Human trafficking is the recruitment, harboring, transportation, provision, or obtaining of a person for the purpose of commercial sex induced by force, fraud, or coercion. It is a problem that women, children, and men all around the world face each day. It is the second largest and fastest growing criminal industry in the world with annual earnings of 35 billion dollars in the United States alone.
In order to help human trafficking victims with nowhere to live after they have either escaped or have been rescued from their trafficker, shelter must be provided to ensure safety from past traffickers or other threats. Proper training for law enforcement is the key to identifying traffickers and victims, as well as preventing future trafficking. Increased education for law enforcement will mean a higher arrest rate of traffickers. Public awareness efforts such as media outlets, awareness events, and seminars in local schools and community based centers greatly increase the public’s awareness.
Slavery and Human Trafficking are illegal everywhere. However, they still occur everywhere. We are now living in a world where human trafficking is the fastest growing enterprise. Can you imagine a twelve year old girl facing the harsh reality of serving to people that she does not know and doing things against her own will? It is very important to raise awareness in our society about women trafficking and train police officers so they can know how to arrest perpetrators.
INTRODUCTION
Human trafficking is “The recruitment, harboring, transportation, provision, or obtaining of a person for the purpose of commercial sex induced by force, fraud, or coercion.” (Shared Hope Organization, 2013). It is the number two crime in America ...
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... protect the victims from being trafficked in the first place while training to enforcers of the laws to recognize the situation and not treat the victims as if they are criminals. It is a blessing to still live in a safe environment with people we love and be able to do what we want. I am certain that we do not want to live in a world where slavery and human trafficking still occurs to our fellow friends. It has been said that poverty maybe the leading cause of human trafficking. It has even been documented that poverty leads to a lack of education and knowledge which leads to unemployment and then to sex trafficking. By fighting poverty there is a possibility that we can help end sex trafficking. The moment people decide to care is the moment this world becomes a better place to live in. We should all become a part of the movement to help end women trafficking!
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.
Human trafficking is among the fastest growing categories of crime in the world right now, rivaled only by the drug and weapons industries. A 32 billion dollar global enterprise annually, its effects are far reaching and highly damaging to all involved. In reality, “human trafficking” is essentially a politically correct term for slavery. Through books, articles, and interviews, the two phrases are used interchangeably and are used to mean the same exact thing. There is an endless list of myths and misconceptions in regards to human trafficking, but I plan to keep all the information here very clear and concise. According to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, “Human trafficking is the acquisition of people by improper means such as force, fraud or deception, with the aim of exploiting them.” (1) This means that innocent people are taken from their homes and families, kept in secret and forced to work for their captor or whomever they are sold to. This work may be physical labor and it may be sexual in nature. The living conditions are usually harsh, and it is not uncommon for the captor (or
Many people are victims of sex trafficking and this horror must be stopped for the sake of the innocent girls and women who are being taken advantage of. Trafficking is a form of modern slavery because people’s bodies are sold for the gain of others against their wills. The steps that must be taken to prevent sex trafficking involve raising political and social awareness, people working together and the prosecution of traffickers.
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...
Human trafficking defined by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime is the act of recruitment, transportation, transfer, receiving or harboring of persons by means of force, coercion, abduction, fraud, deception or abuse of power and/or vulnerability for the purpose of exploitation. The most common form of exploitation in human trafficking is forced labour of sexual exploitation (Public Safety Canada). Human trafficking is composed of three parts the act, means and purpose. The act would be what is done by traffickers in human trafficking and the means is how they commit these acts (United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC)). The purpose is why people become victims of human trafficking.
Defining human trafficking can be difficult due to the fact that it can be confused with other illegal activities such as smuggling and consented prostitution. In the essay Human Trafficking: Modern Day Slavery In The 21st Century , Shaden Mohajerin states that human trafficking can be defined as the transferring, harboring, and transportation of persons which is accomplished through force, coercion, kidnapping, and deception (...
“Human trafficking coerces and persuades their victims to cross national borders in search of new jobs and better opportunities and after that they are forced into some sort of labor bondage” (At Issue: Human Trafficking 1). Even though trafficking is a problem in almost every country; poorer countries have a bigger problem with it because they are more desperate for work. Just in 2000, the U.S. enacted their first federal anti-trafficking law, called the Victims of Trafficking Protection Act (At Issue: Human Trafficking 1). Trafficking has just begun to receive notice on how big of a problem it actually is. “Proponents of strict anti-trafficking initiatives say that laws and prevention against trafficking are necessary in order to stem the growing tide of large scale organized crime that profits off of smuggling and trafficking” (At Issue: Human Trafficking 1).
Human Trafficking is the trade in humans, mostly used for purpose sexual slavery, forced labor, or sexual exploitation, prostitution. Others may use the humans for extraction of organs. “Human trafficking is one of the most hideous crimes in today 21st century ” said the ICE Department. Human trafficking in today society is modern day slavery. Victims pay to be illegally transported into the United States only to find themselves in the hands of traffickers. They are promised a new life where they can start all over in the U.S. Usually the people that are trafficked across continents are from poor social classes and are fed lies so that later they can be trafficked and abused by others. Most of the people trafficked are forced into prostitution, involuntary labor and other forms of servitude to repay the debt that they owe. The FBI states “Human trafficking represents an estimated $32 billion in international trade yearly, illegal international trade estimated at $650 billion in 2010”.
What is human trafficking? Human trafficking, according the dictionary.com’s definition, is the illegal movement of people, typically for the purposes of forced labor or commercial sexual exploitation. However there are many different forms of human trafficking and one that has caught my eye is the form called sex trafficking. This is very important because many young teenage girls around my age are affected by it the most and they grow up being a sex slave. Although majority of the victims are young girls, human trafficking affects everyone: male, female, young, and old. There are very few people out here hearing their cry. We are very blind to this topic in the United States because its not very well-known and also because it’s such a big
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.
raise awareness of human trafficking for our own protection and for the protection of individuals
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.
“Human Trafficking is the recruiting, harboring,moving or obtaining a person by force, fraud or coercion, for the purposes of involuntary servitude, debt bondage or sexual exploitation(¨Human Trafficking in Illinois¨).” Human Trafficking is one of the largest and is the fastest growing criminal industry in the world. Annually 9.5billion dollars of profits are generated from trafficking humans world wide. “Persons do not have to have been transported internationally to be considered victims of trafficking(Facts about Human Trafficking). Men and women are often times tricked into servitude by “johns” a term used for traffickers and pimps. “Johns” use fraud, deception, coercion, and threats to the victim and or loved ones of the victim, to transport, harbor and or obtain people for sexual exploitation, or labor and slavery(¨Human Trafficking¨).
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.