NSGCB 486 Competency 3 Part 1

Sample Answer

Introduction

The promotion of optimum public health is important in nursing and healthcare. However, emerging health issues threaten the realization of these outcomes. Emerging public health concerns threaten the health of the public by shifting the resource focus on addressing it, thereby, contributing to health inequality. Healthcare providers play a crucial role in the adoption of evidence-based interventions to address emerging public health problems. The undertake needs analysis and implement plans that are appropriate to the identified problems. Human trafficking in countries such as Mexico is an example of an emerging health concern for public health professionals (Chisolm-Straker et al., 2020). Therefore, this presentation examines the impacts, causes, and exacerbating factors and action plan for human trafficking in Mexico.

Country Description: Mexico

Mexico is the selected country for this presentation. Mexico is predominantly a Spanish country that is located in the southern part of North America. It borders the United States of America to the north, south and west by the Pacific Ocean, east by the Gulf of Mexico, and southeast by Belize and Guatemala. Mexico ranks 13th largest country globally. It has a highly vibrant economy as evidenced by the county having 13th largest nominal GDP. Mexico also has diverse economic activities such as mining, tourism, and transport industries. Despite the above, Mexico struggles with challenges such as drug and human trafficking, which significantly affects its populations.

Emerging Health Issue in Mexico

The selected emerging health issue in Mexico is human trafficking. Human trafficking is the process where humans are recruited, transported, and transferred using any form of threat with the aim of exploiting them. The different forms of exploitation of the trafficked individuals include prostitution, servitude, and forced labor. Human trafficking is a crucial, emerging public health concern in Mexico. Human trafficking currently ranks as the third emerging problem in Mexico after drugs and oil. The disruption of the drug cartels by the law enforcement agencies has led to them regrouping and focusing on human trafficking. Currently, Mexico leads all the countries in the Americas in human trafficking. Different populations are highly vulnerable to the vice. They include women, children, individuals with physical and mental disabilities and those from indigenous backgrounds (Chisolm-Straker et al., 2020).

Population Impact of Human Trafficking

Human trafficking has adverse impacts. First, it predisposes the victims to repeated arrests. Most of the victims of human suffering do not have the required legal documents to be in the countries being trafficked to. This places them at an increased risk of repeated arrests by law enforcement agencies. The victims are also subjected to forced sex. This increases their risk of acquiring sexually transmitted infections, including HIV/AIDs. The risk of unwanted pregnancies is also high. Countries also suffer from economic losses. Countries lose their productive individuals to human trafficking. There is also the need for resource provision to ensure the realization of the health needs of the victims in the foreign countries. Victims of human trafficking also experience harsh, inhuman conditions. They are subjected to forced labor in unhealthy environments, which affect their overall health and wellbeing (Jones & Coker-Kolo, 2022).

Victims of human trafficking are also increasingly predisposed to substance abuse. The harsh experiences they undergo at the hands of their traffickers and in their new environments increase their risk of substance abuse. They abuse drugs and substances as a way of overcoming the challenges that they undergo. Victims of human trafficking are also highly predisposed to mental health problems. The risk of depression, anxiety disorders, and post-traumatic stress disorder among them is high. Their traumatic experiences increases their risk of these mental health problems. Children also suffer from delayed development. Their repeated exposure to stressors such as physical, social, and emotional tortures affects their overall growth, development, and mental wellbeing. Most of thee victims of human trafficking often end being forced in criminal activities such as smuggling of drugs (Jones & Coker-Kolo, 2022). As a result, they are highly prone to criminalization and imprisonment in foreign countries.

Cause of the Issue: Individual Issues

The causes of human trafficking are varied. The first category o the contributing factors is individual factors. One of the individual factors is poverty. The risk of the poor being victims of human trafficking is high. This is attributed to their vulnerability to false promises about the potentials that exist in other countries. The other individual factor is gender. Women are mostly vulnerable to human trafficking than men. Factors such as gender inequality and culture tend to favor men than women in most of the affected societies, which makes women the prey in human trafficking. Unemployment is the other factor. Most of the victims of human trafficking are lured into the trap oof trafficking with the promise of being employed in the foreign countries. For example, they believe that they will access lucrative employment opportunities in the United States when trafficked from Mexico (Hamzah et al., 2020). Therefore, these individual factors play a role in contributing to the problem.

Cause of the Issue: Community Issues

Community issues also cause human trafficking. First, issues such as conflicts contribute to human trafficking. Occurrences such as the displacement of populations places the affected vulnerable to human trafficking. The lack of effective social structures to address human trafficking in communities also contribute to the problem. The lack of effective regulations and policies against human trafficking contributes to the problem. In addition, the low empowerment of the community members to stand against the problem leads to its rise in a country. Poverty is also a community issue that causes human trafficking. The poor are highly vulnerable since they consider the false promises an opportunity to overcome their challenges (Jones & Coker-Kolo, 2022).

Cause of the Issue: Family Roles and Structure

Family roles and structure also contribute to human trafficking. One of them is division of labor. Families characterized by gendered roles are likely to fall victims oof human trafficking. For example, individuals born to families with more preference to boys than girls are likely to be victims of human suffering. Family breakdown and single parenting also contribute to human trafficking. Parents and children of broken families often experience challenges in their environment that places them at risk of human trafficking. For example, they have low educational attainment, income, and high unemployment rates, which makes them vulnerable to human trafficking. Gender discrimination in families also contribute to the problem (Hamzah et al., 2020). For example, gender discrimination in forms such as early marriages for girls place them at a risk of sex trafficking.

Cause of the Issue: Culture

Cultural factors also contribute to human trafficking. One of them is gender inequality. Societies that do not value gender equality are prone to social ills such as human trafficking. Gender inequality in forms such as unequal access to education and employment opportunities breeds male domination and violation of women rights. It also results in the creation of a culture that is characterized by tolerance of violence and injustices against women. Such a culture makes women to be more prone to human trafficking than men. Cultures that normalize sexual harassment also breed human trafficking. Societies grow to consider vices such as sex trafficking a norm. Cultures that devalue women also breed human trafficking (Chisolm-Straker et al., 2020). Males grow to place less significance to women in their societies, which propagates human and sex trafficking indirectly.

Cause of the Issue: Environmental

Environmental factors also play a role in human trafficking. One of them is the increasing demand for foreign workers in most countries. The increase in demand for foreign workers for jobs such as caregiving has acted as a catalyst for human trafficking in most countries, including Mexico. Law enforcement agencies are expected to enforce strict measures against human trafficking. Sadly, they often play minimal roles in addressing the issue because of vices such as corruption and bribery among the involved bodies and individuals. Corruption and bribery accelerates the business of human trafficking. The globalization of the sex industry is the other environmental factor. This places more women to falling into traps of human trafficking as they aim at exploiting the foreign sex industry. The last environmental cause is the involvement of the transnational organized crime networks (Hamzah et al., 2020). These networks make it hard for the agencies to crack down the individuals or organizations involved in human traffickingggg.

Exacerbating Factors: Individual

Individual factors exacerbate human trafficking. Poverty is one of the individual exacerbating factors. The increasing poverty rate in a country predisposes the vulnerable to human trafficking. Human traffickers utilize poverty as an opportunity to exploit the poor. The other individual factor that exacerbates human trafficking is lack of awareness about the risks of human trafficking. The lack of awareness arises from the deception about the opportunities that await the victims in a foreign land. It also arises from low educational levels which makes them lack access to available opportunities in their countries of origin. Lack of education also results in high poverty rate, which is a crucial accelerator of human trafficking in countries with weak systems to address the problem (Hamzah et al., 2020).

Exacerbating Factors: Community

Community factors also exacerbate human trafficking. Communities should have adequate protection systems against human trafficking. This includes the lack of policies to ensure the eradication of any contributing factors to human trafficking in the community. Communities also require adequate social support systems to the vulnerable. For example, the community should ensure the protection of the rights of the vulnerable such as those with disability. The lack off social support systems places them vulnerable to human trafficking. Poverty also accelerates human trafficking. The poor are highly prone to human trafficking as they are willing to explore any opportunity to improve their socioeconomic statuses (Majic, 2021).

Exacerbating Factors: Culture

Culture is another exacerbating factor for human trafficking. One of the cultural factors associated with human trafficking is normalizing gender-based violence. Human trafficking thrives in a community with retrogressive practices such as gender-based violence. The victims of gender-based violence often fall to human trafficking traps as they try to evade violence in their communities. Gender inequality is another factor. Limited opportunities for a gender leads them to trying opportunities elsewhere, hence, being at a risk of human trafficking. A community that devalues women also propagates human trafficking. The community does not consider women important, which can be used as an opportunity for women exploitation by human traffickers (Andrade, 2019). Similarly, tolerance to sexual harassment provides an opportunity to exploit for human traffickers since the community is not sensitive to the needs of the vulnerable.

Exacerbating Factors: Environmental

Several environmental factors exacerbate human trafficking. One of them is poverty. Poverty subjects the population to try any opportunity that comes their way for survival. This gives the human traffickers an opportunity to exploit the hopeless, poor population. Conflicts among families, communities, and countries also propagate human trafficking. The victims are easily smuggled for human trafficking during a conflict. Corruption also exacerbates human trafficking. Corrupt police and other law enforcement agencies provide traffickers a leeway to engage in their activities. This makes it difficult to implement any measures aiming at eradicating the problem in the society. The last propagating factor is the lack of economic opportunities (Majic, 2021). The lack of economic opportunities such as employment for the learned increases the poverty rate and vulnerable populations to human trafficking.

Action Plan: Education

Education is an effective tool against human trafficking. The public should be educated about the causes, risks, prevention, and their role in addressing human trafficking. Education raises awareness and empowers the population to take a role in advocating measures against human trafficking. Schools should also offer education to learners about human trafficking to increase their awareness and strengthen the measures to address the problem. Education facilitates sustainable change by ensuring the creation of alternative measures at the community level to address the problem of human trafficking (Majic, 2021).

Action Plan: Communication

Communication is an essential component in the fight against human trafficking. The agencies and institutions involved in fighting against human trafficking should support open communication. There should be free flow of information to ensure the ease coordination off human trafficking prevention interventions. Open communication between different agencies will also heighten the measures adopted to address the problem. The other aspect of communication that should be incorporated into the plan is gathering input from communities about the best practices to address the problem. Their input is incorporated into the measures developed by the agencies to improve their effectiveness. There is also the need to seek and provide feedback about the effectiveness of the adopted strategies in addressing the problem. This will inform the improvement strategies that the agencies adopt (O’Brien & Berents, 2019). Lastly, there is a need to create channels for use by the public to report human trafficking cases to the responsible agencies.

Action Plan: Relief Workers

Relief workers play a crucial role in providing the support needed to fight against human trafficking in Mexico. The workers provide different forms of care such as medical care, social, emotional, and psychological support. Therefore, it is important to implement strategies that meet their needs. For example, the relief workers should be trained on the effective and evidence-based practices to meet the needs of victims of human trafficking. They should also be provided with resource support to ensure that they optimize the outcomes of the populations that they serve. Governments should develop policies that recognize their vital role in fighting the problem and ensuring they receive the adequate support that they need in addressing the problem (Majic, 2021).

Action Plan: Technology

Human traffickers largely use technology to execute their plans. Technological advancements such as virtual access to victims through different platforms such as social media enable them to achieve their desired outcomes with ease in the trafficking process. Traffickers also use approaches such as creating fake adverts to lure potential victims to their traps. However, technology can also be used to address human trafficking. Technology can be used to identify victims of human trafficking and track them to their traffickers. Applications can enable law enforcement agencies to know the locations of the potential victims and plan rescue missions. Technology can also be incorporated into police investigations and prosecutions. The success of such initiatives require a database that institutions involved in fighting human trafficking can use to access any information that they need (O’Brien & Berents, 2019).