I was completely astonished when I realized how unacknowledged people were about human trafficking. Human Trafficking is known as “the illegal movement of people, typically for the purposes of forced labor or commercial sexual exploitation.” Here at Austin High School I surveyed six local teachers to test their knowledge on human trafficking. I was shocked by how little these teachers knew about this horrifying topic thats happening around the world. Out the the six teachers that took my survey I was surprised that each teacher missed around two to three questions. It was said that close to 700,000 to 2 million people are globally trafficked each year, and out of those thousands are trafficked within the United States. Human Trafficking preys …show more content…
While being trafficking these people can suffer from long lasting physical and psychological trauma, diseases, drug addiction, unwanted pregnancy, malnutrition, social ostracism,cigarette burns, ligature marks, depression, and possible death in some situations. These people are getting lured in by these traffickers and forced to perform these actions under their control. Human trafficking still exists throughout the United States today. Traffickers use multiple manipulative ways to get people to engage in commercial sex, whichs most of the time ends up forcing them to provide labor services. These traffickers are luring and ensuring these people into sex and labor trafficking by manipulating and exploiting all of their vulnerabilities. Traffickers can trap their victims two different ways; one, by promising to give them a high paying job, loving relationships, or even new and exciting opportunities. Then two, by using violence, threats, deception, debt bondage, and other manipulative tactics to trap these innocent victims. These traffickers usually use these people to pay off their debt bondage. The traffickers usually tend to be over their heads in debt and use these victims to pay off their debt by either using some sort of forced labor or sex …show more content…
Who are the targets, and who is a trafficker? Lets start with who are the targets. Roughly around 17,500 foreign people are trafficked into just the United States, although the numbers for US citizens being trafficked across the country are tremendously higher. It was said that close to 200,000 children are at a higher risk for being involved in the sex industry as the years go on. Trafficking victims tend to come from more defenseless populations, these mainly include people such as the poor, runaway children, and migrants. Some may think that by being a trafficking victim you have to be of certain race, religion, and speak a certain language. In the end to be a victim of human trafficking you can be just about any race, religion, and speak almost any language. A victim of human trafficking can look or be almost anyone. Now on to who is a trafficker. A trafficker can be anyone, although they may tend to operate as “individuals, families, or more organized groups of criminals, and are facilitated by other indirect beneficiaries, such as advertising, distribution, or retail companies and consumers.” Its known to be said that both women and men can be involved in the trafficking business. Human trafficking is such a booming business because of its low start up costs. These traffickers can be knows a professional trafficker or a non-professional trafficker, but as I said before this business is such an easy business to
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
“Number 124. From Columbia.” The girl adjusted the label on her. Standing on the auction platform, head bowed, she looked seemingly young. 13 years old. With ruffled hair and caramel complexion, just like any other girls. Except, her eyes, staring at the ground, were overwhelmed with nothing but lost hope. Her stoned face, spoke a thousand words. Her soul, was long gone. “Twenty thousand!! Forty thousand!! Calling once…calling twice…. SOLD!!!” At that very moment, tears streamed down her cheeks. At that very moment, she was devastated. At that very moment, a life is lost.
Traffickers are known to tell the people who fall into their hands a high-paying job, a loving relationship, or even new opportunities. What ends up happening is that they are tricked into becoming part of an evil organization that uses physical and psychological violence to control them. Traffickers can work alone also or work as part of a powerful criminal network, with the idea of trafficking people for large sums of money that the victims don’t even really get to collect.
Human trafficking victims can be forced to do different things such as physical labor and prostitution. The things that usually are key to trafficking are that the victims are vulnerable to anything that involves a better life or involving moving into the U.S. The main reason is that they suffer from poverty; the victims want to help their family with money and are open to whatever way there is to get money. In addition, many in Mexico risk their lives to come to the U.S. hoping that they can find work. They go through parts of Mexico that are considered to have the most violence with drugs, cartels and trafficking are then most often caught by the cartels and have no other choice but to be a slave working to pay off their “debt” that they have to the cartels. Also the traffickers use everything because the victims are vulnerable, to control the victims often the victims are being belittled by their traffickers, many people that suffered sometimes tell...
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 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...
a. The National Human Trafficking Resource Center has made an effort between the Departments of State, Justice and Homeland Security created the Human Smuggling and Trafficking center to centralize information.
“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).
“A guy sends you a friend request. You don’t know him, but he’s got a cute profile picture, so you accept his friend request. It’s your baby girl’s first day of school. She looks SO cute in her new outfit you just have to take a picture and put it on Facebook so all your friends and family can see. You’re so excited dropping her off that you ‘Check in’ to her school on Facebook. Meanwhile, the mystery guy whose friend request you hurriedly accepted earlier this morning is saving that picture you posted of your daughter in her cute new outfit to his phone and texting it to 60 other grown men across the world with the caption –‘American Female, Age 5, Brown Hair, Black Eye, $5,000. Not only did you provide a picture of your little girl to a
Sex trafficking is essentially systemic rape for profit. Force, fraud and coercion are used to control the victim’s behavior which may secure the appearance of consent to please the buyer (or john). Behind every transaction is violence or the threat of violence (Axtell par. 4). Just a decade ago, only a third of the countries studied by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime had legislation against human trafficking. (Darker Side, par.1) Women, children, and even men are taken from their homes, and off of the streets and are brought into a life that is almost impossible to get out of. This life is not one of choice, it is in most times by force. UNODC estimates that the total international human trafficking is a $32-billion-per-year business, and that 79% of this activity comprises sexual exploitation. As many as 2 million children a year are victims of commercial sexual exploitation, according the the U.S. State Department.-- Cynthia G. Wagner. (Darker Side, par. 4) The words prostitute, pimp, escort, and stripper tend to be way too common in the American everyday vocabulary. People use these words in a joking manner, but sex trafficking is far from a joke. Everyday, from all different countries, people are bought and sold either by force or false promises. Some are kidnapped and others come to America with dreams of a dream life and job. The buyers involved in the trade will do anything to purchase an innocent life just to sell for their own selfish profit. Many people wouldn’t think of a human body to be something you can buy in the back room of a business or even online. But those plus the streets are where people are sold most often. There are many reasons and causes for sex trafficking. The factors behind sex traffic...
The effect that trafficking has on their victims is the same effect that people have when they were raped, sexually harassed, etc. People who were trafficked tend to suffer from serious health problems including physical health, reproductive health and mental health problems. Mostly women but men too tend to go into physical exhaustion and become victims of unwanted touching, grabbing, oral sex, anal sex, etc. Mental wise the victim might have many emotional effects, severe stress and depression.
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 has always been a major problem in the world, but since it has become a taboo topic, people do not talk about it as much as it needs. In recent years, it has become easier to trick children over social media. Children, as well as adults, are being forced into human trafficking. Because of this, lives have been taken away from an innocent human being, a child has been taken away and a person I do not know is having the worst day, month, year or even decades.
Human trafficking is a worldwide problem. From California to Australia, it happens. “161 countries are reported to be affected by human trafficking by being either a source, transit, or destination count. Out of the 161 countries, 56% of those are in Asia and the Pacific, being the number one place it occurs” (UNGIFT). Trailing far behind with 10% is Latin America and the Caribbean” (UNGIFT). No matter the location or the state of the economy, human trafficking is always in progress. “People are reported to be trafficked from 127 countries to be exploited in 137 countries, affecting every continent and every type of economy” (UNGIFT). “The majority of trafficking victims are between the ages of 18 and 24 years old” (UNGIFT). Just because those are the most common ages, doesn't mean that it only happens to them. Children are also affected by human trafficking. “An estimated 1.2 million children are trafficked each year” (UNGIFT). So many people think that it is just teens and adults that get stuck into the trafficking business, but it is also small children.