Although slavery, as we known, may have been abolished throughout most of the world, a different form of slavery is lurking in the shadows. There is an estimated 27 million people currently in modern day slavery around the world. There are currently more people in slavery today than in any given time in history. (Free the Slaves, 2013) These are men, women, and children living under horrid conditions, stripped of all human rights. Included in that number are one million children that are exploited by the global sex trade every year. In the United States there is an estimated number of 50,000 foreign nationals being trafficked in every year and 400,000 domestic minors involved in this trafficking. (Dovydaitis, 2009) These are alarming numbers and something must be done to fight this modern day slavery. Those in healthcare are really in a position to help fight these atrocities. Our job as healthcare providers should be to raise the awareness of these crimes, develop tools to identify those who might be victims of trafficking, and to push for policy that will help fight modern day slavery.
The Extent of the Problem
Human trafficking is a global health issue. There are currently twenty seven million people living in slavery around the world. There is a booming underground market for human trafficking that crosses all international borders. Although it may not be as evident in the United States, it is “the largest he United States is one of the largest market/destinations for trafficking in the world, second only to Germany. (Dovydaitis, 2009) Currently there is an estimated 400,000 domestic minors involved in trafficking, while 244,000 are considered at risk for exploitation. (Polaris Project, 2010) These children are forced...
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...fficking in Per
sons Program provides resources that help identify victims and assist them in getting help. This includes fact sheets, campaign tool kits for law enforcement, health care and social service providers, educational brochures and posters, and pocket assessment cards. These types of organization allow healthcare workers to initiate public awareness campaigns and public awareness is the first step to action. Healthcare workers should feel the responsibility to help those who are in need, and raising awareness of human trafficking is a step forward in addressing the issue.
Works Cited
2013 State Ratings on Human Trafficking Laws. (2014). Retrieved from Polaris Project
Dovydaitis, T. (2010). Human Trafficking: The Role of the Health Care Provider. J Midwifery Womens Health, 462-467.
Free the Slaves. (2013). Retrieved from Slavery Today.
Many American citizens know of the criminal act of sex trafficking in third world countries, but very few know how much it takes place in the United States. In America prostitution, pornography, and stripping are all considered acts of sex trafficking when they are forced on the victim. This increased crime has led to victimization, physical and psychological effects and after-effects of American and international victims. The government is aware of the slavery of humans taking place in this country and it has to release funds in creating programs for sex trafficking survivors and re-authorize the act that protects sex trafficking victims, in order to support the equal rights for every citizen.
Country to country, person-to-person, human trafficking is becoming a bigger and bigger issue all across the globe, including right here in the United States. Human trafficking is said to be a form of modern-day slavery, subjecting its victims to commercial sex, debt bondage, and forced labor through force, fraud, or coercion. There are often no easily identifiable victims as they come in all ages, genders, and races. There are said to be at least 2.4 million victims of human trafficking across the globe at any given time, leading to profits of $32 billion for the criminal masterminds behind such trafficking operations, making it the second most lucrative criminal industry behind narcotics. Despite the abundance of victims, it is estimated that fewer than 30% of all countries report at least 10 trafficking convictions a year, and 20% of countries do not even have an offense for trafficking. An additional 20% of countries have an offense for trafficking but still report no convictions of the offense. Without an organized coalition to help prevent such atrocities, it is left up to national governments to come up with solutions for their respective nations, and many governments do not possess the know-how or effort needed to combat these crimes.
As victim count continues to rise, its difficult to see how such great numbers of men, women and children are bought and sold every year. Trafficking can be found in many forms, including: prostitution, slavery, or forced labor (Harf and Lombardi, 2014). It wasn’t until the 1980’s that international human trafficking became globally noticed. With the lack of government intervention and control in several nations, and the free trade market, slavery once again became a profitable industry (Harf and Lombardi, 2014). As previously mentioned, easier movement across nations borders is one of the outcomes of globalization. It is also what makes human trafficking so easy today. It is estimated that about 20.9 million people are victims across the entire globe (United Nations Publications, 2012); trafficking accounts for 32 billion dollars in generated profit globally (Brewer, n.d). 58 percent of all human trafficking was for the purpose of sexual exploitation, and of this 55-60 percent are women (United Nations Publications,
This study examines the research that initially began on October 28, 2000 and spanned through to October 31, 2009. If a human trafficking case occurred in the US, with the victim being under the age of 18, and at least one arrested, indicted or convicted felon, their case would be filed in the data analysis report. This research resulted in the finding of 115 separate incidents of human trafficking, involving at least 153 victims and 215 felons or perpetrators, 117 (53.4%) of them being convicted of their heinous actions. Each individual case consisted of anywhere between 1 to 9 victims of trafficking. 90% of these victims were females between the ages of 5 to 17 years who were held captive from less than 6 months to 5 years. 25 (16.3%) of these minors were exploited through some type of false promise and 15 (9.8%) were kidnapped. 34 (22.2%) of the victims were abused through com...
Human trafficking is a health care issue in that health care is often central to restoring the life and well-being of the trafficking survivor. The Family Violence Prevention Fund (2005) surveyed trafficking victims and health care providers and found that medical needs ranked second after housing and before advocacy and legal help in trafficking victims' needs (ibid.) (Kempadoo, Sanghera & Pattanaik, 2015). Regardless of the form of their exploitation, people who are trafficked suffer severe abuse that often results in outward physical injuries. Victims may suffer malnutrition, broken bones and teeth, facial injuries, and infected open wounds in addition to infectious diseases. Many victims are of childbearing age and have no access to birth
Slavery is one of the issues that was, is and has been a major concern in the world. The nature of contemporary slavery is unknown, but estimates show that there are millions of victims of slavery across the globe. Slavery covers a wide variety of human rights violations such as sexual mutilation of men, women and children, child prostitution, sale of orphans, child pornography and many others. On the other hand, human trafficking is an area of concern that involves recruiting, transporting, buying or selling a person by means of force or fraud for the purpose of commercial sexual exploitation or forced labor. Human trafficking deprives the victims of their human rights, and is one of the causes for the spread of sexually transmitted diseases
Most American citizens, if asked, would say that sex trafficking is an issue that happens on foreign land, not here in America. Many American’s believe that slavery was abolished years ago, but modern day slavery is happening in this country and internationally every day right under our noses. The startling fact, is that sex trafficking happens within our borders, and in our very own towns at a much higher rate than anyone would imagine. Sex trafficking occurs when people, usually women and children, are coerced into the sex trade against their will (TVPA, 2013). Many traffickers target weak, vulnerable people who come from low socioeconomic backgrounds and have a history of abuse; however anyone can potentially be trafficked (The Polaris Project, 2014). Many traffickers lure their prey in with false promises of love, money, or security, and then the victims are instead faced with lies, debt bondage, violence, physical and mental manipulation, and abuse (The Polaris Project, 2014). In today’s world many of our social issues, such as human trafficking, are made worse by the general lack of education, resources, and information available to the public and to victims. I propose a policy that will help 180 Turning Lives Around provide comprehensive and much needed services to victims of sex trafficking, as well as educate the community and law enforcement officials in order to help end modern day slavery in America.
The United States is a major port for human trafficking and, “Due to the covert nature of human trafficking, it is difficult to ascertain which countries are the primary source nations for trafficking into the US” (Hepburn). People of all ages and genders are at risk to human trafficking (Hepburn). Women and girls make up about fifty-six percent of the people trafficked for forced labor, while men and boys make up the other forty-four percent; children make up forty to fifty percent of those numbers (Hepburn). Ninety-eight percent of the people trafficked for sexual explorations are women and girls (Hepburn). Children tend to be targeted more than adults because they are much more vulnerable. Human trafficking has different forms, and “While trafficking for the purposes of commercial sexual exploitation is more publicized in the media, it is not the only form of trafficking that takes place in the US” (Hepburn). Trafficking for the purposes of forced labor is just as likely to occur as trafficking for the purposes of sexual exploitation (Hepburn). Many citizens have never heard of human trafficking for something other than sexual exploitation. Hepburn shows that, “Forty-three percent are trafficked for purposes of...
Summary: We see that there are many different aspects and types of human trafficking that everyone should be made aware of. As a whole human trafficking is a lucrative industry raking in $150 BILLION globally. The impact that this industry has on its victims is
In the words of Wayne Dyer “Freedom means you are unobstructed in living your life as you choose. Anything less is a form of slavery” (Brainy Quote). Today there are millions of modern day slaves all around the world of human trafficking. Some countries are more troubled with this problem than others, and it’s often accompanied with other crimes. There have been undertakings done to prevent and stop human trafficking, but 20 million men, women, and children all over the world still suffer from being sex slaves (Joseph 1). Programs do exist to prevent and put an end to human trafficking, but their actions alone are simply not enough. Therefore, anti-trafficking initiatives are failing to identify and help their victims.
The United States has one of the largest percentages of trafficked humans worldwide, however so many individual are unaware of this issue. As many as 17,500 individuals are thought to be trafficked into the United Stated annually, and some have estimated that 100,000 U.S. citizen children are victims of trafficking within the U.S. (Siskin & Wyler, 2010). Since many cases go unreported, these estimates may be fewer than the actual number of victims in the US. There is substantial evidence that supports the ideology that woman and children from low socio-economic status are most likely targeted (Okech, Morreau, & Benson, 2011), of all the people trafficked each year about 70 percent of women and 50 percent are children that are mainly forced into the sex trade (Human Trafficking Statistics). Among socio-economic problems, the trafficking business feeds on conditions of vulnerability, such as family conflicts, natural disasters, youth, ignorance, gender, social exclusion, political instabil...
In order to understand how sex trafficking affects its victims, one must first know the severity of sex trafficking and what it is. The issue of sex trafficking affects 2.5 million people at any given time (Abas et al., 2013). The form of sex slavery affects many women and children across the world. Even though both males and females are sexually trafficked and exploited, there is a deep emphasis on the sexual exploitation of women and children. This is due to gender discrimination (Miller, 2006). This is because women and children are more vulnerable and appeal to the larger populations of brothels and the so-called “clients” since the majority are men. Ecclestone (2013) stated that children as young as age three are trafficked. Sex trafficking has changed over time; “Today, the business of human sex trafficking is much more organized and violent. These women and young girls are sold to traffickers, locked up in rooms or brothels for weeks or months, drugged, terrorized, and raped repeatedly” (Walker-Rodriguez & Hill, 2011). It is found that many of the victims of sex trafficking are abducted, recruited, transported and forced into involuntary “sex work”. These sexual acts include prostitution, exotic dancing, pornography, and sexual escort services (McClain & Garrity, 2011). What happens to these sex trafficking victims is extremely traumatizing.
Human trafficking is a form of slavery, forcing victims to engage in sexual activities and labors against their will. These activities can be taken place through force, fraud, or constraint. Human trafficking is not just affecting one group of people, it is a worldwide issue, affecting all different ages, genders, ethnicities, and socio-economic backgrounds. Human trafficking is such an immense problem, apprehending the true size, knowing how to help, and how to keep the issue from reoccurring. Human trafficking is and is still becoming such a serious issue that something needs to be done about.
One reason why human trafficking is a serious crime that many people are unaware of is because it secretly takes place in the United States. Between 2007 and 2012, there were reports of 9,298 different cases of human trafficking (Polaris Project). An example of how unknown this topic is is that 41% of sex trafficking cases and 20% of labor trafficking cases were proven to have United States citizens as victims (Polaris Project). And this is only what we know so far. There are thousands of cases that we don’t know about. Many people also don’t know that men, women, and even children are also taken hostage by human traffickers. An example of this would be that out of those 9,298 cases that were reported, women were victims of sex trafficking in 85% of those cases. Men were victims of labor trafficking in 40% of those cases (Polaris Project). Approximately 300,000 children are at risk of being prostituted in the United States (U.S. Department of Justice). Children are even more under the radar than we know about. On average, one in three teenagers on the street will be lured toward prostitution within 48 hours of leaving their home (National Runaway Hotline). For example, two female friends who were minors ran away from home and were prom...
Human trafficking, or the selling and buying of people, is a well-hidden yet prominent issue within today’s society. It is both an immoral and horrific topic that needs brought to attention and dealt with. When human beings are manipulated into work, sexual servitude, or economic hardship, human trafficking is occurring. In the year of 2006, only one individual is convicted of human trafficking per 800 victims (UNGIFT). By looking at straight statistics, reasons human trafficking happens, and the toll it has on people, it is very clear that this is a major issue that is happening in our world.