4 GEOGRAPHY OF TRAFFICKING
Above and beyond these economic disadvantages, members of many indigenous
or marginalized populations, such as the Dalits of India and the Roma of Eastern
and Central Europe, are shunned by the majority populations in the countries in
which they live. Such discrimination has been ingrained in such societies, some-
times over hundreds of years. For example, India’s Dalits are also known as “untouch-
ables,” and these persons’ social status is at the bottom of India’s traditional caste
system. As such, they have been regarded as at the bottom of Indian society for
centuries. In India and other countries, such marginalized peoples’ rights are pro-
tected by law on paper. However, discrimination remains commonplace.
Another factor associated with vulnerability to trafficking is illiteracy. Illiterate
persons are often unable to obtain assistance when being victimized by traffickers.
Illiteracy among trafficking victims can become institutionalized. For example, many
illiterate teenagers are trafficked into forced labor or the sex trade in other countries.
Having been forced into labor or the sex trade, the teenagers have no opportunity
to learn to read and write, making later generations also more vulnerable to
trafficking.
ORIGINS OF TRAFFICKED COMMODITIES
Commodities, like human trafficking victims, are obtained in many different ways
by traffickers. Some commodities are obtained legally, but most are obtained
illegally.
In examining the origins of commodities, it is important to recognize that many
commodities can be obtained in only a few places. This is true especially of gem-
stones and wildlife. Thus the large majority of high-quality rubies come from Myan-
mar, and elephants are found in the world only in sub-Saharan Africa and in South
and Southeast Asia. Similarly, the large majority of poppies used to make heroin
and other opiates are grown in Afghanistan and in the so-called Golden Triangle
region of Myanmar, Laos, and Thailand.
The concentration of commodities in only a few places means that trafficking
efforts, as well as efforts to curb such trafficking, must recognize the role of local
laws, cultures, and economic conditions. In particular, when one country is the
major source of supply of a particular commodity, that country may be aware that
exporting this commodity is highly profitable and may do little to stop the traffick-
ing of that commodity. This is a particularly significant problem in supply coun-
tries governed by dictatorships and/or in countries in which civil war is taking place
as various factions fight for control of the government.
Some commodities are agricultural products. Cocaine is produced from the leaves
of the coca plant, which grows in northwestern South Amer i ca. As indicated ear-
lier, opium poppy cultivation is concentrated in Asia. Generally speaking, only a
few places have the optimum climate, rainfall, temperature, and soil to grow par
ticular crops effectively. For example, many crops cannot tolerate frost and can be
grown only in tropical regions. In many cases, the cultivation of crops such as these
