Taken from your parents at a young
age to an unknown place where you are being auctioned off with other women,
men, and children. Afraid, you’re forced to stand in the center with very
little clothing on. Having men and sometimes women bidding for you as if you
are an object that is only worth a couple thousand dollars. You're constantly
wondering whether if someone is looking for you or if you will ever see your
family again. Sadly, situations like these are common, it is called human
trafficking and it is an international crime industry worth $32 billion and has
approximately 20-30 million slaves (“History of human trafficking”1). Human
trafficking is “For the purpose of- exploitation, which includes exploiting the
prostitution of others, sexual exploitation, forced labor, slavery or similar
practices and the removal of organs” (“What is Human Trafficking”1). Although
many victims have never made it back home, we, as a society, can prevent and
help the victims of human trafficking.
History
Human trafficking has been around
before the 1200’s. At this time human trafficking was part of everyday life.
But it wasn’t until the 1400’s when the European slave trade in Africa
began. Portugal was the first European country to begin the
slave trade in Europe. Eventually other nations like Spain, Holland, Sweden,
France and the United States joined the transatlantic slave trade (“History of
Human trafficking”1). There were
different ways someone became a slave. Some were captured by enemy soldiers,
kidnapped by slave merchants to make a profit, and even sold by their own
family members to make a profit because they’re too poor to pay off a debt.
When America joined the slave trade, it was the beginning of awful, prejudice,
and unlawful acts against Africans and African Americans. It wasn’t until after
the civil war, the 13th amendment abolished slavery throughout America. Eventually
slavery became illegal throughout the world.
But a new form of slavery arose, it was called “white slavery”. According to Kristina Kangaspunta, 'white
slavery' is obtaining a white woman or girl- by the use of force, drugs, or by
dishonesty- for sex which is unwanted by the woman or girl (“History of Human
trafficking”1). During the 1900’s white slavery was very prominent, so they created
a worldwide law against the white slave trade.
Even with the new laws human trafficking still exists around the world.
At this point it wasn’t just white slavery anymore because the color of your
skin didn’t matter, because anyone can be a victim to human trafficking. Now in
the 2000’s there are charities and non-profit organizations to help out the
victims and police are cracking down on more trafficking rings.
Social
Effects
When you think of human trafficking you think of places like
Thailand, Russia, and Asia and not the u.s. it's estimated that 200,000 women
annually are forced into the sex trade in the US, the majority of them being
Americans (“Human Trafficking in America”1). in our society we would like to
think that human trafficking doesn't exist in America especially because there
was a time when Americans used to own slaves. as a society we are in denial.
It's easier to think of a prostitute as a beautiful happy hooker while the John
is a wealthy gentleman who looks like Richard Gere (“Human Trafficking in
America”1). But the reality is that women and even children as young as 12 are
being kidnapped against there will and brutally forced into prostitution.
Human trafficking doesn't just affect us, it effects the
surviving victims as well. Victims experience the effects of trafficking
throughout their lives due to the cost of treating the physical and mental
health consequences of victimization, diminished employment opportunity due to
lack of legal work histories, and criminalization of the sex trafficking
victims(Clark 1). these victims are often not able communicate with others, have
very little to no social skills and have low self-esteem. The physical and
psychological trauma limits their ability to break free from their traffickers
and rebuild their lives, due to there constant unfair criminalization. Human
trafficking should not exist especially in the u.s., as a nation we need to
recognize this as a epidemic. A epidemic that growing at fast if we don't stop
it.
Examples
Lastly in two Ted Talks two
different stories have common hardships. When Barbra turned 12 she ran away
from her home in Fairfax Virginia to Washington DC because she was being abused
and no one would listen. In DC A woman came up to her on the street saying that
she knew how she felt and that she wanted to help her(Amaya 1). So she went
with her to her apartment Sadly her trafficker was there ,the woman she felt
like she trusted was actually recruiting Runaways. One day on a street corner
in DC they sold her to a trafficker from New York. she lost all her innocence
when she was sold off and brought to New York. People asked her why did she
leave. the fact is she couldn't the trafficker programmed her and made her into
a commodity and instilled a fake bond with her so she would never leave. But
when she did it took a very long time almost 10 years now she is a public
speaker and helps out organizations to help victims of human trafficking.
Oie is from Thailand and he is the oldest of
his siblings. When his mother died from a heroin overdose he had a strong
responsibility to take care of his siblings. to find where he followed an older
male to a night District. He soon found out what this job entailed he started
off serving drinks and providing massages. but he wasn't making enough money so
he did what the other boys do, he was hesitant and disgusted, but he had no
choice and started to have sex with foreign men. This story is like many even
though he is physically free he is not psychologically free(Sobel 1). later on
he stole money from his customers and was sentenced to four years in jail.
after a organization reached out to him to help him. now he has a full-time job
helping victims of human trafficking
Solutions
Almost every day women, men, and
children are being trafficked. It is happening not just in third world
countries but also in America. Human trafficking is modern day slavery and it
profits off the torment of others. These victims are abused physically and
psychologically. As people we are often numb to how cruel human beings can be
and we don't want to accept the fact that human trafficking constantly occurs
near where we live.
In order to stop this epidemic we have to
raise awareness and find new solutions. When i say raise awareness i am not
just talking about reading statistics about human trafficking and posting them
on social media, because that doesn't do anything to help the victims. Some may
argue that it does raise awareness, to
an extent yes. But honestly ask yourself when was the last time you read a
informative blog with information and statistics about human trafficking and
actually did something about it. There are many better solutions to stop and
prevent human trafficking than just by reading.
To prevent trafficking you have to
know the signs of a person that is being trafficked. The signs very and are
pretty vague, so no one sign means there being trafficked. The signs are
categorized in two, living/working conditions and abnormal behavior. According to “23 signs of human
trafficking,” “victims live in a place provided by there trafficker and are
restricted from coming and going as he or she wishes” (1). “At work victims are
sometimes under 18, provide sex acts for money
or trade, sometimes are in the commercial sex industry, and have someone who
manages him or her, such as a pimp” (1).
“They are unpaid, or paid very little or paid only through tips, work
excessively long or unusual hours, are not allowed breaks or suffers under
unusual restrictions at work, and usually owe a large debt which they are
unable to pay it off” (1). These victims fall prey by being recruited
through false promises concerning the nature and conditions of his/her work(1). The places victims work in have
high security
measures (e.g. opaque windows, boarded up windows, bars on windows, barbed
wire, security cameras(1).
Besides the work
place you can see signs in the behavior of the victims. Traffickers will manipulate and or threaten victims trying to
leave. Victims are usually fearful,
anxious, depressed, submissive, tense, or nervous/paranoid especially after
bringing up law enforcement, they avoid eye contact and Appears malnourished,
Show signs of physical and/or sexual abuse, physical restraint, confinement or
torture, Have few or no personal possessions, are not in control of his/her own ID or passport,
are not allowed or able to speak for themselves (a third party may insist on
being present and/or translating), have lack of knowledge of whereabouts and/or
does not know what city he/she is in, has loss of sense of time and or Has
numerous inconsistencies in his/her story (1).
Other than seeing the signs there
are solutions we can be apart of. A solution that can help is being a informed
consumer, you do this buy making sure to ask where the products are coming from
and by doing your own research by “checking out
the Department of Labor’s List of Goods
Produced by Child Labor or Forced Labor
“(15 Ways You Can Help Fight Human Trafficking 1). To
be more involved you can join or donate to nonprofit organizations that combat
human trafficking. But to make a difference you should “Meet with and/or write
to your local, state, and
federal government representatives
to let them know you care about combating human trafficking, and ask what they
are doing to address it”(1). Of course there is many more solutions, but the
most important is if you “believe
someone may be a victim of human trafficking, report your suspicions to law
enforcement(in the united states) by calling 911 or the 24-hour National Human Trafficking Hotline
line at 1-888-373-7888”(1).
Camus and
Absurdity
Albert Camus was a french writer and
Philosopher. He believed in “the absurd “ which
questions the “meaning of life in a meaningless world” (Rayner). People
will often find meaning in helping the victims of human trafficking either by
becoming and finding their purpose as a FBI agent or just volunteering for
their local non profit organizations. Camus would believe this to be absurd,
because “The
problem with it is
that everyone we know and love will die someday, and some of them will suffer
tremendously before that happens” (Maguire).
He will believe the outcome will be even more absurd, because people who
find meaning in life by helping others will have to “confront the grim truth”
that they will not be able to save everyone. A individual whose purpose in life
is to help others, now knowing that they can't save everyone can have
sociological repercussions and put them into eternal chaos.
Conclusion
Human trafficking
is happening all around us and it is a social epidemic worth over 32 billion
dollars (“history of human trafficking”). People will argue often on why we
should care about these victims. These victims are abused and used by powerful
people that care more about money than a human life, which they see as
disposable. So we should care that these victims could be our siblings,
friends, nieces, nephews, parents, co workers, and even our future children. As
the millennial generation we have the power to use our voices and influence
with technology at are fingertips, to raise awareness and find solutions to
combat this epidemic. So lets make society safer for our children and the
future generations to come.
Work cited
“15 Ways You Can Help Fight Human
Trafficking.” U.S. Department of State,
U.S. Department of State, www.state.gov/j/tip/id/help/.
“23 Signs of Human Trafficking.” DomesticShelters.org, Domesticshelters.org, 24 Apr. 2019,
www.domesticshelters.org/articles/human-trafficking/23-signs-of-human-trafficking.
“History of Human Trafficking.” Home,
sexualexploitatio.weebly.com/history-of-human-trafficking.html.
“Human Trafficking In America.”
Psychology Today, Sussex Publishers,
www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/reading-between-the-headlines/201304/human-trafficking-in-america.
Liam.MCLAUGHLIN. “United Nations
Office on Drugs and Crime.” What Is Human Trafficking?,
www.unodc.org/unodc/en/human-trafficking/what-is-human-trafficking.html?ref=menuside.
Maguire, Laura. “Camus and Absurdity.” Philosophy Talk,
Philosophytalk.org, 28 Feb. 2015,
www.philosophytalk.org/blog/camus-and-absurdity.
Accessed 27 Apr. 2017.
Rayner, Tim. “Camus, Absurdity, and Revolt.” Philosophy for Change, 23 Sept. 2014,
philosophyforchange.wordpress.com/2010/05/17/camus-authenticity-and-revolt/.
Talks, TEDx. “I Was Human Trafficked
for 10 Years. We Can Do More to Stop It | Barbara Amaya | TEDxMidAtlantic.”
YouTube, YouTube, 20 Oct. 2015, www.youtube.com/watch?v=U_kXuQHZmWs.
Talks, TEDx. “Sex Trafficking Isn't
What You Think It Is | Meghan Sobel | TEDxMileHighWomen.” YouTube, YouTube, 14
Dec. 2016, www.youtube.com/watch?v=wyhF7q3_bpk.
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