There have been various reports elaborating on the human trafficking scene in China arising out of various countries and the terrible lives that victims of human trafficking are forced to live there. While human trafficking takes place in various parts of the world, there are certain factors specific to China that facilitate the thriving of this industry.
Ij-reportika brings to you a report that comprehensively examines the various bride trafficking rackets run by Chinese citizens targeting women of various countries within South Asia and South East Asia. It examines the various push and pulls factors facilitating the development of this industry in China. This is an investigative report that exposes the modus operandi, routes, and individual testimonies proving the existence of established rackets.
Pull Factors for Women Trafficking
China is known for taking many bad policy decisions that have and continues to affect it as well as the world. The most influential and notorious is the “One child policy“, which when clubbed with the prevalence of sex-selective abortion has become a sex ratio nightmare for China. There has been a dearth of brides in China for a very long time. This becomes one of the primary reasons for bride trafficking in China from other countries.
China’s rapid economic development has improved individual economic conditions, paving the way for easy and huge payments to brokers in exchange for these women.
Economic development has also led to more Chinese women joining the workforce. More women in the workforce mean that they are increasingly asserting their rights and financial independence, refusing to stay in unhappy marriages. Women walking out of their marriages is the reason why there are so many divorced men in china. These men are often the primary customers of the brokers.
There has been reported a major shortage of women in rural China, a result of both the one-child policy and sex-selective abortion, making it a hotspot for trafficking activities.
Several regions in china, namely, Beijing, Shenzhen, Dongguan, and more have turned into prostitution hotspots, becoming prominent markets for the victims of sex trafficking. The bigger problem is that most of the prostitution business taking place in China is forced prostitution, which explains why women need to be trafficked for the same.
China is also renowned for having a cybersex culture, where women are raped on camera for a specific kind of audience interested in that content. Women used in these ‘online rape dens’ are those trafficked from other countries.
The gender imbalance has also led to a surge in dowry prices in china, families, therefore, are finding it easier to pay trafficking agents for an imported bride than marry a Chinese local woman.
Push Factors for Women Trafficking
China has fast acquired the position of regional power, mostly as a result of its economic growth. The downside to this is having several relatively poor countries in its immediate and far neighborhood. The countries that are primarily targeted by brokers for trafficking women include Cambodia, Mongolia, Vietnam, Nepal, Pakistan, and Thailand. This report looks at these countries in detail.
A lot of these countries share land borders with China that are not very well-guarded and allow for easy smuggling of women.
Rural women in these countries that have little financial support often fall victim to the monopoly of brokers who traffic them to China by making false promises.
Brokers advertise “Better employment opportunities” and “well-paid jobs” in China, which often becomes a primary push factor for the women and their families in the source countries.
Modus Operandi
Modus Operandi for trafficking brides
How brides are sold in China
Trafficking-Routes
Trafficking Routes
Now let’s take a look at the country-wise analysis of the bride trafficking menace.