Paige Perkins

3-12-17
Ethics
Human Trafficking

The ethics of human trafficking

Human trafficking is forcing someone to be a slave . When someone is

being trafficked, they will either be used for sexual reasons or for labor. Human

trafficking can be found all over the world. According to a webpage on social change;

The average age of a person being trafficked in the U.S is 12-14 years old and there is

about 14,500 and 17,500 people each year are victims of trafficking. ( 11 Facts About

Human Trafficking." DoSomething.org | Volunteer for Social Change. Web. 15 Mar.

2017.) Something that is often overlooked when discussing human trafficking is the

prevalence of it in the united states. Many people dont think that human trafficking

happens in the united states however there are many cases of children being abducted

and forced into the sex trade. The people who are most effected by human trafficking

are those forced into it. For the ones who escape there is a lifetime of mental trauma

and they often become addicted to drugs while being trafficked. Although men are

victims of human trafficking, women and children are the main targets. People that are

involved in human trafficking are the traffickers, the victims, the community, and the law

enforcement. Because of the recent rise in awareness about human trafficking, people

are being asked to call the police or trafficking hotlines if they see behavior that is out of

the ordinary or they suspect that someone is being trafficked. Because of this

awareness more members of the community are becoming involved in stopping

trafficking and preventing more people from being taken into the sex trade.

There are many possible solutions that address human trafficking in the united

states. There are three main solutions to handling human trafficking in the U.S. All three
Paige Perkins
3-12-17
Ethics
Human Trafficking

solutions can be looked at from a personal, societal, and efficient viewpoint. A possible

solution would be to raise awareness of human trafficking and to teach people what to

look for in both the victims of human trafficking, and a person who is a trafficker. This

would involve a ton of community support and would require time, money, and a

willingness from the community to help. An obstacle that would be faced is a lack of

support from the community. In this solution community involvement and awareness is

very important and without it there would be no progress. This solution would give each

person in society a personal responsibility to not turn their back when they suspect

human trafficking. Another possible solution would be to let the law enforcement handle

the situation. This solution is the route that we as a country are on currently. When

letting the law enforcement handle the situation it allows them to find, prosecute, and

punish the people responsible for trafficking people. A problem with this solution is that

after someone is rescued from being trafficked there isnt much understanding from the

community. Finally, the third solution is to just ignore the problem and let it continue.

This solution there is no involvement from police, community, or any single person. The

rationale behind this is that human trafficking isnt really a problem that needs to be

fixed. This solution takes into account that the people trafficking others may not feel that

they are doing anything wrong and that human trafficking is a business. This solution

would require moral deference for many people because they believe that human

trafficking is wrong and immoral.

Some moral principles that apply to the topic of human trafficking are fairness,

caring for others, personal benefit, and autonomy. In this situation fairness and
Paige Perkins
3-12-17
Ethics
Human Trafficking

autonomy refer to the person that is a victim of human trafficking. In a situation where

someone is being forced to partake in sexual activities it is not fair for the person. It is

unfair that a person would have no say about who does what to them. This could also

make someone feel like they have no autonomy in their lives. Autonomy is being able to

make your own decisions. This is important because is someone cant make their own

decisions or decide what is right or wrong the can begin to feel that there is really no

point to life. Although a person who is being trafficked may resist or try to make their

own decisions they are often drugged or get beat if they try to resist. Getting attacked or

drugged when you try to resist would make a person feel like they have even less

control off their body because they know that if they resist they will just be forced to do

it. Personal benefit comes into play when you start talking about the people who are

actually out there trafficking people. Some may say it is wrong to go after these people

because they are just doing business to be able to support themselves and their

families. This moral claim does not take into account that the business they are doing

involves selling other people and taking away their free will .

The most community involved principle is caring for others. This is one of the

most important because it would not only involve stopping trafficking but would also

involve helping a person after they are no longer being trafficked. This moral principle

would give a person the help they need after they are taken from the situation such as

community support, access to mental health facilities and an understanding from their

family and friends.

Paige Perkins
3-12-17
Ethics
Human Trafficking

The response from part one that is the best would be to raise community

awareness. This type of support is incredibly important not only for those who are at risk

of being taken by a human trafficker, but also for the people in society that are

recovering from a previous experience. It is important for people to realize that even

when someone escapes from their attacker or their attacker is arrested, the victim can

still be afraid that her attacker will find her. As a person that has many social media

pages I constantly see posts about human trafficking and ways to help. If you click on

the comments on the posts there is an overwhelming number of responses that blames

the victim or justifies what the traffickers are doing. The comments will call the girls a

variety of names and say that they probably wanted this. I believe that the people

making these comments are undereducated on the topic of human trafficking. Many

people dont realize that if a person tries to escape they could be raped, murdered,

attacked, and even drugged. The sad reality is that these men and women who are

being trafficked have a sense of learned helplessness. When a person who has been

used as a sex slave gets brought back to their original community it can feel like there is

blame, shame, and fear towards them. Its important for members of a community to

help victims to feel welcome, accepted, but most importantly safe.

Another reason a community awareness response is morally best is that it gets

everyone involved in stopping human trafficking. Being able to recognize suspicious

signs and behavior could potentially save someones life. In a article on human

trafficking it says Approximately 8.1 million victims will come into contact with a

healthcare provider at some point during their human trafficking ordeal. The
Paige Perkins
3-12-17
Ethics
Human Trafficking

disappointing fact is that the majority of human trafficking victims that come into contact

with healthcare professionals wont be identified (Perkins , Amanda M. "The Truth

About Human Trafficking ." Nursing made incredibly easy Dec. 2015) This quote alone

is enough to show how important community involvement is in helping stop human

trafficking.

The reason that all the other responses are unacceptable is because it will not

advance us as a society. If we continue to ignore the problem while the police do all the

work we will not have the progress that we would if the entire community was involved.

It is hard to make the change if we continue to look at this matter in an objective way. If

we as a country, world, or even a small town look at human trafficking as a business

rather than slavery where many men and women are raped beaten and drugged, we will

be on the wrong side of history. What are the traffickers goals? Hopes? What do they

value? They more often than not value money, power, and control over things like love,

protection and autonomy. Allowing trafficking to continue is unacceptable because the

traffickers are targeting people who are already venerable and then taking away all their

free will, autonomy, and rights. The fact that it has been going on for so long and has

not had a collective effort from society is concerning. The only way we as a country can

destroy human trafficking is to, as a whole, educate everyone from doctors to truck

drivers, students to teachers, everyone about the dangers of human trafficking.

Paige Perkins
3-12-17
Ethics
Human Trafficking

Work cited

Perkins , Amanda M. "The Truth About Human Trafficking ." Nursing made

incredibly easy Dec. 2015

11 Facts About Human Trafficking." DoSomething.org | Volunteer for Social

Change. N.p., n.d. Web. 15 Mar. 2017.

Work consulted

Sex Trafficking." Polaris. N.p., 17 Feb. 2017. Web. 15 Mar. 2017

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Centers for Disease Control and

Prevention, 17 Jan. 2017. Web. 15 Mar. 2017.