Are you always aware of your surroundings? Do you ever ponder what life would be like if you were abducted? Slavery is still a harsh global reality for too many victims. What we don’t realize is that slavery is not only a piece of history we read about in textbooks. Rather, a realistic element of our world’s current events. The threat of human trafficking endangers citizens of all countries. Victims of modern day slavery comprise a diverse group of men, women, and children of all ages and social classes. These people are trafficked, like drugs, across several borders into a life of sexual exploitation, harsh labor, and severe mental, and verbal abuse. Awareness is imperative to the prevention of human trafficking. The ability to recognize, prevent, and prosecute offenders will aid in the fight against human trafficking.
Statistical data exhibits the reality the threat of human trafficking imposes on our freedom. According the 2010 Trafficking in Persons Report released by the U.S Department of State 1.8 out of every 1000 global citizens are currently enslaved via human trafficking (7), with an estimated 56 % comprised of women (34). It is estimated that a staggering 12.3 million adults and children are currently enslaved in forced labor, bonded labor, and forced prostitution around the world (7). Additionally, the U.S Department’s 2007 Trafficking in Persons Report released that “an estimated 800,000 men, women and children are trafficked across international borders” annually, excluding the millions of victims trafficked within their own country (8). In November 2000 the Protocol to Prevent, Suppress, and Punish Trafficking in Persons tagged the crime with the “first internationally agreed definition in trafficking” (Anker 5...
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...ns Convention Against Transitional Organized Crime and the Protocols Thereto. United Nations. New York, 2004.
< http://www.unodc.org/documents/treaties/UNTOC/Publications/TOC%20Convention/TOCebook-e.pdf>
United States Department of State. Trafficking in Persons Report, 7th ed. Washington GPO, 2007.
< http://www.state.gov/documents/organization/82902.pdf>
United States Department of State. Trafficking in Persons Report, 10th ed. Washington GPO, 2010.
< http://www.state.gov/documents/organization/142979.pdf>
Zimmerman, Cathy, Mazeda Hossain, Kate Yun, Brenda Roche, Linda Morison, and Charlotte Watts. Stolen Smiles: A Summary Report on the Physical and Psychological Health Consequences of Women and Adolescents Trafficked in Europe. [case summary]. The London School of Hygeine & Tropical Medicine, 2008. Web.
< http://www.lshtm.ac.uk/php/ghd/docs/stolensmiles.pdf>
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,
27 million people all over the world are currently being forced into human trafficking or modern day slavery, 161 countries including the US will be affected by human trafficking. 1 million children will be exploited by the commercial sex trade each year. Sex trafficking began in the 1700s in the United States. It hasn’t been stopped because it continues to increase over the years. Even though the law enforcement and people around the world could be strong enough to stop human trafficking, I believe this situation needs to be more focused on and stopped as soon as possible. Because Human Trafficking is increasing rapidly and Oklahoma is a cross-way for sex trafficking due to the interstates such as I-35, I-40 and I-44.
There are so many American based organizations with the fight against modern day slavery in third world countries, but yet the issue seems overlooked in the U.S. Whether it be a matter of turning a blind eye or simply not knowing human trafficking takes place every day, in every state in the United States of America, home of the free. These issues must be brought to light so that more efforts can be made to put an end to this terrible trade.
Casabianca, S. “Victims of human trafficking: Emotional, mental and physical sequels.” Saludify. Interactive One, 01 Oct 2012. Web. 06 May 2014.
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.
Trafficking women and children for both sexual exploitation and labor is the fastest growing sex trade all around the world. The global sex trade is a multi-billion dollar business industry in which women’s bodies become the targets in order for the trade to run successfully. Although sex trafficking is a human rights violation, criminals are still selling women and girls as victims worldwide. The crime occurs when a trafficker uses acts of force, fraud, or other means of coercion to take control over another individual. This is for the purpose of forcing them to engage in commercial sex acts or other labor services. The overall percentage of women and girls being oppressed among trafficking is extremely incredible. “Women and girls make up
Human trafficking is considered one of the world’s fastest growing crimes. The term human trafficking by definition coincides historically and legally with slavery (Soodalter, 2014). According to Soodalter (2014) today’s human trafficking victim can be sold for as little as $100. Before the Civil War, slaves cost a significant amount of money, and in the 1980’s, a slave sold for approximately $1,200. Moreover, in today’s currency, that comes to somewhere between $40,000 to $50,000. This price tag makes the modern slave not only affordable, but also disposable. Thailand, China, Saudi Arabia, Cambodia and Russia are all countries that are ordinarily believed to have a high prevalence of human trafficking, unsuspecting individuals that are not
Human Trafficking is a global problem that affects the lives of millions of people in almost every country in the world, and which deprives them of their human dignity. As one of the most infamous crimes in the world, human trafficking is misleading and makes victims in women, men and children from all corners of the world every day and causes them to be exploited. Although the best-known form of human trafficking is sexual exploitation, hundreds of thousands of victims are also trafficked for the purposes of forced labor, forced labor as domestic servants, child begging and organ removal (Shelley, 2010). On the other side, “human trafficking is both a global problem and a domestic problem” (Jones, Engstrom, Hilliard, & Diaz, 2007, p.108-109)
When the topic of slavery is up for discussion, many individuals think of American history. In fact, the United States abolished slavery in 1865, the 13th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution states, "neither slavery nor involuntary servitude...shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction" (The United States Constitution). Although it is believed slavery is a thing of the past, its existence is evident in countless countries around the world.
Many people are surprised to hear that human trafficking is not just a problem outside of America’s borders and that it is becoming more of an American problem as time goes on. With only trading illegal drugs in front of it, human trafficking has become the world’s second largest criminal industry. The numbers are only estimations because most human trafficking is done secretly without many knowing, however investigators have identified some rough numbers. One million children are taken and sold as sex slaves each year throughout the world, but what is even more surprising are the numbers one hundred thousand to three hundred thousand. The numbers one hundred thousand and three hundred thousand are the number of American children who are taken and sold as sex slaves, just in America, each year. Some statistics for the state of Ohio, which are increasing drastically and becoming alarming, are statistics such as, one thousand youths are involved in human trafficking and three thousand are at risk of becoming involved. Many people in America are affected each day, in different ways, because of human trafficking. The victims, the ring leaders, the men and women hurting the victims, and the families of the victims are all examples of people who are affected, in different ways, because of human trafficking. Many people are unaware of the amount of human trafficking happen...
The “Land of the free” is not so free after all. Human trafficking is the third largest international crime industry after illegal drugs and arms trafficking . Human trafficking is like modern day slavery; it is defined as the loss of freedom to another 's control by force, fraud or coercion. The United States turns out to be the #1 destination for child sex trafficking. I chose this topic because it interested me the most out of all other topics. When finding a topic to do research on, none of the topics left me asking myself so many questions. The fact that i barely knew anything about human trafficking, made me realize that there might be many people out there that are like me. People who probably think that human trafficking rarely happens,
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.