Human Trafficking is Becoming One of the Largest Criminal Enterprises in the US

Human trafficking is the modernized version of slavery that involves force, fraud, and/or a type of labor in a sexual act. The United States government defines it to be “In which a sex act is forced in which the person induced has not yet been attained eighteen years of age” (National Institute of Justice). Human trafficking is a threat to all nations and promotes breakdown of families and can support organized crime. Trafficking can occur everywhere. Human trafficking and human smuggling are related to one another, but different crimes. The difference between smuggling and trafficking is that smuggling is the illegal movement of someone across a border while trafficking is the illegal exploitation of a person.

Human trafficking was once called slavery. “Slavery began in Ancient Greece when they captured prisoners of war. They traded these slaves with other people to be used as laborers, including domestic work to build the pyramids. Slavery continued to grow all throughout Asian civilizations and into the birth of America.” (Gale) The slave trading began when the Europeans began establishing colonies with the Americans. Experts say that three hundred thousand slaves were sold to plantation owners in the 1400s and the 1500s. American colonies traded molasses and weapons for these slaves. Our textbooks tell us that slavery existed but it doesn’t always go into depth of what really happens. Everybody knows that slavery is bad. The word slavery itself, seems very unnatural and provokes mixed feelings depending on a person’s heart. Nobody really

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 form of modern-day slavery in which traffickers use fraud or coercion to profit from forcing victims in commercial sex acts or labor services ("Human Trafficking".) It is a market-driven criminal industry that is based on the principles of supply and demand, like drugs or arms trafficking. Many components make children and adults susceptible to human trafficking. Traffickers target vulnerable people for a variety of reasons, including psychological or emotional issues, economic hardship, lack of safety, or political instability. Unfortunately, victims rarely seek help due to language barriers, fear of the traffickers and law enforcement, or fear of potential consequences. Knowing how to identify signs of human trafficking is the first step in pinpointing victims. Additionally, we can assist victims by modifying criminal policy, receiving more state funds, participating in organizations, and raising awareness.

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.”).

Human Trafficking is in America, it’s in backyard and most don’t even know it. Many Americans believe that this horrible action only takes place in countries such as China, Japan, India, and Ghana but no; it happens in the United States also. The definition of human trafficking is the “illegal practice of procuring or trading in human beings for the purpose of prostitution, forced labor, or other forms of exploitation” (dictionary.com). Slavery was abolished in 1865 in the 13th amendment in the constitution but it sad to say, it still exist. “60,000 people in America in November 2013 could safely be called modern day slaves” (Slavery isn’t a thing of the past). Today human trafficking is counted as immigrant workers who are smuggled into the country and forced to work under the threat of violence. And also men and women, forced to sell their bodies for sex and give all their money to their pimps (Slavery isn’t a thing of the past). Pimps are the ones who usually run the human trafficking business. Approximately75-80% of human trafficking is for sex (55 little known facts about human trafficking). Many believe that only adults are being worked but children and teens are too, matter of fact the average age is between12 and 14. The number of human trafficking in the United States will continue to increase because it is too difficult to find and prevent.

Human Trafficking is the trade of humans mainly for sexual slavery, but also forced labor and commercial sexual exploitation for the trafficker and sometimes others who take part in this act. Human trafficking is also used for organs or tissues, including surrogacy, ova removal, or making these victims spouses for traffickers or their customers. Human trafficking is defined as a sex trafficking in which a commercial sex act induced by force (isolation and confinement to the brothel: transportation to multiple locations for the trafficking network and occasional physical and sexual abuse), fraud (false promises of a better life), or coercion (the practice of persuading someone to do something by using force or threats), or someone performing commercial sex under the age of 18. This is a crime that has newly risen to the public over the last decade and has been labeled as one of the most serious humanitarian crisis. Human trafficking is about profit. In 2004 the total annual income for trafficking in persons was estimated to be between $5 billion to $9 billion.

Human trafficking is a criminal activity that has risen to be the second largest after drug trafficking. According to the International Labor Organization, 21 million people globally are victims of trafficking involving forced labor and sexual exploitation (Merry, 2015). There is no doubt that human trafficking is an evil that requires robust countermeasures to combat it. However, there are popular myths about human trafficking that do not only distorts a proper understanding of the problem but also hampers efforts to combat it. This paper describes two myths about human trafficking and challenges these myths with the aim of creating awareness about the truth surrounding human trafficking for better actions towards combating it.

According to the United Nations of Drugs and Crime, Human Trafficking of a Person is 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, of the abuse of power or of a position of vulnerability or of the giving or receiving of payments or benefits to achieve the consent of a person having control over another person, 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”. Human Trafficking is not something that is new to the world. Infact Human Trafficking has been in existence since the 1400’s; as you maybe able to revert back to your

Many people have their own definitions of sex trafficking and human trafficking. A lot of people in the U.S believe that all prostitution is voluntary when that is not the case. As Lerum and Brents stated, “Human trafficking is defined by the U.S. State Department of State as labor induced by force, fraud, or coercion. The definition of trafficking in the sex industry (but not other industries) includes additional stipulations for individuals under 18: “When a child (under 18 years of age) is recruited, enticed, harbored, transported, provided, obtained, or maintained to perform a commercial sex act, proving force, fraud, or coercion is not necessary for the offense to be characterized as human trafficking” (U.S. Dept. of State 2014, p. 29).” In addition, reliable data when it comes to human trafficking is hard to achieve when definitions of the word are always changing. Most of the criminal justice

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.

Back in the 1600’s slavery was brought to the United States to help aid in the production of crops. We have come a long ways since then through our government system to help provide a more riotous and free system, the land of the free. Slavery ended and racism has declined but today there still exists a different type of slavery and this is known as human trafficking. Many call sex or human trafficking the modern day type of slavery because people are forced to work for another person mostly by selling their body. According to the United Nations and their protocol signed by more then 80 countries sex/ human trafficking is the “recruitment, transportation, transfer, harboring or receipt of persons, by means of the threat or use

Human trafficking came about during the Africa slave trades long before our times with the Europeans and throughout the late 1600 more countries started to get involved. Therefore, human trafficking begins to expand over time because of slavery, people wanted money, racism, and to be control. The 1900’s the “White Slave Traffic” which I believe is now called “Mann Act” came about which was made so that transporting women across the state lines, child pornography, and prostitution would be a crime. I believed it was ONLY for white women at the time however it was changed so that it can be for both genders, races and more.

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).

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