Human Trafficking Myths

Data collected from The National Human Trafficking Resource Center concludes that victims of trafficking have come from 38 different countries. Some of these include the U.S. itself, Mexico, the Philippines, and China. In almost half of the cases, the origin of the victim was unknown

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.”).

Most of the people have common beliefs about human trafficking. One of the common myths about human trafficking is that citizens of the United States never become victims of human trafficking (Withers, 2017). It is believed that human trafficking usually occurs to poor people in other countries or those who come to the United States to seek employment opportunities. It is further believed that victims of human trafficking in the United States are immigrants who lack English fluency so that they cannot speak out for themselves to seek help.

This past year in the United States, there were an estimated 21,431 calls made to authorities concerning potential human trafficking situations and yet, the average American does not know that forced labor and prostitution is even a problem. (Melissa) Second to drug dealing, human trafficking is the largest criminal industry in the world today, and is growing fast. (Human Trafficking – Exploitation…) This modern day form of slavery takes victims captive against their will by using violence, threats, deception and other manipulative tricks. Even though each trafficking target has a different story, they all have similar experiences because they lose their freedom. In the United States, the First amendment protects all people citizens or aliens with basic freedoms. Therefore, human trafficking goes against ones American civil rights; human trafficking is major issue in the USA that needs to be stopped.

The author of this book gives an in-depth explanation as to why many people today still do not view human trafficking as slavery. Because of mainstream influence, society assumes only females that are uneducated, poor, or in prostitution are trafficked. In reality, young children or teenagers who are kidnapped and forced into trafficking make up a lot of the sex trafficking industry. The writer goes on to explain that this stereotype is both inaccurate and a hindrance to obliterating trafficking in today’s world. Lastly, this author thinks that in order for human trafficking to be viewed as a real world threat to society, the media must step in and cover this topic with tenacity in hopes to uncover what really goes on behind the trafficking

Trafficking is a worldwide issue and will presumably dependably be an issue. In spite of the fact that there may never be a conclusion to human trafficking,

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,

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

Human trafficking exists in several nations all around us. No nation, including the United States is exempt from human trafficking. There may be factors that create unique anti-trafficking issues and obstacles for each nation, but the characteristics are all the same or very similar worldwide. These characteristics are how the trafficking is conducted, how the victims are kidnapped, the percentage of victims, the gender of the victims, and the percentage of each gender in different trafficking situations. The situations include children, adults, male, and female victims. The situations the victims fall into are pornography, forced labor, sex slaves, prostitution, child sex tourism, and many more. These are the issues and key points made by the authors to persuade the reader to agree with their position.

Of the 13,325 calls made to the Human Trafficking hotline, 4,546 were made by community members; that is highest amount of calls were made by a single source. By making people aware of the crime, it can help to the spread and vast reach of trafficking. Not only an increase from a decade ago, but also a difference between two years that sees an increase in reported cases and victims. 2016 alone saw 7,572 reported cases of human trafficking, 2015 saw 5,526 cases reported, and 2014 saw 5,042 reported cases. There were 4,293 more reported cases in 2016 than 2012. This data shows an increase in recent years, the data from the human trafficking hotline is as current as for December 31, 2016.(Human Trafficking hotline 1) The recent increase within recent years is putting many people at

Human trafficking has always been a though subject. Most Americans prefer to believe that this is a problem of the past, that it simply does not occur anymore. Others accept the fact that human trafficking exist, but in a far away reality, an incident homed only in poor, third world countries. This couldn’t be farther away from the truth. Human trafficking is a real and current problem in the United States, California being a hotspot for this issue, and with the Super Bowl in 2016 the problem will only get worse.

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.

Human Trafficking is one of my biggest concerns for global issues and its effect on the world. The impact of human trafficking on its victims, the families, and economic standing of countries is vast and growing. It’s ability to survive in even the most poverty-stricken countries and in fact thrive from that environment makes it an especially hard issue to resolve. Awareness has been the main fight against human trafficking for several years and has increased knowledge of this issue within our own borders and worldwide. However, raising awareness is only as good as the proposed solutions to the problem and the country’s willingness to fight it. Denial is the most common response I receive when I begin talking about human trafficking and how

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