A Case Study On Human Trafficking In St. Louis And The

Human trafficking is a public health problem within the United States and Internationally. The victims subjected to the lifestyle of human trafficking can have sexually transmitted disease, HIV virus, and AIDS. It is an estimated 30,000 victims of human sex trafficking dying each year from abuse, disease, torture, and neglect. According, to U.S. government an estimates, of 800,000 people are trafficked across international borders annually, and up to 17,500 people are trafficked into the United States each year (Hodge, 2008). “According to United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), over the past 30 years, over 30 million children have been sexually exploited through human trafficking” (Random Facts, 2015, para. 24).

Human trafficking is a prominent problem within the United States that is often overlooked. The definition of human trafficking is, “Human trafficking - the illegal practice of procuring or trading in human beings for the purpose of prostitution, forced labor, or other forms of exploitation” (“Human trafficking”). People in the United States believe that human trafficking is a problem that occurs in other less developed countries compared to the United States. What these individuals do not realize is that human trafficking occurs on American soil contrary to popular belief. The United States is one of the top three destination countries of human trafficking and human trafficking is a top criminal enterprise across the world (“WEAVE, Inc.”).

There are many myths involving human trafficking. One myth is that human trafficking is not a modern problem (Richmond, 2015). When people are asked about human trafficking, they may say that it is a Trans-Atlantic issue, not a problem in the United States. To help people understand what kind of problem

Human trafficking brings in billions of dollars into the U.S and all around the world. “The prime motive for such outrageous abuse is simple: money. In this $12 billion global business just one woman trafficked into the industrialized world can net her captors an average $67,000 a year” (Baird 2007). The laws around human trafficking are not strict and vary depending on what country it is happening in. Human trafficking is not something that is strictly foreign, it is happening right in front of our faces, in our neighborhoods, and all around us.

Now that the effects of human trafficking on its victims and the risk factors of being trafficked have been covered, it is now time to address the top four states within the U.S. that have been effected by this issue. It is also important to cover what each corresponding state is doing to put an end to this issue. According to The Denver Post, South Dakota ranks number one as the most effected by human trafficking with a category 4 Tier. In the past this state has been known to do very little when it came to fighting against human trafficking. This is because South Dakota’s state legislature only meets every other year which creates a lack of opportunities to take legal action against human trafficking. With this being the case, there was a

I analyzed human trafficking in two different locations of the United States, one being California, and another being Florida. My main reason for choosing the two was because both states have been actively participating in working on helping the police, and prosecutors identify and prosecute trafficking. In California local police have been able to “identify 1,277 victims, initiated 2,552 investigations, and arrested 1,798 individuals” in regards to human trafficking cases (California Justice Department). In California we have our own legal definition to help us identify trafficking through the passing of AB 22 in 2005. California defines human trafficking as “all acts involved in the recruitment, abduction, transport, harboring, transfer, sale or receipt of persons, within national or across international borders, through force, coercion, fraud or deception, to place persons in situations of slavery or slavery-like conditions, forced labor or services, such as prostitution or sexual services,

Nevertheless, Wisconsin has been decreasing and saving countless lives for those who are suffering and putting their life at risk of being in human trafficking. “The secret of change is to focus all your energy, not on fighting the old, but on building the new” - Socrates, The following quote represents how a community can impact many lives of those who have been victims of forced sexual activity, commercial sex and most importantly people who are severely wicked and are making a living off trading people for the purposes of exploiting them. This quote visualizes how the effect of human trafficking can impact a civilian, victim, community, and those who have illegally mistreated another human for personal gain. To those who have experienced

Human trafficking is considered to be another form of slavery and very common in many countries around the world. Several countries throughout the world are sites of cause, travel, purpose, and/or inner trafficking. There are many cases of human trafficking that have been reported in all fifty states within the United States. Human trafficking is a market-based economy that exists on values of supply and demand. It thrives due to circumstances, which allows for higher earnings to be obtained at low risk. With that being said, it is important to understand how human trafficking is defined. According to the Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000, the legal definition

Human trafficking: the trade of humans, most commonly for the purpose of sexual slavery, forced labor, or commercial sexual exploitation for the trafficker or others. In most cases, the public only sees a slight representation of this illegal behavior is only seen in high octane movies, but what if it were more embedded in the “real” life? In the past decade, there were over 2000 traffickers convicted and fbi.gov concludes that of these 2000 individuals, there were 14,000-18,000 people harbored by these traffickers. Compared to the world’s population, this number seems very insignificant, but imagine a small town like Council Grove, Kansas; the town holds roughly 2100 individuals. That means

Human trafficking can take many forms, as well as many victims. One form of trafficking is slavery. Slavery is having a worker who is unpaid and who works by force using coercion, fraud or threat of bodily harm. “According to the United Nations, there are between 27 and 30 million modern-day slaves in the world (Jesionka, “Human Trafficking: The Myths and the Realities”).” “By 1860, the nation’s black population had jumped from 400,000 to 4.4 million, of which 3.9 million were slaves.(Henry Louis Gates).” That means there are nearly ten times more slaves today than there were in the late 1800’s.

Many Americans remain ignorant of human trafficking within the United States, believing that this inhumane act only occurs in third-world countries. No one likes to believe that it can be happening in our own country let alone in some of our own states and cities. Society rarely takes the time to understand these women and what lead them into trafficking and what factors contributed to them staying in trafficking. This study seeks to voice the ability to raise awareness, enhance penalties for the traffickers/violator’s, and offer rehabilitation for the victims.

In the documentary of the “Revealed: Qatar’s World Cup ‘slaves’” give us an open view of a rich city like Qatar’s where dozens of immigrant workers live in deplorable conditions. One of the outrageous fact that was mention in the documentary is that the country has a policy that immigrant workers cannot leave their jobs or the country without the employer permission. Without a doubt this is a form of slavery allow by politicians in power that are enriching themselves with all the laws that allow companies to mistreat and exploit the employees and how the bureaucracy protect the traffickers, not the victims who are being mistreated, are working no or little pay, and don’t even have food or drink to survive the long hours of work. One of the

A lack of strong labor protections is just some of the vulnerabilities that can lead to labor trafficking. In addition, victims of labor trafficking are affected by this due to different reasons like perhaps being promised a higher paying job or new and exciting opportunities. Labor trafficking includes but are not limited to: people forced to working in homes as domestic servants, farmworkers coerced through violence as they harvest crops, or factory workers held in inhumane conditions. Additionally, in construction work, health and beauty services, door-to-door sales crew, and carnivals. Although the current information being presented is discussing only about what occurs in America, globally there are 14.2 million people trapped in forced labor in industries including agriculture, construction, domestic work, and manufacturing, according to the International Labor

many academics, public officials, law enforcement authorities, and the news media believe human trafficking to be among the most tragic and horrendous transnational criminal activities facing us today. Victims are typically transported from

Human Trafficking has become the modern day slavery; endangering millions if innocent humans. What is human trafficking? Well human trafficking or sex trafficking is when someone is illegally moving people from one country to another; it’s typically known for forced labor or forced sexual exploitation. Many victims are tricked into thinking that they are getting a better job offer, better living environment or even tricked into thinking they will be moved safely to a better country. This illegal industry is making a fortune, over $32 billion yearly, and is spreading all over the world. Now many people aren’t aware of the major threat and that is because people aren’t aware of what’s going on. For example, many of the students in my English class were unaware of what human trafficking was. During the class we had the opportunity to read Sold written by Patricia McCormick, and it opened up all of our eyes. It gave us the perspective of what the slaves had to deal with. With the book and the recent movies, like Taken, have opened up the eyes of society and see how dangerous and common human trafficking is.