Johanna Ancheta Elena Sabogal Human Trafficking November 24th, 2011 Human Trafficking: The Current Trend of Trafficking

Children for Sacrifices Religion is a common catalyst for positive human empowerment, but its not uncommon for religious beliefs to become distorted or used to promote destructive actions. Uganda, a country already riddled with region and race induced war, is the center of a newer controversial market, human sacrificing. Used in the voodoo religion, sacrifice rituals are done for everything; from bringing luck, ridding evils, cursing others, or cure the sick. A ritual that previously only used animals is slowly being replaced with using humans. What makes this ordeal even worse to take in is that children, seen as pure and virginal, are the prime targets for these rituals. I examined a documentary by Nina Saada and a website for the Gideon Foundation to take a look further into this latest heinous, human rights violations. I found that a lot of arguments and reasoning for these crimes where extremely well supported by findings reported and discussed within Human Trafficking by Louise Shelly. Its not until the early 20th century that reports of sacrificed children began to unfold. The growth in this industry had gone from a mere 3 reported cases in 2007 to 25 (annually) in 2010, and over 130 reported cases of abducted sacrificed children since 2007. A main question raised due to this phenomena, is why sacrificing humans is necessary or seen now. Shelley (2010) briefly described that a primary role in trafficking in Africa was religious rituals. This discovery sustains a solid argument presented by the online material. Even within the international sightings, immigrated African populations, who may have practiced and believed in voodoo were guilty for conducting the murders. When we look at

transnational crime, recruitment is easiest in a time on need or disaster; it is not so different with this type of trafficking. According the Gideon Foundation website, witchdoctors stated that on occasion it was quite easy to find parents willing to sell their children or family if enough money was offered. Furthermore, the main reason children are the prime targets is that they are seen as pure and the spirits that are called on during the ritual are strongest when a being is pure and additionally human sacrifices and blood are also stronger than that of animals. This idea of pure is so believed that according to an interview by Tim Whewell (BBC News 2010) a child victim was allowed to leave the ritual because his kidnappers saw he was circumcised. The boy heard them discussing his body as simply tainted and not pure enough .This has lead parents whove come into contact with them or heard of his story, to circumcise their boys and piercing their girls ears in hopes that they will not longer be targeted. An other idea commonly expressed in the literature and additionally, what stood out to me, was that the main reason behind these powerful child sacrifice is mostly self-serving greed. The people demanding this market want power and money so they consult witch doctors and pay ridiculous amounts of money to have them perform these rituals, regardless of the crimes they endorse. These claims are supported well with eyewitness accounts; out of the 15 stories the websites and documentaries focused on collectively, about 10 were committed due to the buyers search for luck or the availability to always have their wealth. Although I havent previously paid attention to this connection, I realized that between the lines Shelleys 2010) text demonstrates that some forms of human traffickins are to benefit those who already are successful, they are never in need they just fancy to have it.

Even though traffickers get money their profits are usually needs and not the self-ego gratifying rewards as the buyers.The interesting thing is that with Uganda becoming more advanced, there is a rise in this practice rather than a decline. In Saadas (2010) documentary she discusses the idea of how deeply routed this voodoo practice and idea are; like a taboo people believe in but until now did not dare to practice. This is a theory shared in a documentary by Tim Whewell BBC News, a theory that looks at the rich, politicians and businessmen with high ambition and their need to further their success. Instead of working harder they hope to ensure their economic growth and resolve in using voodoo magic, which seems to be the reason as to why it has flourished so much in city areas such as Kampala, which has been said to be filled with buildings built on top of human sacrifices for fortune. This abundance in trafficking around cities is contrary to what we normally see. Supposedly rural areas are more vulnerable but that is how reporters are able to conclude that poverty is not an answer. In an article by Youngbee Dale, it was concluded that poverty is

actually not the reason for the markets thriving. Although there are cases of parents and family getting money for their children, family seeking this out, as a mean to money does not fuel the majority of cases, it is the rich who seek them out. This conclusion is not thoroughly discussed by Shelley (2010); in fact most of Shelleys text describes how much poverty is a fuel for trafficking. I feel this argument finds its reasoning and support by Shelley (2010)s point of supply and demand. The rich are asking for it and because they continue living a rich life others begin to believe it and want the same results in their lives and this trend will continue to demand. Immigration seems to be the next step to its growth as this demand has produced cases of Ugandan children being trafficked into other continents for the sole purpose of being sacrificed.

In addition the witchdoctors also receive huge sums of money. Many articles found in the Gideon Foundation website give proof that this form of human trafficking is extremely profitable. The Gideon foundation had a page that graphed out crimes committed in the past. In many, the witch doctors were able to extort a lot of money from the suppler. In an ABC report also found on the same website site, an undercover journalist went to a witch doctor for a consultation, once the doctor realized that he could demand money (1,500 dollars) for just discussing the sacrifice he did, an then he tried to extort further money to do it. Although I quickly relized that this witchdoctor was just trying to get money, he told the reporter that the spirits were asking that they bring that money for answers and that if they dont one would die. If I were superstitious or raised with that ideal Im certain my perception and belief in that doctor wouldve been profoundly different. This documentary built a bridge between this and other forms of trafficking in that the trafficker asks for a specific amount and then once on route extorts and demands more money for more services. You would also have to take into account that the people demanding this are usually wealthy people and they are probably more than willing to spend a great amount more than in any other market if it means continuous financial growth and happiness. Shelleys text further supports the arguments set forth by both websites, with the idea that the taboo in voodoo is used to scare victims and force them into submission is a (Shelley, 129-30). Within the Gideon site, I was able to watch another documentary that gave you insight on the incident in Thames River, where a 6yr old boys torso was found limbless. The man accused of trafficking him and performing the ritual refuses to this day refuses to talk to the police, afraid that too many witch doctors know him and will harm him

using the spirits or curses if he says anything. In another article, a man killed 4 family members and when a cousin caught on to the ordeal she began experiencing stomach pains and was later told by the man that she had been cursed and if she told anyone she would die. These examples are few in the large amounts of evidence that voodoo is used as a weapon. I believe the Gideon Foundation had the main purpose to educate you and this topic from every angle. They gave you statistics and outside articles to back up their ideas and whats more they went into a discussion about how poorly their government is protecting their rights and helping the families losing children to this crime. Shelley too described in her book that children have no advocates and their vulnerability is why they are such a great target. In the Whwell documentary, I saw a child who had survived his experience and was able to recall his attackers yet they were arrested held for a couple of days and then set free. The child now lives in hiding, this shows you just how dismal or corrupt government officials can be, especially since its been found that they too shop in the market to stay in power. I felt like everything discussed on this website could be linked to an idea expressed with Shelleys text. Saadas documentary also made conclusion that not only could find strong ties with the book but was able to effectively challenge ideas in the text, for example the role of poverty. I accidentally ran into this topic with a program on TV, yet I now end it finding myself deeply affected by the stories of these children. They live in fear of being chosen to die, and although their families and communities for the most part are also shocked and disgusted by this act they find themselves defenseless. Their inconsistent government, are not of much use yet it is evident that a bit of advocacy may help for the long run. This market in human trafficking is among the worst and getting the government to enforce these

rules should be seen as a priority.