Gwynedd Mercy Week

Out of the thousands of people that have been human trafficking victims each year, only an insignificant amount of them is actually reported. Imagine being in 8th grade. Having all sorts of hopes and dreams. Now flash forward to dreams being taken away by a pimp that lures people into human trafficking. In short, this is true for Holly Austin Smith, a survivor of human trafficking. The punishment for the pimps that ruin the lives of these young girls is not severe. Therefore, there is not much help for the girls after they get rescued from this tragedy. A realization Holly had soon on and explains, “...Although I was soon recognized to be a victim, the specialized aftercare needed for a trafficking victim did not yet exist... Twenty years ago, there were no anti-trafficking laws in place. This pimp, who raped and lured a child into prostitution, served only 365 days in jail” (Smith). This young girl had recovered from this horrible incident all by herself. Many other girls in her position have gone through similar experiences and have been hurt by their pimp. In addition, the pimp will not receive much punishment. A sad story repeated across America and is very prominent in other countries. In America, most of the time victims are the ones that usually serve time in jail since in some cases it’s considered prostitution, even if it was forced by the pimp. In most cases, the pimps stay uncovered and if the victims of trafficking come forward as to who their pimp is, they

From the beginning of the book, Half the Sky, the stories of Srey Rath, the vibrant girl from Cambodia, and Meena Hasina, the courageous mother from India, and other stories like theirs have helped many people understand the tragedies taking place all over the world. Their stories have inspired the authors and many who have read their stories to dive deeper into thought about worldwide issues plaguing many countries, including the United States. The global issues surrounding women’s health in the beginning of this book include the topics of: the three types of abuses, the inaccuracy of the term “sex trafficking”, and the initiatives to stop slavery.

Human trafficking has received increasing global attention over the past decade. Trafficking of women and girls for forced sex work and, to a lesser extent, domestic servitude, were the sole focus of advocacy and assistance. There is recognition in today’s society that women, children, and men are trafficked into many different forms of labour, and for sexual exploitation. In her article, “Understanding and Addressing Violence Against Women”, Cathy Zimmerman and Heidi Stockl focus on the commonality of human trafficking and how evident it is in everyday life. They bring in the health effects and possible solutions to human trafficking to help validate their opinion and argument. In the solutions they offer, Zimmerman and Stockl shine a light on policy-makers/decision-makers, health-care providers, and researchers/funders and what each of these groups of people can do to help combat the issue of human trafficking. In a quote from their article, Stockl and Zimmerman say: “Health care providers and organizations involved with trafficked persons should increase their capacity to identify and refer people in trafficking situations and provide sensitive and safe services to people post-trafficking”. This quote shows how Zimmerman and Stockl believe human trafficking should be combated by caring and talking to those affected by the issue but how they also believe awareness should be made about human trafficking so as to allow people surrounding the issue to identify and help victims of this issue. Zimmerman and Stockl’s view on the ways human trafficking should be combatted relate to those of Soroptimist due to the fact that the two groups of people are focused mainly on helping women and girls who have been trafficked and trying to get them to a better life after getting out of the trafficking situation. Both groups focus on helping men as well, providing options to help them such as raising money and awareness, and getting educated on being able to identify victims of human trafficking.

On Black Sisters Street recounts the unpleasant story of four ladies who like so many immigrants today, have left their African country, political turmoil and family risking their lives to reach the lands of opportunity. Desperate to overcome poverty and hopelessness for a better life they become victims of human trafficking sacrificing their bodies to the pleasures of men. Every day, men, women and children are sold into slavery, prostitution, and forced to work in agriculture, domestic work, or factories and sweatshops producing goods for global supply chains. This is happening on almost every continent and country. Thousands of foreign nationals arriving in this and many other countries are allured with promises of a better life by promising

The second article Human trafficking survivor: ‘We need jobs, not pity’, is about a survivor of human trafficking named Evelyn Chumbow. She was born in Cameroon and forced into human trafficking from ages 9-18. Evelyn was sent from Cameroon to United States through labor trafficking. She tells her story about how she was forced into domestic servitude and was abused. Evelyn stresses how the lack of education, skills, and resources contribute to those that are a part of human trafficking. She was able to make a positive change because she received a scholarship to attend college, and is now an advocate for survivors of human trafficking. If jobs, resources, and education are not made available for those who are able to escape, they may return to trafficking in order to

The Sisters’ of Mercy have several core values: Spirituality, Community, and Service. These values are important for someone if he/she wants to live a virtuous Christian life. Throughout my years at McAuley, I have learned to embody these values everywhere I go.

Women and girls experiencing homelessness face an array of problems beyond the lack of a safe and suitable home that include social disadvantages, reduced access to public and private services, and vulnerability to labor and sex trafficking. From the foreign woman escaping a life of abuse and discrimination hoping to find a haven in the land of opportunity to the young runaway fleeing from a violent and abusive home life, those without a place to call home share a common bond of vulnerability to traffickers. In fact, traffickers hone in on these vulnerable individuals often feigning affection or offering shelter to elicit commercial sex or services from their victims. Although human trafficking can happen to anyone, most human trafficking victims are women and girls. In addition to homelessness, gender is significant

The fact that half of the slaves in the world are children shows the scale at which traffickers exploit the vulnerability of youth. It also shows how many children deserving of care and guidance are left to fend for themselves because of poverty, conflicts, or other factors out of their control. There is a disturbing lack of assistance and support for the millions of children who need it. None of the organizations shown in the documentary were specifically focused on helping children, something that is clearly needed in many regions of the world. However, the organizations that were shown employed effective tactics for helping victims. For example, the making of jewelry in Thailand by former sex trafficking victims is successful because it allows them to take control over what they are doing and begin to feel proud and productive. One of the women said she went from being ashamed to holding her head high. A major factor of recovery that Night Light focuses on is the psychological healing that must occur in order for victims to truly come back from the terribly experiences they faced. The aftermath of trafficking is a complex and multifaceted issue that

Human trafficking is a wicked system that can be compared to the traditional form of slavery. Like slavery, trafficking strikes crippling fear into the hearts of those who are subjected to cruel acts of brutality. Human trafficking cruelly strips away any semblance of happiness and peace that a person had previously possessed. According to Iris, a survivor of this tragic system who wrote a letter to President Obama, she was treated with vile brutality that would make anyone cringe. She writes that she was bitten, physically and mentally abused, and worked without pay (“Letter to President Obama”). She then writes, “The day I was expecting to be dead that’s when God made me a way to escape when I was bleeding, crying,

Slavery still exists in every nation across the world in the form of labor and sex trafficking. In the past five years, advocates and politicians have begun to make the public aware of the millions of humans enslaved today. The issue of sex trafficking was introduced to me when I was thirteen years old, and I was shocked that girls as young as six were being sold for sex across our nation and our world. My desire to prevent trafficking of humans and protect the victims was a huge contributor to my decision to enter into social work. Since human trafficking is an issue close to my heart, I have secured a volunteer position at Doors to Freedom. Doors to Freedom is a non-profit organization that intervenes in the lives of female victims to offer them assistance and guidance in order to better their lives. Their program offers education, counseling, life skills training, and case management.

Human trafficking and sex slavery have gotten much more worse globally as time went by. Buying a female’s sexual services is becoming more common and acceptable everyday. Especially in the state of Nevada where brothels are legal, and in Las Vegas where prostitution is a booming business in the underground world. In the two films, “Demand,” and “The Journey,” four main significant issues can be drawn based on human trafficking and sex slavery. The first point is clearly holding women against their will. Some females need the money that bad to care for families. Many strippers or prostitutes have children and need to supply for them. Especially when women don’t have an education, they turn to selling their bodies to make up for it. Women are

An individual can be introduced to human trafficking, more specifically the sex slave industry, either immediately or by gradually becoming involved while remaining aloof to what is happening. A program named the CNN Freedom Project covers multiple stories on child trafficking worldwide, and its aim is to offer help and further explore the depths of the issue. Jada Pinkett Smith and the CNN Freedom Project worked together to spread awareness of trafficking through a “CNN Special Report” titled Children for Sale, that featured former victims and traffickers. In the documentary, Smith interviewed multiple women about the struggles of growing up in ‘the

Sunitha Krishnan, a woman who was gang raped by 8 men, is the co-founder of Prajwala (“Eternal Flame”). Prajwala is a non-governmental organization that saves and helps sex trafficked victims rebuild themselves and reintegrate them back into the world. This organization is in the capital of southern India’s Telangana state, where there are multiple schools that help victims prepare for their new fulfilled futures. She devoted herself to rescuing both women and children from “the worst form of human rights violation (Ted talk 0:14),” sex trafficking. Sex trafficking is happening in the deepest corners of the world. It is a multimillion-dollar global market where people can purchase another human being for whatever reason they choose. She states

Human trafficking is a serious issue occurring internationally. Allies Against Slavery states that there are more slaves in today’s world then there ever were during “the entire transatlantic slave trade, combined” (Modern Slavery). Many people wonder why the women

UNAIDS, a global organization AIDs advocate, defines trafficking as “the recruitment, transportation, transfer, harboring and receipt of persons, by means of threat or use of force or other forms of coercion, abduction, or fraud, of deception, of abuse of power.” The definition continues to include “the giving or receiving of payments or benefits to achieve the consent of a person having control over another person for the purposes of exploitation.” UNAIDS also deems trafficking as a “modern-day slavery” imprisoning millions of women and girls around the world yearly. These women are kept hidden from society which makes it challenging for accurate research to be conducted on them. However, Kathleen Wirth, a researcher at Harvard School of Public Health, devised a way that “encompasses creative techniques in order to obtain interviews from victims that will help keep them safe from harm” (WHO IRIS). Important data such as the fact that women and girls represent 55 percent of the estimated 20.9 million victims of forced labor worldwide, and 98 percent of the estimated 4.5 million forced into sexual exploitation (“Facts and Figures”). UNAIDS advocates explain how despite the vulnerability of women in these settings, the spread of the HIV virus can be prevented and is conditional upon the workplace setting. Some work settings, such as brothels, require that the workers wear condoms while servicing a client; however, other settings, such as street