Research Paper on Human Trafficking and Sex Trade in the UAE

ABSTRACT:
Human trafficking, which relates to the treatment of people through the use of deception, force or coercion or other means to transport them across different borders worldwide and within countries, has attracted a lot of attention (Godziack & Bump,2008).This is so because the plight of women and children who are exploited for both labour and sex, has been brought to the attention of governments and international bodies such as the United Nations. Though human trafficking is not confined only to women and children, but includes men as well (for labour), it is the use and abuse of women and children for sexual activities that has received new focus. This has also been the case in the UAE. The country has been criticized for being lax in curbing or preventing this activity. This resulted in action on the part of the UAE government. The scope of this paper is to look at human trafficking in the UAE and the actions taken to stop it and prosecute the perpetrators of it.

Definition and Background to Human Trafficking:

In today’s world many people see and refer to human trafficking as the “ new slave trade”. Though human trafficking is seen and described as a new phenomenon, it is actually very old. It has existed for thousands of years, but just in another form and name, namely that of slavery. This leads to a comparison between the old and the new. In the modern setting of today’s world, exploitation is still there, however, the acquisition of the ‘modern day slaves’ are different to the methods of the old days (C.Davidson 2011).

In the old days, slaves were traded mostly for labour purpose, and was known as the ‘slave trade’. Today’s human trafficking for sexual and or labor exploitation is often referred to as ‘the new slave trade’. The comparison is made on grounds that often those