Human Trafficking in the United States
Nicole Singleton
American Intercontinental University Online
November 12, 2012
Until recently, in the US, the thought never occurred that Americans were trafficking Americans. The purpose of this paper is to inform the audience about the crime of human trafficking that is happening in the US and also to persuade them to take a stand and help do something to combat this crime.
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
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b. Not many people know that Americans are trafficking Americans. c. In most cases, the victim’s identification has been taken. Things like this cause the victim to become too afraid to try to escape or fight back. d. Fear of the unknown and cultural taboos often keeps the victim from speaking out. e. The lack of knowledge about the subject keeps a lot of victims from receiving the help that they need. f. When prostitutes and juveniles are arrested for prostitution they are looked at as the offenders and not the victims. g. Many times they have pimps who are, by law, human traffickers. h. Communities and sometimes even law enforcement officials are completely clueless as to what human trafficking really is. This, in turn, leads to the victims being criminalized and released right back into the hands of those criminals that are trafficking them. * Close to 20,000 women and children are trafficked in the US yearly (Human Trafficking Statistics, 2007).
a. 24 children were found to have been trafficked into the US around the time of the Super Bowl last year for sex.
b. 2010 was the first year the US actually ranked itself in the Trafficking in Persons Report alongside other countries; this shows just how much this crime has been overlooked until recently. * Communities and sometimes even law enforcement officials are completely clueless as to what human trafficking really is. This leads to
I’ve chosen to cover this topic because now more than ever news specials are being broadcast and even though each story as similar as the next they’re very captivating. The statistics on this issue is overwhelming and it involves just about every type of criminal act known. It’s become an absolute phenomenon in the United States of America.
They could not escape due to barbed wire (Yong 1932). To address the issue of women becoming victims, the United States held the fourth World Conference in 1995. After these actions began to take place and rehabilitation institutions were provided for social, medical, psychological needs to victims (Yong 1995). Due to a case in Taipei, Taiwan, numbers of young females were brought to the US illegally using fake passports. The women were discovered by National Immigration Agency and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. A total of seventy-four victims were brought in for investigation (Yong 2009). In today time, more people are in slavery now. Over one million people are being trafficked within the US and the number continues to grow. Eighty percent of those victims are females (Surprising Facts). President Obama has announced January to be Human Trafficking Awareness Day for individuals to try to increase awareness and about human trafficking among the general public (Yong 2011).
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 takes two forms, sex trafficking and labor trafficking. Not one is worse than the other, and sometimes victims may be forced into both. While the two
Human trafficking is an issue that no one really wants to talk about. The media portrays this horrible crime as something that only happens in foreign lands. Americans do not want to believe that something so heinous could happen on our own soil. However when survivors of human trafficking come forward, people are forced to confront the reality that this issue is not that far from home. Some individuals still choose to deny that this is a real issue. However the facts make it extremely hard to deny that human trafficking happens on American soil.
According to the Bureau of Justice, human trafficking is becoming the nations second largest problem, following the war on drugs (“Anti Human Trafficking Initiative” 1.) Statistics on human trafficking in the United States are very scarce and there have not been many studies conducted on the issue. Of the studies done, many of the studies focus only on minors. 100,000-300,000 children are prostituted each year in the United States. In the Ohio, 1,078 people will be trafficked into the sex trade each year. Between January 2003 and June 2006, 15 human trafficking cases were identified in the Columbus and Toledo area. Human trafficking is not something that only takes place in foreign areas, which is why the Polaris project is working to fight human trafficking not only in foreign areas but also in the United States.
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).
Thesis Statement: Human trafficking is a horrid activity present in the world today that is in need of abolishment.
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
In 2007, the U.S. state Department reported, “600,000 to 800,000 people are trafficked across international borders every year,” “1 million is the number of children exploited by the global commercial sex trade every year,” and “161 countries identified as affected by human trafficking” (Polaris Project, DoSomething.org).
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
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.
Trafficking in human beings is now the fastest-growing business of organized crime. Men, women and children are trafficked within their own countries and across international borders. More than one person is smuggled across a border every minute which is the equivalent to ten jumbo jets every single day. And the trade earns twice as much as the Coca Cola brand. (STOP THE TRAFFIK 2014)
Human Trafficking is a form of organized crime, in which people of all ages are taken from their homes to be exploited for sexual or labor purposes. The traffickers use fear and violence to get these people to come with them, and all they really want out of it is money. I will be using four main sources to gather my information. First I will give a general overview of two websites giving great depth into the topic of human trafficking. I will then summarize three case studies on human trafficking. Finally, I will give my views on the issue, and tell why it is such any important topic for the public to hear about.
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