How Human Trafficking has Impacted Oklahoma

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Human trafficking is the illegal trade of humans for forced labor and sex labor. Innocent victims are trafficked through lies, fraudulence, and threats. Traffickers deceive them by promises of a better life; they abduct them through fraudulent methods; and they threaten their families to get them to go with them. Human trafficking not only occurs in foreign countries but also in the United States. Oklahoma is also a location where trafficking occurs. Many Oklahomans have personally experienced the negative and terrible effects of human trafficking.
Different things occur to victims of human trafficking. Many victims are forced into prostitution or forced into labor. “A trafficker may offer to smuggle someone into a nation for legitimate work, such as becoming a waitress or a nanny. Later, the unsuspecting target discovers the evil bait-and-switch: The actual labor is sinister and exploitive, with no pay, insane hours, and physical brutality.” (Alford32) So a victim is told they are going to be given an opportunity for a better life by being smuggled into a country where they can get work. When they agree to go with the trafficker they find out that they are no longer free, but are now a victim of slave labor or something worse.
Forced labor that can occur from human trafficking can be in the form of farming, rolling cigarettes, activities of war, seamstress work, and other domestic service activities. These are just a few examples of types of forced labor. According to Lieutenant Doug Kimberlin, a member of the Vice Enforcement Unit of the Oklahoma City Police Department, most human trafficking cases in Oklahoma are prostitution cases or sex labor. However, some labor trafficking has occurred in western Oklahoma.
The main victim...

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... "FREE AT LAST. (Cover Story)." Christianity Today 51.3 (2007): 30. MAS Ultra - School Edition. Web. 14 Jan. 2014.
Campfield, Zeke. "Salvation Army Engages in War on Human Trafficking." The Daily Oklahoman [Oklahoma CIty] 8 Nov. 2012, Metro & State sec.: 14. Print.
"Human Trafficking." Interview by Doug Kimberlin. n.d.: n. pag. Print.
Molly M., Fleming. "The Bonds That Bind Them: Getting Sex-Trafficking Victims Out Of The Game Requires Complex Care." Journal Record, The (Oklahoma City, OK) (n.d.): Newspaper Source Plus. Web. 16 Jan. 2014.
Netzel, Natalie. "Human Trafficking Hits Close to Home in S.C." Newberry Observer (SC) 14 Oct. 2013: Newspaper Source Plus. Web. 13 Jan. 2014.
Sterling, Sue. "Forced Labor, Prostitution Define Human Trafficking, Specialist Says." Daily Star-Journal, The (Warrensburg, MO) 04 Dec. 2013: Newspaper Source Plus. Web. 14 Jan. 2014.

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