Trafficking in persons is modern-day slavery, involving victims who are forced, defrauded, or coerced into labor or sexual exploitation. The International Labor Organization (ILO), the UN agency charged with addressing labor standards, employment, and social protection issues, estimated in 2022 that 27.6 million people worldwide were victims of forced labor, bonded labor, forced child labor, sexual servitude, and involuntary servitude, according to the report from The World Fact Book.
The lack of a common definition of “missing child,” and a common response to the issue, results in few reliable statistics on the scope of the problem around the world. Even with this challenge, the conservative number of global children missing statistics from International Center for Missing and Exploited Children is shockingly sky rocking. United States for instance, based on a 2011 report, a child goes missing every 40 seconds in America – that comes to 765,000 children a year. Worldwide, almost 20% of all trafficking victims are children. However, in some parts of Africa and the Mekong region, children are the majority (up to 100% in parts of West Africa).
Fewer victims of trafficking in persons are being identified even as the COVID-19 pandemic and other crises are increasing vulnerabilities to exploitation, according to the latest Global Report on Trafficking in Persons launched today by UNODC (United Nation Office of Drug and Crime ). Based on data gathered from 155 countries, UNODC offers the first global assessment of the scope of human trafficking.
The global market for organ transplantation estimated to reach $68.5 billion by 2029, expanding at a CAGR of 9.2% over the forecast period, driven by increasing incidences of organ failures, and rising demand for transplant products such as tissue products, immunosuppressants, and organ preservation solutions. For example, One source states that the amount of kidney transplants able to be administered in a year within the US is about 20,000, far less than the 100,000 a year that would be needed in order to meet the demand. Argument were made about whether A Legal Organ Market: Should it Exist?
Buddhism does believe that if a person clings to his body, then he cannot be moved before the last breath to avoid adding to their suffering or affecting their ascension to the pure land or rebirth in a good realm of existence. If a person made a vow to donate his organs or was very compassionate, once death is properly determined, removing his organs to save another won’t cause him any harm or vexation and anger. Master Sheng Yen talked about this topic, the main issue is when the organ was removed from the person, because western medical standard in determine the time of death may not be the true death when all consciousness left the body. So removing organs before the consciousness left the body can be very cruel and caused great pain and hurt the dying person greatly. That can said to be equivalent to killing even though this person is dying. Buddhist perspective on organ donation (GDD-361) DVD
Venerable Guan Cheng talked in English in a Q&A section about this issue: What is Buddhist perspective regarding organ donation before or after death？
Sage Journals published an article in 2015 discussed about this issue: Transplant tourism and organ trafficking: Ethical implications for the nursing profession. Here is the abstract:
Organ availability for transplantation has become an increasingly complex and difficult question in health economics and ethical practice. Advances in technology have seen prolonged life expectancy, and the global push for organs creates an ever-expanding gap between supply and demand, and a significant cost in bridging that gap. This article will examine the ethical implications for the nursing profession in regard to the procurement of organs from an impoverished seller’s market, also known as ‘Transplant Tourism’. This ethical dilemma concerns itself with resource allocation, informed consent and the concepts of egalitarianism and libertarianism. Transplant Tourism is an unacceptable trespass against human dignity and rights from both a nursing and collective viewpoint. Currently, the Australian Nursing and Midwifery Council, the Royal college of Nursing Australia, The Royal College of Nursing (UK) and the American Nurses Association do not have position statements on transplant tourism, and this diminishes us as a force for change. It diminishes our role as advocates for the most marginalised in our world to have access to care and to choice and excludes us from a very contemporary real debate about the mismatch of organ demand and supply in our own communities. As a profession, we must have a voice in health policy and human rights, and according to our Code of Ethics in Australia and around the world, act to promote and protect the fundamental human right to healthcare and dignity.
But beyond the legal and ethical pitfalls, experts say, the health risks are not worth it.
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