Human Trafficking Vs Modern Day Slavery
After hundreds of years, slavery still exists, even today. The Emancipation Proclamation that was signed by Abraham Lincoln himself on January 1, 1863. This executive order is what freed all the slaves in the U.S. However, this did not free all of them, but it was still a turning point for human freedom for this time era. All things considered, slavery is actually a much broader topic and expands to all over the world. Unfortunately, it still exists today, but we call it by a different name and that’s Human Trafficking or Modern Day Slavery. Unlike history, this issue is not affected by race or skin color but focuses more towards women and children. It does not matter what color you are or even your sex because men can be affected too. Human
…show more content…
trafficking is a form of modern-day slavery. This crime occurs when a trafficker uses force, fraud or coercion to control another person for the purpose of engaging in commercial sex acts or soliciting labor or services against his/her will. Human trafficking is the modern-day copy of slavery and it must be recognized by everyone in order to be weeded out. Holly Austin Smith is a survivor of human trafficking. Smith was a 14-year-old girl who ran away from home with a man she barely even knew. While living in New Jersey her decision to run away with him took time, but when she finally got the courage to go, it might have been one of the worst decisions she has ever made. Unknowing she landed herself in a sex trafficking trap. “Within hours of running away with what turned out to be a manipulative and menacing pimp, I was coerced into working Pacific Avenue in Atlantic City, NJ until dawn the next day” (Walking Prey). Beatrice Fernando is another victim lured into trafficking. In her case, it was domestic servitude. She was a 23-year-old divorced single mom. Beatrice was looking for a job, so she went online and spotted an ad for a housemaid in Lebanon. When she got there she was sold to a wealthy woman who made her work for 20 plus hours straight with no food and no way out. To Beatrice, her only way to freedom was to jump off the balcony and hopefully survive the fall. Lucky she did and now she lives to tell her story. Human trafficking is something that is happening locally and globally, in fact, “There are approximately 20 to 30 million slaves in the world today” (11 Facts About Human Trafficking). They are either forced into prostitution or involuntary servitude. In Holly’s case, she was not seen as a victim by the police but was merely a criminal to them. She hopes that her story will make a difference in someone else’s life or maybe even save a life. There could be thousands and even millions of untold stories of victims involved in human trafficking and it’s not just sex trafficking but forced labor and even child labor. These stories didn’t just start recently, but they have been neighboring for quite some time now. Let’s start with one simple question. When did human trafficking first occur? According to Human Trafficking: How a Joint Task Force between Health Care Providers and Law Enforcement Can Assist with Identifying Victims and Prosecuting Traffickers by Megan Helton, “The first instance of an international attempt to address human trafficking was initiated by the United Nations in 1949 with the Convention for the Suppression of the Traffic in Persons and of the Exploitation of the Prostitution of Others.” As each year goes by there is a growing number of women and children being trafficked, congress prompted to develop a better system to stop human trafficking. “Subsequently, Congress passed the Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000 in order to fight human trafficking” (438 Helton). This was the first law passed by the United States that sought to protect victims and prosecute human traffickers worldwide. Every day young women and children, live day by day, unknowing what their future holds. According to a leading state official Laura Lederer opens up about a chilling statistic, "Human trafficking is the Third-largest global criminal enterprise, exceeded only by drug and arms trafficking, as many of you have heard over and over again," she said. "We have some very basic statistics on human trafficking. We've looked at this mainly as a law enforcement issue and as a human rights issue. But it is also an industry. By some estimates, the industry is growing, and the [worldwide] illegitimate gain from the industry is as high as $32 billion per year” (Tully). This is a very fast growing industry that is causing problems all around the world, and the worst part is, it is happening right before our eyes, “It is an industry, in many ways woven into the fabric of everyday life” (118 Leary). Human trafficking can happen to anyone, according to Joan A. Reid from Human Trafficking of Minors and Childhood Adversity in Florida, “Previous research has also noted that certain risk factors were associated with the commercial sexual exploitation of children— one form of human trafficking—including inadequate education, limited employment opportunities, poor family support, sexual or physical abuse, and mental, emotional, or physical disabilities.” Although a lot of the women and children involved in human trafficking are imported from different countries, “they are not enslaved by dint of their race or skin color, but because of their vulnerability in the labor market” (391 Murphy). These women and children believe they are getting a fresh new start on life but ultimately pursues their worst nightmare. Asif Efrat said, “Human trafficking is a serious threat to human rights and dignity.” Numerous governments and international organizations are engaging in efforts against modern-day slavery and the attention is growing because of how big the human trafficking industry is becoming. It is a sad fact, but because it is the third largest global criminal enterprise, it is an issue that must be taken seriously in order to bring the victim's home safely. Law enforcement is one of the many who can help the victims of human trafficking, but people like activists, politicians, and scholars are also helping to cease the existence of modern-day slavery.
In one instance from, Trafficking in Narratives: Conceptualizing and Recasting Victims, Offenders, and Rescuers in the War on Human Trafficking by Sabrina Balgamwalla, “Jennifer Musto quotes an NGO advocate as saying that the arrest of a 16-year-old sex worker is justifiable because “it’s the only way we can help her.” In her research, law enforcement officials repeatedly stated that they felt arresting young people in the sex industry is critical to victims’ safety.” As experts continue to understand the elements of trafficking they believe that rescue is very necessary, even when it is unwelcome. Unfortunately, rescue missions can be very harmful to the victims because with an industry this large, arrests do not result in successful identification of the traffickers. From the article, Can Prostitution Law Reform Curb Sex Trafficking? Theory and Evidence on Scale, Substitution, and Replacement Effects by Simon Hedlin, “In other countries, such as America (a few counties in Nevada aside), it is illegal both to sell and to buy sex. In theory, such laws aim at eradicating a market for paid sex, including both voluntary prostitution and trafficking, by targeting both supply and demand. In practice, though, most prostitution-related arrests in the United States are made against …show more content…
sellers—not buyers—of sex.” Law enforcement decided to focus on controlling the supply side rather than the demand side. This approach can help the victim get out of the business and overall secure his or her safety. In some cases, men and women actually sell themselves as a job. In Nevada Prostitution is legal in eight counties with active brothels, and it is the only state that allows this in the U.S. Knowing the difference between Prostitution and Human trafficking is very important. According to Melissa Ditmore, “The trafficking of women and children into sexual slavery is undeniably a gross abuse of human rights. Like all trafficking, it involves coercion or trickery or both. Sex workers are people who offer sexual services in exchange for money, willingly” (Sex Work vs. Trafficking: Understanding the Difference). Although prostitution is a different story, our main focus is the loss of dignity towards those involved in human trafficking.
There are many ways a person can help prevent human trafficking. For instance, the biggest indicator would be for someone to get informed. Do some research about the topic to become more aware. If people don’t know what to look for then there’s no way someone can identify a victim. Once that step is done, there are ways to get help. Either call 911 or the Human Trafficking Resource Center, which they have a hotline number available 24/7. These numbers can help because human trafficking is like mass surveillance it goes unnoticed and works in the background among communities. Also, if human trafficking prevention classes were put into the curriculum of universities fewer people would fall into the traps of human traffickers because college students would know the signs of luring. Health care providers are among the biggest sources to help the victims of human trafficking they are usually the first people to come in contact with them. “If health care professionals were trained to understand human trafficking and how a victim would present himself or herself in a healthcare facility, then a greater number of human trafficking cases would be identified and prosecuted” (454 Helton). Once they have identified that they are indeed a victim of human trafficking then they can proceed to standard protocol. In addition, “If health care professionals and law enforcement officials worked together to identify and rescue human trafficking victims, the human trafficking problem would be fought on multiple fronts” (454 Helton). This could be an effective task if they work together, but because it is a major risk for the victim, they must come up with a safe plan for a successful rescue. Amidst all that, because of the broadness of this topic, it’s better to know ways to help prevent all forms of human trafficking. Human Trafficking is an issue that is among us today.
Not only does it happen everywhere, but it’s happening right before our eyes. Women from all over the world are being smuggled in not knowing the true work before them. Human Trafficking organizations like sex trafficking, domestic servitude, child labor, etc, are hard to track, making it even harder to stop. Law enforcement and many other people have taken into consideration of the seriousness of this issue. They are working every day to find ways to protect and prevent the continuity of human trafficking. Since the first attempt to discuss human trafficking in 1949 to today the numbers of those involved in human trafficking continue to grow, building an industry worth billions or even more. We must also remember that this doesn’t just happen in other countries this could be happening in your state or maybe even your hometown. It is hard to recognize it if people don’t know what to look for. So, prevention tactics such as getting informed and learning more about human trafficking and how it’s affecting our world can help identify and possibly save someone’s life. Also, with this being the third largest criminal enterprise, it is an important issue for people to understand so they can help stop the affair from
happening.
trafficking is a form of modern-day slavery. This crime occurs when a trafficker uses force, fraud or coercion to control another person for the purpose of engaging in commercial sex acts or soliciting labor or services against his/her will. Human trafficking is the modern-day copy of slavery and it must be recognized by everyone in order to be weeded out. Holly Austin Smith is a survivor of human trafficking. Smith was a 14-year-old girl who ran away from home with a man she barely even knew. While living in New Jersey her decision to run away with him took time, but when she finally got the courage to go, it might have been one of the worst decisions she has ever made. Unknowing she landed herself in a sex trafficking trap. “Within hours of running away with what turned out to be a manipulative and menacing pimp, I was coerced into working Pacific Avenue in Atlantic City, NJ until dawn the next day” (Walking Prey). Beatrice Fernando is another victim lured into trafficking. In her case, it was domestic servitude. She was a 23-year-old divorced single mom. Beatrice was looking for a job, so she went online and spotted an ad for a housemaid in Lebanon. When she got there she was sold to a wealthy woman who made her work for 20 plus hours straight with no food and no way out. To Beatrice, her only way to freedom was to jump off the balcony and hopefully survive the fall. Lucky she did and now she lives to tell her story. Human trafficking is something that is happening locally and globally, in fact, “There are approximately 20 to 30 million slaves in the world today” (11 Facts About Human Trafficking). They are either forced into prostitution or involuntary servitude. In Holly’s case, she was not seen as a victim by the police but was merely a criminal to them. She hopes that her story will make a difference in someone else’s life or maybe even save a life. There could be thousands and even millions of untold stories of victims involved in human trafficking and it’s not just sex trafficking but forced labor and even child labor. These stories didn’t just start recently, but they have been neighboring for quite some time now. Let’s start with one simple question. When did human trafficking first occur? According to Human Trafficking: How a Joint Task Force between Health Care Providers and Law Enforcement Can Assist with Identifying Victims and Prosecuting Traffickers by Megan Helton, “The first instance of an international attempt to address human trafficking was initiated by the United Nations in 1949 with the Convention for the Suppression of the Traffic in Persons and of the Exploitation of the Prostitution of Others.” As each year goes by there is a growing number of women and children being trafficked, congress prompted to develop a better system to stop human trafficking. “Subsequently, Congress passed the Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000 in order to fight human trafficking” (438 Helton). This was the first law passed by the United States that sought to protect victims and prosecute human traffickers worldwide. Every day young women and children, live day by day, unknowing what their future holds. According to a leading state official Laura Lederer opens up about a chilling statistic, "Human trafficking is the Third-largest global criminal enterprise, exceeded only by drug and arms trafficking, as many of you have heard over and over again," she said. "We have some very basic statistics on human trafficking. We've looked at this mainly as a law enforcement issue and as a human rights issue. But it is also an industry. By some estimates, the industry is growing, and the [worldwide] illegitimate gain from the industry is as high as $32 billion per year” (Tully). This is a very fast growing industry that is causing problems all around the world, and the worst part is, it is happening right before our eyes, “It is an industry, in many ways woven into the fabric of everyday life” (118 Leary). Human trafficking can happen to anyone, according to Joan A. Reid from Human Trafficking of Minors and Childhood Adversity in Florida, “Previous research has also noted that certain risk factors were associated with the commercial sexual exploitation of children— one form of human trafficking—including inadequate education, limited employment opportunities, poor family support, sexual or physical abuse, and mental, emotional, or physical disabilities.” Although a lot of the women and children involved in human trafficking are imported from different countries, “they are not enslaved by dint of their race or skin color, but because of their vulnerability in the labor market” (391 Murphy). These women and children believe they are getting a fresh new start on life but ultimately pursues their worst nightmare. Asif Efrat said, “Human trafficking is a serious threat to human rights and dignity.” Numerous governments and international organizations are engaging in efforts against modern-day slavery and the attention is growing because of how big the human trafficking industry is becoming. It is a sad fact, but because it is the third largest global criminal enterprise, it is an issue that must be taken seriously in order to bring the victim's home safely. Law enforcement is one of the many who can help the victims of human trafficking, but people like activists, politicians, and scholars are also helping to cease the existence of modern-day slavery.
In one instance from, Trafficking in Narratives: Conceptualizing and Recasting Victims, Offenders, and Rescuers in the War on Human Trafficking by Sabrina Balgamwalla, “Jennifer Musto quotes an NGO advocate as saying that the arrest of a 16-year-old sex worker is justifiable because “it’s the only way we can help her.” In her research, law enforcement officials repeatedly stated that they felt arresting young people in the sex industry is critical to victims’ safety.” As experts continue to understand the elements of trafficking they believe that rescue is very necessary, even when it is unwelcome. Unfortunately, rescue missions can be very harmful to the victims because with an industry this large, arrests do not result in successful identification of the traffickers. From the article, Can Prostitution Law Reform Curb Sex Trafficking? Theory and Evidence on Scale, Substitution, and Replacement Effects by Simon Hedlin, “In other countries, such as America (a few counties in Nevada aside), it is illegal both to sell and to buy sex. In theory, such laws aim at eradicating a market for paid sex, including both voluntary prostitution and trafficking, by targeting both supply and demand. In practice, though, most prostitution-related arrests in the United States are made against …show more content…
sellers—not buyers—of sex.” Law enforcement decided to focus on controlling the supply side rather than the demand side. This approach can help the victim get out of the business and overall secure his or her safety. In some cases, men and women actually sell themselves as a job. In Nevada Prostitution is legal in eight counties with active brothels, and it is the only state that allows this in the U.S. Knowing the difference between Prostitution and Human trafficking is very important. According to Melissa Ditmore, “The trafficking of women and children into sexual slavery is undeniably a gross abuse of human rights. Like all trafficking, it involves coercion or trickery or both. Sex workers are people who offer sexual services in exchange for money, willingly” (Sex Work vs. Trafficking: Understanding the Difference). Although prostitution is a different story, our main focus is the loss of dignity towards those involved in human trafficking.
There are many ways a person can help prevent human trafficking. For instance, the biggest indicator would be for someone to get informed. Do some research about the topic to become more aware. If people don’t know what to look for then there’s no way someone can identify a victim. Once that step is done, there are ways to get help. Either call 911 or the Human Trafficking Resource Center, which they have a hotline number available 24/7. These numbers can help because human trafficking is like mass surveillance it goes unnoticed and works in the background among communities. Also, if human trafficking prevention classes were put into the curriculum of universities fewer people would fall into the traps of human traffickers because college students would know the signs of luring. Health care providers are among the biggest sources to help the victims of human trafficking they are usually the first people to come in contact with them. “If health care professionals were trained to understand human trafficking and how a victim would present himself or herself in a healthcare facility, then a greater number of human trafficking cases would be identified and prosecuted” (454 Helton). Once they have identified that they are indeed a victim of human trafficking then they can proceed to standard protocol. In addition, “If health care professionals and law enforcement officials worked together to identify and rescue human trafficking victims, the human trafficking problem would be fought on multiple fronts” (454 Helton). This could be an effective task if they work together, but because it is a major risk for the victim, they must come up with a safe plan for a successful rescue. Amidst all that, because of the broadness of this topic, it’s better to know ways to help prevent all forms of human trafficking. Human Trafficking is an issue that is among us today.
Not only does it happen everywhere, but it’s happening right before our eyes. Women from all over the world are being smuggled in not knowing the true work before them. Human Trafficking organizations like sex trafficking, domestic servitude, child labor, etc, are hard to track, making it even harder to stop. Law enforcement and many other people have taken into consideration of the seriousness of this issue. They are working every day to find ways to protect and prevent the continuity of human trafficking. Since the first attempt to discuss human trafficking in 1949 to today the numbers of those involved in human trafficking continue to grow, building an industry worth billions or even more. We must also remember that this doesn’t just happen in other countries this could be happening in your state or maybe even your hometown. It is hard to recognize it if people don’t know what to look for. So, prevention tactics such as getting informed and learning more about human trafficking and how it’s affecting our world can help identify and possibly save someone’s life. Also, with this being the third largest criminal enterprise, it is an important issue for people to understand so they can help stop the affair from
happening.