Dana Raigrodski

Here in Michigan, Michigan state police and Michigan state attorney general say some of their cases of human trafficking happen on Mackinac Island. Human trafficking--mainly labor trafficking--has occurred in this area right here in our own homeland; human trafficking can happen anywhere and affects those that are most vulnerable. Although human trafficking is a complex social problem that preys on society 's most poor and vulnerable, the Trafficking Victims Protection Act hopes to address prosecution of traffickers and justice for the trafficked. This paper will explore the economic, political, ideology, social movement 's, and history of human trafficking and how the TVPA can relate and is working towards change.

Images of foreign lands usually conjure up when the thoughts of human sex trafficking come to one 's mind. The United States of America is not immune to this type of horrific behavior. America is the land of the free and yet something as awful as human sex trafficking occurs in our very own backyard each and everyday. According to the Department of Homeland Security the definition of human trafficking is “modern day slavery that involves the use of force, fraud, or coercion to obtain some type of labor or commercial sex act” (“What Is Human Trafficking?”). In this research paper the reader will experience the savagery that comes with human sex trafficking and how it has expanded in the United States over recent years. Within this research

The recognition and development of human rights has dramatically changed internationally and domestically due to the constant change in societies needs, wants and values. Over the past 20 years many human rights have been implemented and recognized by various legal and non-legal measures to protect, promote and enforce these rights. The world has made great progress in identifying violations of individuals and societies human rights and has provided great efforts through legal and non-legal measures to protect issues that arise. There are a range of contemporary human rights issues that are being addressed domestically and internationally. One of the issues is the development of human trafficking and slavery. The United Nations defines human trafficking as “the recruitment, transportation, transfer, harboring, or receipt of persons by improper means (such as force, abduction, fraud, or coercion) for an improper purpose including forced labor or sexual exploitation". In order to correctly evaluate the effectiveness of Non- legal and legal measures in addressing these contemporary issues international and domestic efforts must be considered.

The audience for this paper is an educated public and specifically those who influence or make policy regarding trafficking, most specifically in Colorado. The dominant discourse around human trafficking centers on sex trafficking, and I hope to encourage a more holistic view.

Human trafficking doesn’t happen in third world countries only. It doesn’t just happen to poor people and it certainly doesn’t solely happen to women. It is present here in the USA but it is hidden, and even worse, so are their victims. They are everywhere yet invisible. They are silently crying for our help through their eyes and smiles. According to Polaris, “…the prevalence of sex trafficking in the United States is still unknown, we do know that women, children, and men are being sold for sex against their will in cities and towns in all 50 states”. Human trafficking can happen to anyone even to Theresa Flores, the author of “The slave across the street”(“Sex trafficking” 2015). An average 15 year old American girl, coming from a privileged background and a respected family became a victim of sex trafficking and through her book, she convinces us that human trafficking doesn’t have a specific demographic.

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

There are many different meanings to the term globalization, yet the constant throughout each meaning is the fact that globalization creates interconnectedness among citizens of the world that has not been experienced at such levels previously. Globalization as a theory is often applauded because it allows for a diffusion of knowledge as well as an increase in opportunities for most people. It does indeed create vast amounts of opportunities for both genders, yet it is biased to developed and industrialized nations. Globalization is hugely discriminatory against unskilled workers, most prominently women and children. In most countries, women

There have been enormous questions on the effects that globalization has had on sex trafficking. Some have argued that globalization is characterized with the global efforts, funding and regional legislation that undermine the spread of the sex trading. However, the increased liberalization and other factors such as the presence of the internet have heavily favored sex trade globally and especially in the United States of America (U.S.A). The United States has been a destination for the many immigrants from third world countries and others that have been encroached with wars and terrorist activities.  According to the National Human Trafficking (2017), 4460 cases of the trafficking were recorded in the U.S.A of which 3186 cases reported were linked to sex trafficking. In 2016, the reported human trafficking cases tremendously increased in 7621, and the sex trafficking cases reported also increased to 5593. The reported sex trafficking cases were 4183, 3593, 3380, 2382 in 2015, 2014, 2013 and 2012 respectively (National Human Trafficking, 2017, 1). From the cases recorded by the National Human Trafficking Hotline, it is evident that globalization has created a favorable environment for the sex and the human trafficking. The economic, political and legal environment created by the globalization favors the spread of sex trade in the United States of America.

Human trafficking is a societal issue that has been existent for ages. It is considered a vice the world over. The social justice issue has three main aspects that help understand its holistic nature. It is important to understand the act, how it is done, and the reason it is done. This paper seeks to major on how it is done (the means) in the United States. Human trafficking involves the acquiring or transfer of persons (the act). The act means that there must be two parties involved; those who receive and those who transfer persons. The next point of concern, which has aided in trying to mitigate the social justice issue, is the means. This indicates how the transfer or receipt of persons occurs. In addition, human trafficking occurs

Thesis Statement – Human trafficking for sexual purposes is an ever growing, global, inhumane plague, but the laws meant to abolish it really are hurting the victims more than they are helping them.

Typically, when people think about global issues, some of the first things to come to mind are immigration, poverty, and hunger. However, there are much larger issues that can lead to these kinds of circumstances, or even be seen as a function of these problems. Taking a closer look at an ongoing issue highly prevalent in our world today, it is easy to see that other issues feed off it, and can contribute to the issue at hand. The issue I want to focus on is human trafficking. This type of criminalization is often one that is overlooked, most people believing that it is some sort of “myth,” or that this type of action happens to very few, and is only part of developing countries. However, the truth of the matter is that human trafficking occurs everywhere in the world, even the most successful countries. Human trafficking can occur in many different forms, however, there are very few laws implementing protection for those who fall as victims, and even with these laws, the problem still happens every single day. The why, of the matter, the influences of the issue, and the outcome of the actions, is what drives human trafficking to still be one of the biggest crimes in our world today.

Sex trafficking makes up the primary focus of anti-trafficking media campaigns and legislative measures. While these initiatives have been successful in arousing public concern and creating anti-trafficking legislation, many contend that they do more harm than good. On the one hand, these initiatives have been able to utilize anti-sex trafficking hysteria to make tangible gains in anti-trafficking legislation. Places that serve as destinations for trafficked sex workers such as Sweden and the Netherlands have put legal measures in place to combat trafficking, while people who commit acts of sexual exploitation abroad are being prosecuted in their home countries (Brysk 12).

During the Clinton Global Initiative in 2014, President Obama spoke up about the mistreatment of people through trafficking “The fight against human trafficking is one of the great human rights causes of our time” (Hagen). Even with every survivor’s breathtaking story of their abuse and of their time spent as slaves, there are still hundreds of thousands of women suffering everyday. In fact, known victims of human trafficking are disproportionately women who most commonly suffer one of two mistreatments: sexual exploitation and forced labor (Slavery and Human Trafficking). Human Trafficking is a global issue and it is up to the people and the government to stop this modern day slavery. Many of these victims are women who are forced into labor and sexual exploitation. However, through charity, federal laws, and the help of social activists, countries around the world can come together to help put an end to human trafficking.

Human trafficking is an assault on human rights and a violation of one’s dignity by means of forced labor, sex trafficking, bonded labor, and/or domestic servitude. It remains to be both a local and global issue, “occurring in nearly every country, and its networks are vast and formidable to investigate” (Jesionka 2012). Despite government, activist groups and other organization’s methods of intervention, human trafficking is still a major concern with more individuals enslaved now than ever before. Traffickers are able to coerce, deceive, threaten, and obtain complete control over their victims. Many of whom are poor, illegal immigrants in search of a job to help support and provide for their families. In their poverty and desperation, they willingly fall victim to the trade and end up abused, overworked, underpaid, and most often unable to return home.

Human trafficking is defined as the action or practice of illegally transporting people from one country or area to another, typically for the purposes of forced labour or commerical sexual exploitation. Karla Jacinto, a 24 year old woman from Mexico, is a victim of this violence called human trafficking. She speaks of her traumatizing encounters in a CNN article called “Human Trafficking Survivor: I Was Raped 43,200 Times”. In this article, she says “...up to 30 men a day, seven days a week, for the best part of four years -- 43, 200”. This staggering number is very important to not only this article but this topic as a whole because it shows the reality of what human trafficking becomes for some people and how it changes the course of people’s lives forever. Human trafficking has become a trade so lucrative and prevalent, that it knows no borders and links towns in central Mexico, where Karla Jacinto, with cities like Atlanta and New York. Karla’s testimony was used as evidence in support for H.R. 515 or Megan’s Law that mandates U.S. authorities share information pertaining to American child sex offenders when these convicts attempt to travel abroad. In this CNN article, it says: “Her message is that human trafficking and forced prostitution still happens and is a growing problem in our world.” This quote is very important from this article because since Karla experienced human trafficking in first person, her opinion about it continuing to be a growing problem