Men get trafficked too

It isn't just women and children who are vulnerable to traffickers. It might surprise you to learn that men get trafficked, too.

We work in an area of Cambodia on the border of Thailand where it is not uncommon for young men to be trafficked. They are usually looking for work and are offered something that seems legit - work in construction or at a hotel. They willingly travel with the trafficker and when they discover the truth of their situation, they have already given up their travel documents and are usually held in a place they cannot escape easily, they are likely in a foreign country where they cannot speak the language to ask for help. Yes, young men are trafficked for sex work. But what is more common is being trafficked for forced labor, in this part of the world it is usually on a Thai fishing boat.

We recently did a survey in three border communities on the topic of human trafficking. During this survey we discovered a young man in his early twenties who told his own story of being trafficked. He and his brother wanted to help their family by earning money and make their way in the world. They were offered what sounded like a great job in Thailand. They took the offer and found out it was a fishing boat. They were willing to work hard so they figured it couldn't be that bad. From what I hear, the conditions are horrible - not fit for human living. I also hear the staff are treated terribly - like slaves.

In this particular story the brothers worked for years. For years they hadn't left the boat and didn't really get a day off. For years they lived in filth and endured beatings and harsh treatment. For years they had not received payment for their work. This man's brother felt courageous one day and approached their supervisor requesting to be payed for their labor. The brother was beaten to death in public. He became the example to strike fear in the heart of anyone else who thought they deserved to be paid.

Eventually, the man telling the story escaped. He spent five years on those fishing boats. I hope to develop a program to protect other young people from a similar experience.

According to our survey, 80-96% of people who travel to Thailand for work (mostly manual labor jobs as day laborers) would stay in Cambodia if they had an opportunity to earn a living here.

Desperate people, there are many. Those willing to exploit their desperation, there are too many. There seems to be a constant supply of human capital for the traffickers. The only solution I see is to improve their livelihoods to make them less desperate. That is not an easy task, many try and fail, we are dreaming of ways that it could be done. We are open to suggestions...