Human Trafficking In The United States

Globally, about 20 to 30 million people are involved in the human trafficking system, and of those, 14,500 to 17,500 people are trafficked in the United States every year. Human trafficking is more prevalent today then ever before. It is the third largest crime internationally. People are abused and taken advantage of. According to the article, “11 Facts About Human Trafficking,” on average, a person is forced into the system around age 9, and the majority of victims are women and girls, with a small percentage of men and boys. In addition, the human trafficking system is a $32 billion dollar industry. Human trafficking can be defined as the selling and trade of human beings, ranging anywhere from children to adults, for the purpose of

The United States has always been known for sticking their nose in places where it does not belong. America has been part of wars that could have been avoided, scandals that had nothing to do with the United States. Millions of lives over the years could have been spared if America would have just simply stayed where they belong. What if though, America feels like they have to get involved in forging affairs if they think it can cause or is causing a problem on American soil or with the Americans themselves? Human trafficking is issues that most people do not necessarily knows about or even really think about. There are several different types of human trafficking and smuggling crimes that are in today's society. The number one kind of human trafficking is sex trafficking. The handlers usually kidnap someone, ninety percent of the time, a girl under the age of eighteen, and sell them to different people all over the world for sexual reasons. The girls they kidnap and sell can be from the area or just passing through and get in the wrong place at the wrong time. Forced labor is the second most common type of human trafficking in the world. This is where a person takes advantage of a worker and changes labor laws to make them work longer hours or harder, more tiring jobs with very little pay. Victims of forced labor most of the time do not even know what is happening to them. Most of the people that get sucked into the forced labor trade are very vulnerable;

Each year about 17,500 individuals are brought into the United States and become victims of human trafficking. Every country has this problem and it has become the 3rd largest illegal industry worldwide.

Human trafficking are the illegal activity of people, usually for the purposes of obligatory workforce or commercial sexual abuse. In other words, it is also defined as a modern-day form of slavery involving the illegal occupation of persons for exploitation or sexual abuse. Human trafficking is a hidden crime as victims rarely try their best to seek help because of language problems, scared of the abuser and lack of law enforcement. Every year, millions of males, females, and youngsters are trafficked in many countries around the world, including the United States. It is estimated that human trafficking produces many for almost a billion dollar profit per year, and second only to drug trafficking as the most market profit form of international crime. Traffickers use force, scam, or intimidation to lure their victims and force them into workforce or commercial sexual abuse. The trafficker look for people who are susceptible for a variety of reasons, including mental or emotional liability, economic poverty, and lack of a social safety net, natural disasters, or political uncertainty. The trauma affected by the traffickers can be so great that many may not identify themselves as targets or ask for help, even in highly community surroundings.

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.

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,

The U.S. has tried to put forth efforts to prevent human trafficking, but they have failed to meet the overwhelming needs of victims. Victims have a long list of needs ranging anywhere from their physical needs, such as safe housing and medical care, all the way to their mental needs of having someone like a therapist. Smith writes that there is no one government agency dedicated to helping victims and providing such a wide array of needs. But there are many non-government agencies whose goal is to help assist victims (Smith 6-7). UNODC acknowledges that UNICEF, known as the United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund, is one of the leading agencies who are fighting human trafficking. Other organizations, such as International Labor

Around the world there are a reported 800,000 people trafficked each year. Out of that 800,000 around 15,000 are trafficked in the United States. Half of those are children. Not all cases are reported, and there are few victims rescued in comparison to the millions that are still helpless each and every year. Human trafficking is an epidemic all across the world and many countries are doing all they can to stop it. But what about the United States; what are we doing to stop it and is what we’re doing enough?

The U.S. Department of State reported there’s an estimate of 20.9 million victims of human trafficking. Human trafficking is many occurrences that happen unnoticed anywhere, anytime causing undescribed and inhuman events to the victims. Victims of human trafficking are unable to escape from the life of being raped, beaten, and violated constantly; however, with the support of the government and people around the world, we can help stop it.

The above reasons indicate that most victims will not disclose their status as trafficked victims to the police. It is up to police to proactively look for them. However, this also is problematic. Victims remain hidden for several other reasons as well. As most victims work in the sex industry as prostitutes, and police have historically viewed prostitution as a victimless crime, the police inconsistently make arrests (Vago, 2006). The United States is among many countries that have taken legislative action against human trafficking. Because of its prominent status as a world power, the United States has also been the leader in forcing others to do the same. Every year since 2000, the U.S. Department of State has published the Trafficking

Human trafficking has been a dangerous industry in the united States for many years. Human/Sex trafficking is a form of slavery that involves the use of force, fraud, or coercion to obtain some type of sex or labor. In the 1980’s when The Slave Across the Street by Theresa Flores took place and in the 1990’s when Girls Like Us by Rachel Lloyd took place, sex trafficking was a foreign term to most Americans even though it was a practiced activity. The National Human Trafficking Resource Center stated that in the United States there were more than 4,000 sex trafficking cases reported (Alvarez). On the years following that number has grown tremendously. "The Department of Justice has cited the legislation after a bump in trafficking investigations

Now there is one aspect of human trafficking that needs more attention, it is the rehabilitation of victims that have been rescued and liberated. These victims are in dire need of counseling, medical, psychological and housing assistance. If these victims were helpless before they were trafficked and exploited, their vulnerability after is most likely greater. Rehabilitation is not only crucial in order for them to recover from the physical and emotional trauma of trafficking but also to reduce the likelihood of being trafficked

Human trafficking is defined by the UNODC (United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime) as “Trafficking in Persons as the recruitment, transportation, transfer, harbouring or receipt of persons, by means of the threat or use of force or other forms of coercion, of abduction, of fraud, of deception, [...] for the purpose of exploitation. Exploitation shall include, at a minimum, the exploitation of the prostitution of others or other forms of sexual exploitation, forced labour or services, slavery or practices similar to slavery, servitude or the removal of organs.” According to the International Labour Organization 20.9 million people are trafficked globally and in our the state of Massachusetts alone there have been 69 reported cases this year

As cases here in the United States of America continue to increase, researchers can only imagine the percentage of those who were coerced into human trafficking in other countries across the globe.

There are an estimated 27 million adults and 13 million children around the world who are victims of human trafficking