Human Trafficking
Human Trafficking in the United States
Nicole Singleton
American Intercontinental University Online
November 12, 2012
Until recently, in the US, the thought never occurred that Americans were trafficking Americans. The purpose of this paper is to inform the audience about the crime of human trafficking that is happening in the US and also to persuade them to take a stand and help do something to combat this crime.
Thesis: Human trafficking in the United States seems to be overlooked and not taken very seriously. Close to 20,000 women and children are trafficked in the US yearly. There seems to be nothing that can be done about it. Most times the victims are never heard from or seen again leaving very little of their known existence behind. Many think that this only happens in foreign countries, but many have been rudely awakened. According to the US Department of State, human trafficking is any situation where one person “holds another person in compelled service” (2011). 2010 was the first year the US actually ranked itself in the Trafficking in Persons Report alongside other countries; this shows just how much this crime has been overlooked until recently.
Hypothesis: If those in authority were properly trained on what human trafficking entails and also trained on how to spot the signs that shows a victim is being trafficked then federal, local, and state law enforcement would have a better chance at fighting human trafficking. Communities and sometimes even law enforcement officials are completely clueless as to what human trafficking really is. This, in turn, leads to the victims being criminalized and released right back into the hands of those criminals that are trafficking them. My working solution will evolve through continued research and analysis.
Measurement and analysis approach: * 27 million people worldwide in modern day slavery. * The ILO (International Labor Organization) estimated that 2.4 million people were the victims of
Nicole Singleton
American Intercontinental University Online
November 12, 2012
Until recently, in the US, the thought never occurred that Americans were trafficking Americans. The purpose of this paper is to inform the audience about the crime of human trafficking that is happening in the US and also to persuade them to take a stand and help do something to combat this crime.
Thesis: Human trafficking in the United States seems to be overlooked and not taken very seriously. Close to 20,000 women and children are trafficked in the US yearly. There seems to be nothing that can be done about it. Most times the victims are never heard from or seen again leaving very little of their known existence behind. Many think that this only happens in foreign countries, but many have been rudely awakened. According to the US Department of State, human trafficking is any situation where one person “holds another person in compelled service” (2011). 2010 was the first year the US actually ranked itself in the Trafficking in Persons Report alongside other countries; this shows just how much this crime has been overlooked until recently.
Hypothesis: If those in authority were properly trained on what human trafficking entails and also trained on how to spot the signs that shows a victim is being trafficked then federal, local, and state law enforcement would have a better chance at fighting human trafficking. Communities and sometimes even law enforcement officials are completely clueless as to what human trafficking really is. This, in turn, leads to the victims being criminalized and released right back into the hands of those criminals that are trafficking them. My working solution will evolve through continued research and analysis.
Measurement and analysis approach: * 27 million people worldwide in modern day slavery. * The ILO (International Labor Organization) estimated that 2.4 million people were the victims of
References: Human Trafficking of Children in the United States (2006). US Department of Education. Retrieved from http://www2.ed.gov/about/offices/list/osdfs/factsheet.html Human Trafficking Statistics. (2007). Retrieved from http://www.cicatelli.org/titlex/downloadable/Human%20Trafficking%20Statistics.pdf Kristof, Nicholas. (2007, April 22). The New York Times: The 21st Century Slave Trade. Retrieved from http://select.nytimes.com/2007/04/22/opinion/22kristof.html?ref=humantrafficking Piotrowicz, Ryszard. (2008, June 20). International Journal of Refugee Law: The UNHCR’s Guidelines on human trafficking. Retrieved from http://ijrl.oxfordjournals.org/content/20/2/242.full Todres, Jonathan, Law, Otherness, and Human Trafficking (March 18, 2009). Santa Clara Law Review, Vol. 49, No. 3, pp. 605-672, 2009; Georgia State University College of Law, Legal Studies Research Paper No. 2009-07. Retrieved from SSRN: http://ssrn.com/abstract=1362542 U.S. Department of State: What Is Trafficking in Persons? (2011). Retrieved from http://www.state.gov/j/tip/rls/tiprpt/2011/164220.htm U.S. Government Accountability Office. (2006). Human Trafficking: Better Data, Strategy, and Reporting Needed to Enhance U.S. Anti-trafficking Efforts Abroad. Retrieved from http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-06-825