, the most populous black nation on earth, reportedly, is a choice source for trafficking in persons; women and children in particular, and who are subsequently used in forced labours and sexual exploitation.
According to the internationally accepted definition:
Trafficking in persons” shall mean the recruitment, transportation, transfer, harbouring or receipt of persons, by means of the threat or use of force or other forms of coercion, of abduction, of fraud, of deception, of the abuse of power or of a position of vulnerability or of the giving or receiving of payments or benefits to achieve the consent of a person having control over another person, for the purpose of exploitation. Exploitation shall include, at a minimum, the exploitation of the prostitution of others or other forms of sexual exploitation, forced labour or services, slavery or practices similar to slavery, servitude or the removal of organs; (b) The consent of a victim of trafficking in persons to the intended exploitation set forth in subparagraph (a) of this article shall be irrelevant where any of the means set forth in subparagraph (a) have been used; ... (art. 3). The three key elements that must be present for a situation of trafficking in persons (adults) to exist are therefore: (i) action (recruitment); (ii) means (threat); and (iii) purpose (exploitation) (Human Rights and Human Trafficking, 2014, p. 2-3).
In this chapter, the writer explores the social-cultural factors that enhance human trafficking. While and arguably human trafficking has received significant attention in scholarship, the dimension, or better put, the contributory role of negative socio-cultural factors appears scarce. As a result, this study discusses such socio-cultural factors and which are also expressed as harmful social-cultural practices in this chapter.