Holly Huskey

Mrs. Hofman
English 1102
4/20/14
Note to reader: This is my final paper. I have made a few grammar corrections but mostly fixed
the story portion of my paper.
Entrapment
If given the task of having to describe our country in one word most people would say
freedom. This is a reasonable answer, given that our country was built on this many years
ago, but this really isnt the case at all. If I had to sum the United States up in one word, I would
use the word entrapped. I am not speaking of our incredible buildup of debt or even our
presidents views on healthcare, but the 300,000 children that are at risk of falling victim to the
cruel world of sex trafficking. As a criminal justice major, sex crimes have been drilled into my
head as being one of the top worst crimes a person can commit. Sexual attacks degrade and
tear apart all aspects of the victims life. I have always been intrigued by the lack of knowledge
Americans have on such a widespread crime in our own country, and what drives this particular
crime to be so extensive. Why is it that the average American has been blinded to the
destructive world of sex trafficking, and how does this impact the drive of the crime?
Our country is one of the top three largest/most popular destination points for sex
trafficking (WEAVE, Inc.). After reading this I was shocked and frankly a little scared for my
safety. I always knew sex trafficking was an issue among many countries, but I never would
have guessed that the country I have grown to love would be placed in the top three largest
hubs in the world. I like most people thought that sex trafficking was something that only
happened in other third world countries, never in America. And to narrow it down a little more,
among all the jurisdictions in the United States, our hometown of Charlotte, NC is in the top
twenty busiest cities in the country (A Place of Refuge. . .). Some of the other cities consist of
Houston, El Paso, Los Angles, Richmond, Washington D.C, and many more (A Place of Refuge. .
.).
The 300,000 children that are at risk each day for sex trafficking are between the ages of
12 to 14(A Place of Refuge. . .). These are children that are being taken from mothers and
fathers, to be sold on the streets just like a piece of cattle would be. These girls are often beat
and tortured day in and day out, not to mention forced to have sex on average between 20-48
times a day (A Place of Refuge. . .). This is happening in our own backyard without many of us
even knowing.
After reading some of these statics, I wanted to understand on a personal note how
these girls survived and felt after going through something as gruesome as this, so I began
researching stories of young girls that were taken into a world of such filth.
When researching I came across the story of a young women by the name of Kim
Chong. Chong was an American citizen that fell victim to sex trafficking within our boarders of
the United States, this is her story:
Born in South Korea, Kim came to the United States when she was just a toddler.
She was 19 and living in Dallas when a young man who said he was in the military
romanced her and convinced her to go with him to Florida. The couple never reached
Florida; they ended up in an abandoned house in northern Oklahoma instead. There the
man handcuffed Kim and destroyed her identification papers. After escaping, Kim said,
she couldn't find assistance without identification. A woman from an escort service
approached Kim and offered to help. She told Kim the escort service just provided dates
for men and Kim wouldn't have to have sex with them. Kim accepted the job, but shortly
after was raped and sold to someone in Las Vegas.
Once in Las Vegas, Kim was transported with 40 to 50 other girls from
warehouse to warehouse, state to state. Many of the other girls were 16 or younger and
didn't speak English. Kim watched as other girls were beaten and even shot when they
got sick or didn't move fast enough. "To this day I still hear screams. I still see their
faces," she said.
Kim's captors also tortured her by burying her in a bathtub full of ice. To escape
the abuse, Kim said she tried to commit suicide. "I wanted to die. They loved torturing
me because they knew I wanted to die," she said.
Ultimately Kim determined the only way to escape was to be bought by one man
and convince him she wanted to learn how to become a trafficker. After she gained his
trust, Kim ran away. With the help of a local center for women in prostitution she came
to Minnesota to rebuild her life (All of this is on Why Trafficking Exists).
As I was reading Chongs story, questions began running through my head. The biggest
and most posing question was what makes people do this to other human beings, so once again
I hit the internet. After doing a lot of research it all came down to supply and demand (Why
Trafficking Exists).
The demand for sex is huge really anywhere in the world, its the one thing that every
country has in common. Sex services can take place anywhere but are mostly found within
brothels, strip clubs, massage parlors, on the street and most commonly on the internet (Why
Trafficking Exists). Many of the men that take part in this industry are unaware that these
women and girls have been forced into this line of work (Why Trafficking Exists). Most
traffickers will train their slaves to lie to the johns about their situation so many have no
reason to question the act (Why Trafficking Exists).
The money that can be made in this business is another pivotal factor when questioning
why people would do something like this. The human trafficking industry can make up to 9.5
billion dollars a year and as we all know the human race as greedy as one can be. So despite the
moral wrong doing the idea of easy money sounds great to them. On average a pimp can make
$150,000- $200,000 per victim and each pimp can handle 4 to 6 girls (A Place of Refuge. . .).
These dollar values literally drop my jaw. Who would have thought that an industry so
disgusting and degrading could bring in so much money?
We have to put a stop to what is turning our little girls into grown sex toys for horny
men. We can do this in three ways, we can build rescue centers for these women to run to,
increase the sentences on pimps that are caught and raise awareness on sex trafficking.
Many cities dont have any kind of rescue center for these girls and women. There are
actually fewer than a hundred beds available to these victims in the United States (A Place of
Refuge. . .). If we begin to build more beds we will allow women to have a safe haven from
these cruel people that are trafficking them, which could possibly lead to catching more
traffickers.
The second thing was increasing the sentences on traffickers that have been caught. In
Minnesota the maximum time a trafficker will receive is 15 years in prison. These traffickers
have destroyed lives, killed innocent people and basically taken the childhood from a countless
number of children and we are going to allow them to only serve 15 years in prison. Killing the
countrys bird (bald eagle) gets you more time than that.
The third and most vital is the pure fact of wide unawareness of such a crime in the
United States. Men are completely unaware that they are supporting sex trafficking when they
watch porn and buy prostitutes. The demand for such a product/service go hand in hand.
Most would agree that if awareness is heightened, demand will be decreased, therefore
enlighten people with knowledge of such a crime and solve the problem with that same
knowledge.





Works Cited

"A Place of Refuge and Restoration for Girls Who Have Experienced Sexual Trafficking or
Exploitation." The Covering House RSS. N.p., n.d. Web. 23 Mar. 2014.

Gee, Alison S. "The Girl Who Got Away." The Girl Who Got Away. MSN, n.d. Web. 24 Mar. 2014.

Gengler, Kim. "Human Trafficking in Minnesota - Minnesota Women's Press - St. Paul, MN."
Human Trafficking in Minnesota - Minnesota Women's Press - St. Paul, MN. Women's Press,
n.d. Web. 24 Mar. 2014.
<http://www.womenspress.com/main.asp?SectionID=1&SubSectionID=1&ArticleID=2297>.


"What Is Human Trafficking?" Human Trafficking Fact Sheet. N.p., n.d. Web. 24 Mar. 2014.

"Why Trafficking Exists | Polaris Project | Combating Human Trafficking and Modern-day
Slavery." Why Trafficking Exists | Polaris Project | Combating Human Trafficking and Modern-
day Slavery. Polaris Project, n.d. Web. 24 Mar. 2014.

"WEAVE, Inc." Facts about Human Trafficking -. Weave Inc, n.d. Web. 29 Mar. 2014.
http://www.weaveinc.org/post/facts-about-human-trafficking