Sex Trafficking In America

Topic A: Sex Trafficking in the Americas

The United Nations defines human trafficking as "the recruitment, transportation, transfer, harbouring, or receipt of persons, by means of the treat 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." It is a very urgent and pressing issue in many developing countries as it is one of the most profitable sources of illegal income. The Dominican Republic is not an exception to this. Although the Dominican Republic’s economy is growing at a respectable rate, income

inequality and a high unemployment rate is still a great challenge for the economy.

In fact, the poorest half of the country earns less than one-fifth of the Dominican Republic’s GNP while the wealthier ten percent enjoys more than forty percent of the Dominican Republic’s national income. This results in the massive industry of human trafficking. One of the most profiting criminal trades in the Dominican Republic is sex trafficking. Generating $9.5 billion USD annually, human trafficking in the Dominican Republic is the third largest international crime enterprise in the Caribbean.

Why human trafficking? It is because it rewards a much higher income while also greatly reduces risks posed by other illegal activities such as drug smuggling and arms trading. In the past, the Dominican Republic has tried to fight human trafficking through increasing job opportunities, stricter crackdown on border security and even from receiving financial support from more developed countries such as the United States of America. As a signatory for the UNTIP otherwise known as the Protocol to

Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children, Supplementing the United Nations Convention Against Transnational Organized Crime, the Dominican Republic has actively attempted to resolve this issue in the past, though with little or no progress. However, even if the past attempts have been proven futile, the Dominican Republic shall not rest and will fight until this urgent issue is resolved. The government can take countless actions one of which includes imposing a specialized police force dedicated to reducing human trafficking and crackdown of these criminal groups. In addition, with large events hosted in South America such as the Olympics and the World Cup, the government can utilize this fruitful opportunity to create more job positions and thus reduce the mass unemployment, which plagues the Dominican Republic. Keeping in mind that the reason why human trafficking is so profitable is due to the low risks, high reward, and huge demand. That being said, if the government simply increases the risks of this trade, many criminal organizations would eventually find the risk of human trafficking greater than the reward. This point references back to the very first point as mentioned above, the establishment of a specialized police force and stricter crackdown of laws relating to human trade.
On the topic of creating job opportunities in rural regions to prevent people migrating elsewhere to find paying jobs, the government would like to financially support ambitious young entrepreneurs in the establishment of small to medium scaled enterprises. This would create more jobs in the Dominican Republic and mark the start of a self-sustaining and economically powerful Dominican Republic. The government of countries in developing nations can legislate regulations to increase the risk of human trafficking and thus reduce the amount of criminal organizations based on human trafficking. Finally yet importantly, educating the public on knowing how to protect themselves from potential sex offenders will reduce the amount of rape and forced prostitutions. Increasing awareness for risks of unprotected sexual intercourse and the potential harm it can carry will also reduce the demand for brothels and such illicit establishments.

Topic B: Sustainable Economic Development in Latin America

Latin America has experienced steady economic growth in the recent few decades; however, economic growth in the region is currently stagnated especially in countries with large economies such as Brazil. Historically, countries in the region such as Venezuela and Colombia have received amounts of foreign direct investments from more wealthy countries such as the United States and experienced positive economic growth from the investments. On the contrary, several smaller countries have failed to reap the benefits from foreign investments as other countries have.
The Dominican Republic has not experienced as much economic stagnation as other countries in the region.

The total GDP growth for the country in 2012 is 4.5%, significantly more than the average of the region, 2.8%. The Dominican Republic has the second-largest economy out of all the nations in the Caribbean Sea; the Dominican Republic’s largest economic sectors are agriculture, free trade, and services such as tourism. The most important trading partner for the Dominican Republic is the United States of America. This bilateral relationship comprises approximately seventy-five percent of export revenues of the Dominican Republic. There exists a Free Trade Zone industry in the Dominican Republic, which provides approximately 70 percent of the total exports, around 4.55 billion US dollars, of the Dominican Republic. The Dominican Republic’s economy places a strong focus on external markets and aims at diversifying the means of production, in order to keep up with the economic demands of the developing

world.
The prevalence of Free Trade Zones in the Dominican Republic has been highly successful in encouraging the growth of the economy. There exist around five hundred corporations in the Dominican Republic, operating mostly within the Free Trade Zones, which manufacture goods and products for the North American market, mostly the United States of America. The government offers significantly generous incentives to these transnational corporations, which include large tax inducements and various other incentives. Clothing, electronic components, footwear, leather, and medical instruments are the five largest categories of products produced by these transnational corporations that operate in the Free Trade Zones of the Dominican Republic. Over two-hundred thousand jobs were created by the existence of these transnational corporations, which is approximately eight percent of the national workforce of the Dominican Republic. The Dominican Republic, along with other members of the Organization of American States, is a contributing member of the Inter-American Council for Integral Development. The Inter-American Council for Integral Development, headed by the Executive Secretariat for Integral Development, serves the purpose of promoting economic development and combating poverty. These organs have implemented several programs in developing American nations to encourage economic growth, and implements training programs for governments to assist the governments in confronting challenges linked to economic problems. Countries such as the Dominican Republic receive assistance in negotiating and implementing trade and investment agreements, taking advantages of new trade opportunities, et cetera. All countries are encouraged to take advantages of such programs.
Foreign Direct Investment contributes greatly to the economic development of a country. When foreign direct investors are seeking for a nation to invest in, several determinants can influence the locational choices of foreign direct investors from developed countries. Potential factors that may attract more foreign direct investors include the accessibility regional and global markets; the presence of a large amount of accessible raw materials; the presence of unskilled labour; the presence of skilled labour; the accessibility of physical infrastructure, including ports, roads, power, and telecommunications; and the costs of the facilities mentioned above. If a nation strives to achieve several of these criteria, there may possibly be a greater amount of foreign investors, which are interested in investing in said country.
Several countries in North and South America have previously hosted large-scale sporting events, such as the Olympic Games and the World Cup. While most of these large-scale events leave a positive effect on the economies of the host nations, several recent examples in developing South American nations have shown otherwise. The most recent of these examples is the FIFA World Cup, hosted by Brazil in the summer of 2014. Recent reports by the Brazilian government have shown a large economic decline, particularly in the sectors of steel production and automobile production. The hosting of this event, which has proved highly unfruitful, has negatively affected the Brazilian economy significantly. Because of this, countries with a lack of necessary infrastructure and a lack of a highly stable economy are highly encouraged not to participate in the hosting of such events.