The magnitude of human trafficking in Uganda: a case study of major cities and towns in Uganda

Trafficking in human beings is one of the biggest challenges facing the challenges the world today. It is the fastest growing vice by which people are forced into slavery (United Nations 2007). Trafficking in persons: "shall mean recruitment, transportation, transfer, harbouring or receipts 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 of the position of vulnerability or of the giving or receiving of payments or benefits to achieve the consent of the person having control over another person, for the purpose of exploitation". (Palermo protocol, 2000) Trafficking in human persons is one of the modern as slavery because traffickers employ violence, threats, and other forms of coercion to force their victims to work against their will. Actual statistics on human trafficking including child trafficking are difficult to obtain because it is a covert activity. The US report 2005, on human trafficking estimates that of the 600,000 to 800,000 men, women, and children trafficked across international borders each year, approximately 80 percent are women and girls and up to 50 percent are children. 'The trade in human being is estimated by US $3 2 billion worldwide Victims of trafficking are subject to nasty human rights violations including, rape, torture, forced abortions, starvation, and threats of torturing or murdering family members (ibid). In most cases, victims who are looking to escape poverty in their own countries accept fraudulent offers of foreign employment such as child-care or restaurant work, only to be forced into prostitution in deplorable conditions in a strange country (United Nations 2000) .