Argumentative Essay On Human Trafficking

Human Trafficking: “Human trafficking ― or the harboring or transport of persons for the purposes of exploitation ― impacts around 1.5 million victims in the U.S, and 27 million victims worldwide, according to UNICEF.” (Ruiz-Grossman) It is an invisible crime that is not commonly seen to the public eye, but exists and occurs everywhere. Human trafficking is a crime that effects millions of victims, produces billions of dollars and can be prevented as more people are aware of its existence. Recent studies show that human trafficking is “the fastest growing crime in the world” (Mcnall) because people can be sold repeatedly and since they are easily replaced “traffickers maximize the abuse of their victims, uncaring about a relatively short

Certain people are more vulnerable than others, but that does not mean that any one person is safe. Children are easy target for those in the industry. “The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children estimates more than one-third of the 1.7 million runaway children each year are lured into prostitution or pornography within 48 hours of hitting the streets” (Lee) because “The vulnerability children experience when they are alone, hungry and without shelter on the streets makes them particularly susceptible to trafficking.” (Mzezewa) When children are without basic needs they are lured in by the trafficker and taken advantage

There are a lot of organizations that are working to not only spread awareness and prevention methods, but they also assist and help victims, and get the FBI involved. The Department of Homeland Security which aims to spread awareness of human trafficking through its Blue Campaign, said victims tend to appear disconnected from family, friends and community groups, including churches and schools. They also tend to look scared or submissive. Other key indicators are bruises or other signs of abuse and signs of being denied food, water, sleep or medical care. A victim could also be accompanied by someone who seems to be in control. In that case, experts say to look for signs that the victim appears to have been coached on what to say (Chan).

Since hotels are commonly used by traffickers, hotel workers have begun to train their employees to look for signs of sex trafficking victims. Some causes for concern would be if a reservation was made with a credit card and it was paid in cash and if an older man is checking in with several younger, foreign women. If a sizeable group of men check in with a couple women and they do not have a large amount of luggage, rent the room for several days, are watching an unusually large amount of porn and are refusing housekeeping, it should be a red flag. These unusual actions are typically behaviors of sex traffickers.