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Elon Johnson
English 3
7 December 2015
Human Trafficking: Putting Prices on Humans
Human trafficking, slavery and exploitation of the weak are as ancient as
civilization itself. And still today we have those same problems. In Tenancingo,
Mexico City theres a lot of human trafficking going on, so they have an organization
called Blue Heart Campaign that will help get the women and children out of the
city.
The Blue Heart Campaign is an awareness raising initiative to fight
human trafficking and its impact on society. The Blue Heart Campaign is basically
a description of saying human beings are not for sale (Have a heart for victims of
human trafficking). Humans are not prizes, they cannot be brought or taking
advantage of. By taking advantage of innocent people can result in permeant
damage to their body, mind, and soul. Karla Jacinto is a prime example in Mexico
City of why human trafficking should be stopped in their city.
Remember the number 43,200 (Jacinto). This is how many times she
has been raped due to the forced labor of human traffickers. Karla Jacinto has been
sexual abused since the age of five by relatives and other family members and got
forced into human trafficking by the age of twelve. On November 10, 2015 Karla
appeared on CNN with Rafael Romo to tell her story to the world and to show the
pain and share her unforgettable memories. She spent four years of her life being
forced to have sex thirty times a day and seven days a week. Now imagine if Karla
was your child, how would you feel? What would you do to prevent it? Well the

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problem with preventing it in Mexico City will be extremely hard because its the
Towns Reputation says (Susan Coppedge).
The government has tried for several years to end human trafficking in
Tenancigo Mexico City, but its been difficult to do so because of the towns
reputation. Since they are known for trafficking they are not suspicious of the men
and the people that come into their city. Which shouldnt be the case. They should
have some type of system or better security to prevent these illegal people from
coming and harassing and destroying these young girls lives. In the interview Karla
Jacinto had with CNN Susan Coppedge states that there is no way for the girls to be
saved unless they are rescued. And this is where The Blue Heart Campaign
comes to the rescue. The campaign is the only thing that is protecting the girls from
the brutal and unexpected life that they are awakened for. There should be more
than one organization that is trying to help these poor innocent girls. The city is
turning little girls into slaves, which is why they need to reinforce new laws and
have more help from the government and other organizations.
Human trafficking is just another word for slavery and according to Rafael
Romo from CNN he says believed to account for eighty per cent of the worlds
twenty million to thirty million modern day slaves. He saying girls like Karla are
slaves stuck with nothing with no help or with any sense of mind. Being called a
slave goes back to ancient times and its sad that still today we have people
suffering and fighting for their lives because there too young to figure out whats
wrong and whats right. Scientific research confirms that Mexico City is a horrible
place to grow up and to be surrounded by. A couple of years ago an important study
appeared on WRAL News that Mexico City was the largest city with crime/slavery

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rate. People tried to report the things that were going on but they really couldnt do
much about it.
They think they have got a great future with this person. They think they
love and it is the same story of recruitment every time (Susan Coppedge). What is
love? How do they know what love is? This is where the problem all begins says
Susan Coppedge. These girls are so young that they dont see nothing wrong with
strange people giving them gifts and old men trying to talk to them. They just think
in their mind that oh Im getting candy and gifts and thats all they care about.
Susan also states that they are also too young to recognize signs that they are in a
bad situation.
In 1995 an important study appeared in the same state that another girl
named Dai was also a part of human trafficking. Dai stated that she had falling in
love with an older man and he told her to live with him. There she was raped just
like Karla Jacinto. If youre in love you will do anything for love says Dai. This is so
untrue. If he or she doesnt know the person they are getting involved with how do
one know they love them. This is where the young girls mess up sometimes
because they just go along with anything and they are putting themselves in a
punishment.
Mexico City needs more attention so they can put a stop or get more help.
They need better laws and more regulations for the people coming in to the city.
The Blue Heart Campaign is the most wonderful thing that has happened in
Mexico City. Mexico City can become a better place for the young girls if they just
reinforced new laws and got more help from the government. Theres no way we
can compromise with these types of people and there is also new way to

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compromise with this situation. This type of situation is a disgrace to the whole
human society.
The reason I picked Mexico City and to do it on human trafficking is because I
always been interested in learning more about their city and culture and what they
go through that we dont. Human trafficking was the most interesting topic to me
because I could never imagine myself or my own kids in this situation. So hearing
someone elses story like Karla Jacinto caught my attention. And when I read that
Karla Jacinto had estimated that she had got raped 43,200 times I had to learn more
about it.
When I first started my research for my paper I struggled with picking the
best facts and the best websites that would really do my paper justice and to put
Karla Jacinto story to justice also. I didnt want my paper to be too boring or to
educational. I wanted it to have a balance of education and I wanted it to be
interesting and engaging.

Works Cited:

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1.

http://www.cnn.com/2015/11/10/americas/freedom-project-

mexico-trafficking-survivor/
2.

Bales, Kevin. "Human Trafficking: Overview." Issues:

Understanding Controversy and Society. ABC-CLIO, 2015. Web.

13 Nov. 2015.
3.

https://www.unodc.org/blueheart/en/mexico_campaign.html

4. https://stophumantraffickingny.wordpress.com/a-survivorsstory/

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