The Crime Of Human Trafficking

There are few topics that awaken emotions and fuel passions like the horrible stories of human slavery that are taking place in the world today. Human Trafficking is the illegal movement of people, generally for the purposes of forced labor and exploitation. The article “Human Trafficking” states, “According to the United Nations, human trafficking involves the recruitment, transport and receipt of people across borders `by improper means, such as force, abduction, fraud or coercion, for an improper purpose, liked forced or coerced labor, servitude, slavery or sexual exploitation’” (“Human Trafficking”). The crime of human trafficking is largely hidden and therefore correct numbers of victims and the widespread issue is hard to calculate. Trafficking

A major contributor in this situation is the poverty many people are faced with. There are people willing to sell their children to traffickers to make money to feed themselves, even though; they are selling their own child, they must make the sacrifice to survive. Debt plays a very large role in trafficking as well. A person could borrow money from someone, not knowing the pay back would end up being more than money. Also, the person who is in debt may not have the money to pay the creditor back, therefore; leading them to sacrifice themselves or family to pay off what is owed. An example of this happened in Ohio at a place called Trillium Farms. There was a young boy there named Javier, who was enslaved by a smuggler named Castillo-Serrano. The smuggler explained to Javier that he owed him a fee and Javier must work to pay off the money he owed Serrano. The article says, “Javier called his uncle in Florida and described the violent threats, miserable living conditions, and how he had to hand his paychecks over to Castillo-Serrano’s associates. “Please,” he said, “I’m hungry, and my heart is bursting with fear” (Zimmerman). This example shows how corrupt people can be when trying to get their victim to work for them and do whatever they say. In the most extreme cases, the one who lends the money might require a daughter or son for his pleasure as payment if money is not

Is there anything we can do personally to help end this evil crime? On the local front, there are ways everyone could contribute to fight against human trafficking. It takes people committed to help in impoverished communities that are targets for traffickers. Increasing public awareness will facilitate the elimination of human trafficking worldwide. Public awareness will help by making people realize that this is happening in our own hometowns and communities. The public may be blinded to this crime as we go about our daily lives. People can volunteer and support anti-trafficking efforts in their local towns. Organizing a fundraiser and donating the proceeds to an anti-trafficking organization is another way to fight this on a personal level. Any step, no matter how small can make an impact on this