Research Paper

Human trafficking is one of the top organized crimes throughout the world. It is

traumatizing families, taking away freedoms and basic needs. The U.S. needs to draw more

attention to the topic and raise awareness for these people who arent able to speak for

themselves. In order for that to happen, people need to know human trafficking 101, the social

impact that it causes, and prevention methods that everyday people can take.

What is human trafficking? Human trafficking is the recruitment, transportation, transfer,

harbouring or receipt of persons, by means of threat, force, or other illegal forms such as

abduction, coercion, fraud and more (United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime). Human

trafficking comes in many different forms such as sex trade, forced labor, pornography,

prostitution and forcing victims to commit acts that benefit others. Other types can even be

working at strip clubs, spas, and exclusive massage places are considered trafficking if a person

is being forced to work and do things against their will.

Although, trafficking has been around for many years, Forms of slavery existed before

the 1400s. However 1400s marked the start of the European slave trading in Africa with

Portuguese trading people from Africa to Portugal(Yong). Most of the people who were sent to

Portugal never came back to Africa and never were heard from again.

In fact, in at least 47 states there have been complaints about human trafficking. Every

second that goes by, someone is being kidnapped, raped, and sold to the highest bidder. People

are also being trafficked across borders. The top 11 countries with high human trafficking rates

are (starting from least to greatest): Thailand, China, Ghana, Uganda, Nepal, Sri Lanka, India,

Pakistan, Haiti, Brazil, and Bangladesh (Durankiev). All of these places have very high rates of
exploiting people. It is also happening through websites where they are buying and selling

people over the internet.

Moreover, the people that are affected are not just those who are involved in the

trafficking but everyone who is around it. Traffickers dont just target women, but also men,

children, girls, boys, gays, and straights. Targeters usually dont have a preference. Sometimes

they know who or what they are looking for. Other times its just find the weak one. It can

happen to any parent. 15-year olds dont make the best choices. I dropped her off at school in the

morning, I was expecting to pick her up after track practice in the afternoon and the I didnt see

her for 108 days (Kristof). Sometimes, however, the family members are the ones who send

their children into the trade. People are trafficked for many different reasons.

Sometimes it is to benefit someone in multiple ways like sex, cook, and maid. Other

times it is to produce things faster so they can make more money, which goes with forced labour,

it even sometimes is just to say they own someone. It is to feel in control as if the person has

power.

Usually, the most common way people are dragged into trafficking is they offered a

better job or life if they leave the place they are at. They soon realize they are working many

hours with little to no pay. Or even automatically put into the sex trade. Those who are put into

the sex trade have arrangements made by family members. Other times the person is kidnapped

off the street. They are just picked up and forced into a car or van. They can also be threatened.

Furthermore, these are the elements that decide if a particular case is trafficking or not. 1)

The act or when it was done. 2) The means or how it was done. 3) The purpose or where it was
done All three of those elements are looked at in order to fully decide if the case is trafficking.

(United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime).

Interesting facts about human trafficking are for starters the trafficking industry generates

a profit of $32 billion every year of that $15.5 billion is made in industrialized countries.

America made trafficking illegal in 2000 (Everywhere in (supply) Chains). 16 years ago from

this year. However, trafficking existed before the 1400s, and they just now made it illegal. In

1904 the International Agreement for the Suppression of White Slave Traffic was signed and

put into action to protect young and old white women from being trafficked. Oddly enough

though, white women werent the most sought after to be trafficked. The Japanese government

set up comfort stations which were places for these soldiers to hook-up with girls, young and old,

in hopes of preventing public rape and to provide the soldiers with sexual comfort so they didn't

tell military secrets. It was bad enough these soldiers were having sex with these women, but the

government was involved in it also. In 1956, India set up the Immoral Traffic Prevention Act

to prosecute the third parties involved in trafficking. In 1995 the United Nations held the fourth

world conference to address the issue of trafficking of women. However, nothing was actually

done until years later.

Overall, the facts I have stated show how not only is human trafficking relevant, but it

has been going on for many, many years. The government is now just starting to actually act on

it for everyone. Not just whites like in the White Slave Traffic agreement but for all racial

groups. However, the government is also the one that needs to be looked out for, reasons why

many victims dont want to speak up for the fact their own government is putting them in

positions to be trafficked which doesnt help the problem.

 The social impact that human trafficking has on victims creates not only short term but

long term effects throughout the victim's life. Effects are seen during the time they are taken and

after they are taken. Seeing as trafficking can start as young as age 12, for the victims the life of

being trafficked and forced to do things against their will is considered to be a life worse than

death. They have absolutely no freedom, experience horrors, abuse, violence, deprivation, and

torture daily. They are injected with drugs so those in charge become their lifeline which causes

them to become addicted to drugs. They are sometimes purposefully impregnated and forced to

have the baby or forced to get an abortion with unsterile objects and no anesthesia. It is a part of

dehumanizing these trafficked victims making them feel worthless. They are sometimes marked

with tattoos so people know whose they are. They are not a person but property. Usually, the

victims are stripped of EVERYTHING they may have had but mostly stripped of themselves as a

person or even as a human. They start accepting the fact that they have lost the fight, and learn

how to deal with the life they now have. They have become property.

In addition, Ghanas children and young women are forced into prostitution or just abducted

and used by different militant groups and then killed. (Durankiev). Not every group of people is

just passed around, some are often killed when they are of no use. The victims are often forced

to work in exchange for their lives. Between 600,000- 800,00 people are trafficked across

international borders every year, however There are approx. 20-30 million slaves in the world

today.(11 Facts About Human Trafficking). 80% of the victims are in the sex trafficking

industry while the other 20% are involved in the forced labour industry (11 Facts About Human

Trafficking). The average cost of a slave is $90 and above, the fact that peoples lives are only

worth a minimum $90 to many people in the world is ridiculous. The conditions in these
stations were atrocious, with each woman detained in a small cubicle, and received beatings and

other tortures if they were defiant. Because of this many women ultimately died of ... suicide,

etc,(Yong). Detained in small living quarters with nobody there to save them because everyone

there is in the same predicament.

Many of the trafficking survivors have sexual, physical, mental, and emotional abuse and

problems such as PTSD, anxiety, insecurity, cognitive impairment, memory loss, depression,

and can cause suicidal thoughts. The spread of HIV hasnt been directly linked with the sex

trade but is very apparent when looking at cases that involve sexual abuse. The conditions in

the sex and labor industry are very challenging to deal with. Victims receive beatings for not

following instructions properly or not doing the job the right way or producing the right

amount. Victims that are found have multiple diseases, malnutrition, rotten teeth, uneasiness,

exhaustion, and many other problems. Many of the victims are unrecognizable by parents or

peers when they are eventually taken out of the industries either by being rescued or killed.

Usually, things people experienced while being in the trafficking industry were horrific.

One person had to submerge their body in scorpions and other vermin and sit there for a whole

week. Right after they got out, they were forced to sit in the dark by themselves. Another time a

13- year old and 15- year old girl were both kidnapped and sold online. The 13-year old was

raped 20 times a day, and the 15- year old was also raped multiple times a day. One young girl

began working in the sex trade when she was 12. During this time she was shot, abused, stabbed,

raped, kidnapped, addicted to drugs all before the age of 18, and these things happened to her

multiple times. A single mother of two was asked by a man to have sex with him, and he would

pay her. She refused. Her boss later came to her and said that if she didnt have sex with him, she
would lose her job, but she needed the money. She did it, and then she needed more so she

continued to do it.

In addition these are some stories of woman and what they went through in the sex

industry. A woman who had started working as a full-time maid went to the house on the first

day and was later raped by the womans husband and injected with drugs because she refused

him. She was not only forced to have sex with the womans husband but also with many other

men. She was ordered to sell drugs from 9-11pm and sell her body from 11pm-4am everyday

and needed to make between $200-$300 every night. If not, she would be punished. She was

forced to sleep with a minimum of 50 men a night. She tried running away but was caught and

brought back and forced to then make sex videos. The second time she ran away the police found

her and helped her get herself together. Not every trafficking case has happy endings however.

An not all of them last a lifetime but they are given constant reminders of where they used to be

like scars and tattoos things that will live with them forever.

Nevertheless, in order to prevent events and experiences like these from happening again

we as a country need to be more understanding. Victims are put through enough they may not

always feel willing to tell you what has happened to them or who did it. They may feel as if they

will be sent back or abused. They come from a place where they are not allowed to speak at all.

Understanding is key to the process of getting information. They have been threatened before

that if they do speak, someone they love will die or even themselves will be killed because they

talked. Time will help them heal. We will get more information being patient than trying to

pressure them to give information about what they been through. There are lots and lots of
undiscovered yet cases which can go unnoticed because the victims are forced to comply with

every order of their owners and pretend that theyre not in a threatening situation (Durankiev)

Also as a country we should be educated on how to recognize if someone is being

trafficked. People need to know the difference between the sex trade and forced labour. They

need to look for visible indicators such as scars or tattoos or markings, malnutrition, dehydration,

poor personal hygiene. If the person has any STDS, has security following them around, shows

signs of abuse, or they look for permission before they speak. Does the person hold their own id

or have access to them. Does the person live at work and if they do have a house are men

constantly entering and leaving the premise during a short period of time. Do they speak with

scripted or rehearsed words and answers, or look like they live in a poor area? All of these are

things people can look for to see if someone they suspect is in the trafficking industry. Screening

questions that can be asked if you suspect someone is being trafficked near you. Is the person

free to leave the work site? Has the person been physically, sexually, or psychologically abused?

Does the person have ID on them or have access to those documents? Does the person live at

home or near the work site? How did the individual find the place they work at? Has the person

ever been threatened? Does the person feel something bad might happen if they leave the job?

Are you in debt to your employer? If you ever feel like someone is being trafficked give them

hotlines to call so they can get some help or you can get them help yourself. So they are no

longer in that situation

Another way to prevent trafficking is to shut down websites like Backpage. Backpage is a

website where people can buy things. It ranges from appliances, boats, to actual human beings.

The website was launched in 2004, and ever since then, they have been a major contributor to the
trafficking industry. Backpage has 80% of the U.S. market for online sex ads in America.

Children have been sold in many states through the backpage website, and the website is worth

millions of dollars. When entering the adult portion of the website one has to agree to a

disclaimer. While other websites don't require one to do any of that. This website is very popular

and used by many. Shes forever changed, her siblings are forever changed. Today she struggles

with life. (Kristof). Many have asked the website to shut down, but they wont shut it down

right now. The CEO of Backpage is in court due to all the human trafficking that occurs because

of the website. The country needs to prevent websites, like Backpage from becoming popular

because without these types of websites, many children would be safe from the horrors that occur

over this website. There are many other websites that are exploiting women and children such as

porn websites. Those are also things that need to be shut down. Many of the woman and

children on those websites aren't asking for this. They are being forced to do things they dont

want to do.

Traumatized families and victims are encouraged to call these private hotlines for help.

They are in place to help those who need it. They will believe them when they say they are being

trafficked and tell them what has happened to them. Which is something that we need to reiterate

to victims these hotlines are going to believe you no matter how crazy the story seems they are

there to help. That is their main purpose.

Human Trafficking is one of the top organized crimes throughout the world. It is

traumatizing families, taking away freedoms and basic needs, The country needs to draw more

attention to the topic and raise awareness for these people who aren't able to speak for

themselves so it can stopped. For these things to happen people need to know how to prevent
trafficking from happening, the social impact it has, and human trafficking 101. Trafficking is

something major and it is something that needs to be. Imagine if it was your child being sold and

abused multiple times a day, the country needs to stop turning a blind eye to the topic at hand

and do something to stop it.

Below are some hotlines that can be used in case of any emergency, dont stay quiet

speak up, get help for somebody,and help change the world and make a difference in somebody's

life whether it is a 12 year old or a 23 year old. Be part of the change not the problem.
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