“Trafficking” refers to illegal trade, an over-used word by the media that can be daintily attached to drugs, weapons, and humans. We hear the term so often; one can easily be desensitized to its context. Nicholas Kistof of the New York Times states, “Human trafficking is a convoluted euphemism.” He goes right to the heart of the matter and refers to it as modern human slavery. Human slavery is raw, honest and sadly much more prevalent than we would like to believe.
Every year an estimated 800,000 people are transported across international boundaries for the purpose of human slavery. In the United States alone it is estimated that 100,000 children each year are part of the sex trade. According to the US Department of State in 2007, 4 to 27 million people globally are in some form of slavery.
Most Americans feel that human trafficking is it happening “somewhere else” and although appalling, there is nothing we can do to change the way other countries and peoples choose to live their lives. Now slavery on the other hand was worth fighting a war over. A hundred and fifty years ago this country fought and died for the freedom of slaves. If our first step is awareness, then we should demand the media call it what it is, human slavery.
Taking a global look at the problem we recognize that cultural relativism is compounding the problem. Cultural relativism is the idea that an individual belief or activity should be understood in terms of his or her culture. Even in America we have distorted beliefs that would be seen unfavorable in other parts of the world. Hard to believe but look at circumcision. Some (even within the US) would consider the act cruel and unnecessary and yet we fully accept that as part of our cult...
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...We cannot as a human race continue to poison the human family and expect that we will come out healthy. Educate yourself through the amazing organizations that have begun the fight for us and then empower the ones you love with that education. This cannot become an acceptable part of our global society. We won this war once and we can again.
Works Cited
Kristof, Nicholas D. “The 21st Century Slave Trade.” The New York Times April 22, 2007.
U.S. Department of State Diplomacy in Action: US Laws on Trafficking in Persons. The Victims of Trafficking and Violence Protection Act of 2000 (P.L. 106-386), October 28, 2000. Laws updated again in 2003 & 2005.
The Polaris Project: For a World without Slavery. Human rights group founded 2002. http://www.polarisproject.org/human-trafficking/overview
Gupta, Rushira. Jounalist and Founder of apneaap.org in 1994.
Many people believe that slavery has been a worldwide issue that was left in the past, however, it is still a part of society today and is now known as human trafficking. Human trafficking is defined as a hidden crime understate, federal and international law that involves the exploitation of a person through the use of fraud, coercion or mental and physical abuse (DEF). Throughout the world, many human beings are being trafficked across countries. According to the Washington Post, there are about 30 million slaves in the world and 60,000 in the US (EVD). Human trafficking is more pervasive in Ending Human Trafficking
The US Congress ratified the 13th Amendment of The Constitution which lays out that neither slavery nor involuntary servitude shall exist with the United States.# We are to the point that no country can escape this lucrative business from operating within their country. Traffickers on our land are stalking anyone, especially children. According to the U.S. State Department Trafficking in Person Report of 2009 there are at least 12.3 million people from children to adults that are in forced labor, bonded labor, commercial sexual servitude.# 20,000 of these people are trafficked over the U.S. borders single-handedly.# The most profound fact of human trafficking is that the half of all trafficking victims are under the age of eighteen. In the history book you can see how slave owners controlled there slaves and likewise these modern day slave owners use the same techniques of violence, intimidation, physical restraints, and threats. It is hard to compare the destructiveness of the past slave owners and the modern human traffickers but “Human trafficking ...
9,298 cases of human trafficking have been reported in the past five years, but these are only the instances in which it has been reported. Furthermore the report also shows that from December 7th, 2007 to December 31st, 2012, cases of human trafficking were reported in all 50 states. Just how many more stay under the radar? One of the definitions given for slavery is the state or condition of being a slave; a civil relationship whereby one person has absolute power over another and controls his life, liberty, and fortune. Life and liberty, these are paired along with the pursuit of happiness in the preamble to the constitution. Slavery emphasizes the idea of complete ownership and control by a master. This is exactly what these slave owners do. They take away an individual's alleged God-given rights as a human being
Trafficking is the recruitment, harboring, transportation and provision of a person for the purpose of commercial sex. American trafficking victims are estimated to be between 100,000 and 300,000. Most of these are from the million are so children that are thrown out of their home or they have run away usually to escape abuse and/or sexual violence. (Shelley, pg. 230) The law says that a person under the age of 18 has to have been defrauded, forced or coerced into the sex trade against their will. Sex trafficking venues are wide and vast. Victims of sex trafficking can be found in brothels, strip clubs, esc...
The buying, selling and forced exploitation of people “slavery” is not a new phenomenon and it extends beyond the United States. (The College Writer p. 238) Defining and understanding human trafficking and slavery is very difficult.
Many people in the United States of America believe that human trafficking only happens in foreign countries, but in reality this crime is frequently happening in our own communities. Human trafficking is a widespread phenomenon even in developed countries. For instance, in the United States, more than 800,000 people are forced into modern day slavery against their will. Even though this horrific crime has its roots in developing countries, its branches reach out to the developed countries as well.
The U.S. government and academic researchers are currently working on an up-to-date estimate of the total number of trafficked persons in the United States annually. With 100,000 children estimated to be in the sex trade in the United States each year, it is clear that the total number of human trafficking victims in the U.S. reaches into the hundreds of thousands when estimates of both adults and minors [of] sex trafficking are aggregated ("Slavery map: North," 2013).
In the twenty-first century, there is an ongoing debate centrally concerned with human trafficking and whether or not it should be categorized as form of slavery. Some downplay the danger of trafficking because they do not see the visible effects of it in today’s society. In reality, human trafficking has become a growing black market business and one of the top three organized crimes in the world. If not rescued, trafficked victims are sold at these black markets and subjected to cruel living conditions for their entire life. All of these characteristics of trafficking directly correlate with the core values of slavery. As a result, human trafficking should be categorized as a form of modern-day slavery.
What is human trafficking? according to Homeland security, “Human trafficking is a modern-day form of slavery involving the illegal trade of people for exploitation or commercial gain.” Human trafficking is considered a hidden crime since not all victims come forward, or don’t even
should include specific contact information for federal agencies and departments that investigate trafficking and prosecute traffickers. Lastly, Penalties must fit the crime. Sentencing guidelines should reflect the seriousness of the crime. Evidentiary standards need to change. Currently, prosecution of traffickers depends on testimony from victim witnesses. Videotapes or wiretaps should be allowed as evidence. When the above structure are put in place, the dynamism of sex trafficking can be change once and for all.
Is the history of slavery repeating itself? How can the issue about modern day slavery, such as human trafficking, go unnoticed? Many people might think that slavery is a thing of the past. In fact, the slavery of colonial period mutated to modern day slavery which is largely known as human trafficking. The thirteenth amendment was successful in abolishing slavery overtly. However, the concept of slavery became a global underground issue in the society of 21st century, just like after civil right movements racism thought to be ended but became modern racism. According to the International Labor Organization (2007), “almost 21 million people are victims of forced labor [and of those] 11.4 million are women and girls and 9.5 million are men and boys.” The U.S. department of State estimates that about 800,000 people are trafficked annually across international borders.
According to equatlitynow.org, about 20 million men, women and children are victims of being sold each year into sexual trafficking, forced labor, and bonded labor. Here it says that trafficking women and children for sexual exploitation is the fastest growing criminal enterprise in the world bringing in 32 billion profits each year. Also it says that women make up to 98% of sex trafficking and about 2 million children are exploited every year in the global commercial sex trade. The site “Force 4 Compassion” says and I quote “Are you aware that 3,287 people are sold or kidnapped and forced into slavery every day? Not many people are. That's 136 an hour and that's just the reported cases.” Human trafficking is a very serious issue in today’s society that is overlooked by many which can lead to unawareness and safety issues to you and loved ones. With those percentages and statistics in mind remember that there is no exact number for the actual amount of human trafficking is committed every year, these are just the numbers from cases found before and an average of what it might be. These numbers are already way higher than should be and is why we must be aware and always cautious when going new places or even walking the streets where you live now. This issue isn’t talked about frequently mainly because most
Every day of the year and on every corner of the world men, women, and children are transported illegally from one country to another. These humans are then forced into labor or prostitution in a modern form of slavery called human trafficking. Human sex trafficking is a industry that has grown consistently over the years, and overwhelming number of innocent victims are targeted to make this outlawed industry extend to bigger profits. Unfortunately, with the U.S. government and other anti trafficking organizations making their best efforts to fight human trafficking, this modern day form of slavery has expanded in a global scale. With a very tight budget, It has become an enormous challenge for the U.S. government to prevent human trafficking
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.
Human Trafficking is trading human beings for sex, labor, or any other force trade. It is known as modern day slavery. Many people in the United States believe that slavery was abolished long ago, but the truth is slavery exist more now than it ever has before. People are being trafficked all around us. Victims of human trafficking range in age, gender, ethnicity, and socioeconomic status. Typically victims share one thing in common, they become isolated from either their country of origin or their families in hope of a better life. Nearly 100,000 children in the United States are currently exploited through commercial sex trade. Over 27 million people worldwide are trapped in human trafficking. Many people are negligent of the fact that millions of people are currently living enslaved in the sex industry. The statistic remains that there is a battle going on worldwide. Ending any form of human slavery will never happen, but becoming aware of the problem and creating ways to stop the numbers from rising or even getting the numbers to decrease should be important. People are not property and no one human being should own another human being. Battles are fought all over the world for people who are oppressed, why is there not a bigger battle for the millions of people being bought and sold right now? It is injustice. Although this global crime is a huge problem that seems way too big to begin solving. There is a way to become aware, speak out, and stop sitting on the sidelines. Even though many people picture slavery as a thing of the past, it never ended. Even though many citizens of the United States see slavery in their mind as something in some far off country and brush the notion aside, t...