Commodification of Human Beings and Power Imbalance in Human Trafficking

The complex relationship between human trafficking and the commodification of human beings in contemporary times has opened a gap in knowledge too difficult to grasp. This is because human trafficking is implicated in nearly every human economic endeavor in the world today. It lends credence to why contemporary research on human trafficking has demonstrated that societies are today increasingly characterized by the economics of demand and supply with “profit” victimization and exploitation being key determinants. Far from being a curious datum of human existence, human trafficking has emerged as key disquiet for many societies at the turn of the new century, legitimizing a brand-new element in capitalism that has supplemented slavery as workers are free to sell their labour and remain psychologically manipulated. This study, therefore, is an attempt to respond to the thesis that human trafficking occurs within the context of widespread objectification and commodification of persons as “products” in economies in which they have little power for self-determination and self-sufficiency.