Dare to step into the chilling underworld of organ trafficking with me, Dr. Celia Williamson. This harrowing journey paints a stark picture of how human organs are commercially traded outside of the recognized medical system, a realm where profit trumps ethics. Gain insight into how this horrific form of exploitation occurs. Brace yourself as we lift the veil on the shocking prices attached to human organs and the astronomical value of the organ trafficking industry.
Later in the segment I delve into the grim realities underlying organ trafficking. Witness the stark contrast between the scarcity of organs and the skyrocketing demand for them. Confront uncomfortable questions around why organ trafficking occurs and who is involved. Join me as we expose the often desperate buyers in this illicit trade, and grapple with the dire choices made by those living in poverty. This episode promises to expand your understanding of human trafficking beyond its conventional definitions of forced labor and sexual exploitation, casting a harsh light on this lesser-known yet equally tragic facet of human exploitation.
Dare to step into the chilling underworld of organ trafficking with me, Dr. Celia Williamson. This harrowing journey paints a stark picture of how human organs are commercially traded outside of the recognized medical system, a realm where profit trumps ethics. Gain insight into how this horrific form of exploitation occurs. Brace yourself as we lift the veil on the shocking prices attached to human organs and the astronomical value of the organ trafficking industry.
Later in the segment I delve into the grim realities underlying organ trafficking. Witness the stark contrast between the scarcity of organs and the skyrocketing demand for them. Confront uncomfortable questions around why organ trafficking occurs and who is involved. Join me as we expose the often desperate buyers in this illicit trade, and grapple with the dire choices made by those living in poverty. This episode promises to expand your understanding of human trafficking beyond its conventional definitions of forced labor and sexual exploitation, casting a harsh light on this lesser-known yet equally tragic facet of human exploitation.
You know the why human trafficking work is needed To fight for the freedom of modern day slaves. But love, passion, commitment isn't all you need to be an effective and successful anti-trafficking advocate. Learn the how. I'm Dr Celia Williamson, director of the Human Trafficking and Social Justice Institute at the University of Toledo. Welcome to the Emancipation Nation podcast, where I'll provide you with the latest and best methods, policy and practice discussed by experienced experts in the field, so that you can cut through the noise, save time and be about the work of saving lives.
Speaker 1:Welcome to the Emancipation Nation, episode 189. I'm Dr Celia Williamson and today I just want to talk to you solo about a little known area of human trafficking. Yet it is human trafficking the organ trade. So the organ trade, according to the World Health Organization, is the trading of human organs, tissues or other body products usually used for transplanting. So it's the commercial transplant, where there's a profit that's made and it usually occurs outside of the accepted medical system. So in 2000, people agreed on the Palermal Protocol, and that is where trafficking in persons shall mean the recruitment, the transportation, transfer, harboring or receipt of persons by means of a threat or use of force or other forms of coercion, abduction, fraud, deception, abuse of power, position of vulnerability or the giving or receiving of payments and benefits to achieve the consent of a person having control over another person for the purpose of exploitation. So exploitation shall include, at a minimum, the exploitation of the prostitution of others or other forms of sexual exploitation for slave or services, slavery or practices similar to slavery, servitude or the removal of organs. So, as we understand human trafficking, there has to be an act, and that is recruiting, harboring, transporting, providing or obtaining by means of what First, fraud or coercion, and it has to be a purpose for the purpose of exploitation and voluntary servitude, p&h, debt, bondage, slavery.
Speaker 1:And we often forget organ trafficking. According to a source called Bloody Harvest, they list some prices of various organs. Prices are going for $30,000, us dollars Lungs 150,000, a heart 130,000, liver 98,000, kidneys 62,000. I'm not sure how accurate they are, but you can look them up. That's called Bloody Harvest. According to the Council of Europe Convention in 2018, they estimate that organ trafficking is about $840 million to $1.7 billion industry. So why organ trafficking, right? Why? Because we kind of think that there are just bad guys out there stealing or manipulating people out of their organs because they're bad people. But we really have to think of why people are stealing and manipulating to get organs, why I want to break into this podcast and ask you an important question why did you become so passionate about the issue of human trafficking?
Speaker 1:Because you know how precious freedom really is and you know that if you could offer that to someone else, it would make your life that much richer, as well as theirs. Whatever you've accomplished thus far in life, nothing is more satisfying than being able to help someone receive the gift of freedom. If you're interested in taking the deep dive in becoming trained, write this down. It's my effective case management with human trafficking survivors course. You know many direct service providers are passionate about working with survivors. They understand their why in doing this work, but many don't understand their what to do or how to do it, or when to do it and where and how much to do what. And unfortunately, we don't give permission for someone to be honest and say they don't have the knowledge and skills to effectively work with the population of survivors that have suffered trauma. Well, I have a course on how to work directly with survivors, including the 10 common areas of need and how to assess those areas of need and then how to intervene more effectively and in trauma informed ways. Complete my course Effective Case Management with Human Trafficking Survivors at your Own Pace. I'll walk alongside you as you walk alongside survivors, sharing with you my almost 30 years of experience. If you're interested, you can find my free webinar on my website at ciliawilsoncom.
Speaker 1:And now on with the podcast, the Money right and my favorite series, television series of all time. It's called the Wire. I'm actually going to do a podcast on it one day. I love it so much. It's an old series, but one of the stars on the show called the Wire his name was Lester and it's a show about drugs and all kinds of illegal activities. But Lester said you follow the drugs, you get drug addicts and drug dealers. You follow the money and you don't know where it's going to take you. Same is true with organ trafficking. If we follow the money, we learn a lot more about organ trafficking, because we have to think who's buying. There has to be a market for this, so let's think about it.
Speaker 1:There is definitely a shortage of organs in terms of people who need them around the world people in first world countries. There are too few volunteers. People are on these organ waiting lists for weeks, for months, for years. There's a high demand for organs around the world, yet there's an abundance of poor people. So when the supply doesn't meet the demand, crimes are going to be committed. So, for instance, the wait time for just a kidney and kidneys are the number one commodity that people are looking for Right. So a study in 2015 in Canada, just for an example, said the average wait time for a kidney is four years. In the US, the average wait time was 3.6 years and in the UK between two and three years, and this is according to the kidney foundation of Canada, the National Kidney Foundation and a couple of other sources. So years, people are waiting for kidneys. In 2023, according to HRSA and Penn Medicine, 104,234 people were on the National Transplant Waiting List. That's, in the US, 17 people die each day waiting, every 10 minutes. Somebody has added to the waiting list.
Speaker 1:So let me ask you we are against organ trafficking, absolutely. If you had a loved one let's say your spouse, your life partner, let's say your child, let's say your parent was on this waiting list, and you know, 17 people die each day waiting, what would you be willing to do? It's really another way of looking at it. You know, there's one kind of very elementary way of looking at it organ trafficking. That's bad, but once you start to pull back the layers, follow the money. Who's buying? Why are they buying? Because they're bad people or because they're trying to save the lives of their loved ones? Who's selling? Typically third world residents, people living in third world countries that live in poverty, that need the money. Are they making a real choice? For the ones who say I'm willing to sell my kidney, is that even a choice when you're living in poverty and you have to feed your family? So other statistics as of January 2023, 88,901 people were waiting for a kidney. 10,625 were waiting for a liver. 857 were waiting for a pancreas. 3,365 people were waiting on a heart. 960 people were waiting on a lung. So this is a very complex issue.
Speaker 1:According to the global financial integrity organization, about 10 percent of all organ transplants including the lungs, the heart, the liver they're done via trafficked organs. Buying and selling organs is illegal in most countries, except in Iran. That's the only country in the world where buying and selling an organ is legal, but it only applies to their citizens. Also, there's not many laws to stop a person from leaving their own country to get an organ from someone abroad. There are some companies that cater to transplant tourism they call it, but they say they match needed recipients with those that are willing to donate.
Speaker 1:So how are people buying these organs? How does that even happen? Well, sometimes the person sells their organ. They are aware and they sell their organ. Sometimes they're manipulated, they're tricked into believing that they need a surgery and then, while they're under surgery, their kidney or liver or whatever is taken. Some survive, some don't survive. Sometimes they're kidnapped and they're drugged and their organs are taken. And oftentimes these surgeries occur in makeshift hospitals. Sometimes they occur in legitimate hospitals. But even some of the people who are in first world countries perhaps that participate in the black market and purchase an organ, they can also be scammed and be out of money and not receive the organ. So just some information on organ trafficking to make you aware that not only sex trafficking and labor trafficking, but we have to remember that organ trafficking does occur.
Speaker 1:I think a really good video to watch is called the deadly underground organ harvesters. That's a really good video. It was online I'm not sure if it's online anymore on YouTube and then Tales from the Organ Trade, which is a pretty good documentary. And until next time, the fight continues. Let's not just do something, let's do the best thing. If you like this episode of Emancipation Nation, please subscribe and I'll send you the weekly podcast. Until then, the fight continues.