Blog # 8: China says it freed 24,000 abducted children, women in 2011

            In the past year, more than 24,000 abducted children and women have been rescued, says China.  These women and children were sold for adoption or forced into prostitution.  Another 77 children were even more recently saved in a bust last week.

            Overall, 8,600 abducted children and 15,458 women have been rescued by police from human trafficking gangs in 2011.  Specifically, in China, boy children abduction rates are extremely high because of the “one-child” policy of China.  Boy children are very desirable by couples unable to give birth to a son when they are in need of a male heir.  Other crackdowns include an infant trafficking case in Shandong.  Girls, sold 20,000 yuans cheaper than boys, still greatly topped the pay a family would make working on a farm.  Girls were sold as orphans and many children were smuggled from Vietnam into China. 

            3,200 trafficking gangs have been cracked, breaking up some rings that sent women to be prostitutes and brides to unwed sons.  The public security ministry is helping to reunite children with their families and continue to crackdown trafficking. 

            Children and women have typically fallen victim of human trafficking more than any other.  This promotes current thoughts of gender inequality as well as human inequality. Women, typically in society, are deemed inferior and lured with false hopes of better jobs that hopefully lead to better lives.  They are also used as sex slaves.  Children are vulnerable and seen as helpless making them easy victims as well.  They can be sold for money and are desired by couples that may not be able to have kids.  All this is a form of inequality set by society’s views on who has more power.  Trafficking is also linked to economics because it usually takes place in poverty stricken areas.  Low-income areas are usually willing to sacrifice more because they aren’t making much money. 

Rescues for the victims depend on public policies of the government.  Searches, police assistance, and trafficking bust all are results of the efforts of policies and laws made to end them. 

http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/news/regions/asia-pacific/china/120313/china-angola-human-trafficking-selling-children-infa