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McKenzie Filipek

Professor Kristine Koyama

College Writing 1120

5 March 2019

Tightening Ship Security will help Human Trafficking

Dear Mrs. Deb DeLuca,

As the world seems to have something new happen every day, I have something for you

that has been in the news for a while now. Over the course of the past 10 or more years, Duluth

has been becoming a major spot for Human Trafficking. Human Trafficking is happening all

over the United States, and even the whole world. The Department of Justice states that there are

relatively 14,000 to 17,000 people that trafficked each year in the United States alone (Jones).

The reason I bring it up here in this letter is to address the problem in Duluth. There has to be a

way to stop this issue such as tightening ship security and for that, I write you this letter.

Some people look at the ships that pass through the Duluth Harbor as amazing and others

fear them now all because of stories they hear, and for some, personal experience. It is said that

thousands of cases are happening around Minnesota everyday (Carter). Here in Duluth many

articles state that the people that are being taken, are being taken by ships and traded. A major

spot that these ships are going is Thunder Bay, Ontario (Szmanda). A thing about this case, it’s

not just happening to girls, it’s happening to everyone, men, women, and even babies. These

people are being traded for sex, work labor, and more.

There are places here in the community that have safe places to learn about Human

Trafficking, along with victims that can go to this place. I however think that we need more
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security. In an article that I recently read, it talks about “The Hip Hop Candy Shop.” A man

opened this shop because he knew it would attract girls. The article states that the girls are being

promised new things such as clothes, shoes, and more (Collin). This isn’t the only case reported

where this happenings with people being promised their things payed for. In fact, this is very

common to happening in being trafficked. The people are promised there bills payed for along

with rent and more. It was later said that the girls were being sold for sex. Although it doesn’t

talk about where these girls went, it is likely that they were brought on the ships which is agreed

by many people.

With tighter security on the ships this won’t be a problem as big as it is. Although it can

still happen elsewhere and in other sources of transportation, ships are the main source here in

Duluth for trading and bringing resources, therefore it could be eliminated by almost half. We

should have trusted people that are at all stations of loading and unloading ships. This will make

sure that no extra things get put onto the ships such as crates of people and are shipped away.

Having trusted people that can take a watch over ships, will make this Duluth Community safer

and many people can be able to enjoy seeing the ships again because that is something that is

neat here in Minnesota. Thank you for taking time to read my letter and I hope you take this into

great consideration as this is a major problem, we in Duluth struggle with today.

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References:

Collin, Liz “Sex Trafficking on the North Shore.” CBS Minnesota.

https://minnesota.cbslocal.com/2011/05/05/sex-trafficking-on-the-north-shore/ Accessed: 10

February 2019.

Jones, Barbra. “Human Trafficking is a Major Problem in Minnesota.” Minnesota

Lawyer.

http://go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?id=GALE%7CA224224792&v=2.1&u=mnauduluth&it=r&p=

AONE&sw=w Accessed: 12 February 2019.

Szmanda, Jessie. “Human Trafficking on the Ships of Lake Superior.” Stories

Foundation. http://storiescafe.org/human-trafficking-on-the-ships-of-lake-superior Accessed: 12

February 2019.

Walsh, Shannon. “Sex Trafficking and the State.” ProQuest

Vol. 17, Iss. 2. https://search.proquest.com/docview/1786626606?accountid=8111&rfr_id=info

%3Axri%2Fsid%3Aprimo Accessed: 13 February 2019.