It's Time to Stop Human Trafficking and Slavery in America Essay

In 2010, there were almost 30,000 Latino immigrants in Durham, ninety percent of which were undocumented immigrants (Johnson). Initially, most Latino immigrants arrived in the southwest, but since the turn of the century, more have settled in new destinations, such as Durham, and other parts of the Southeast, due to opportunities to work in low-skilled jobs.

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.

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.

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 is a form of modern-day slavery in which traffickers use force, fraud, or coercion to control victims for the purpose of engaging in commercial sex acts or labor services against his/her will. (“Human Trafficking.”) Differing definitions of sex trafficking in state laws make it difficult to know if the studies on sex trafficking are including consensual, adult sex workers, who are not victims of trafficking under federal or international law in their numbers. Vulnerable Native American women and youth are targeted by traffickers more than any other ethnic group. The data collected for the “Shattered Hearts” report from 95 Native women and girls suggest that the trafficking of Native girls into prostitution is a significant, though rarely discussed as a problem. Still, the studies do suggest that sex trafficking of Native women and girls, specifically, is present in the United States. (“Shattered Hearts.”)

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.

What exactly is human trafficking? We have all heard of it, but what actually is it. It’s a modern form of slavery. It involves controlling a person through force, fraud, or coercion to exploit the victim for forced labor, sexual exploitation, or both. It strips victims of their freedom and violates our nation’s promise that every person in the U.S. is guaranteed basic human rights. This is a crime (Beccera). Sadly, the United States is widely regarded as a destination country for human trafficking. According to the federal reports, nearly 14,500 to 17,500 victims are trafficked in the United States annually. That doesn’t even include the number of victims that are trafficked WITHIN the United States. If you are looking for a defined definition of human trafficking, California legislatures states it as being “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 forced prostitution or sexual services, domestic servitude, bonded sweatshop labor, or other debt bondage.” (Beccera) This is a crime that needs to come to an end.

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.

The trafficking of human beings for slave labor and sexual exploitation is one of the fastest growing global problems. It has been called the "dark side of globalization" because an enormous upsurge of human enslavement has accompanied a border-free world economy (Miller). Trafficking in persons is a transnational crime that touches people in every nation, and even neighborhoods in this country. The vast reach of human trafficking stunned my own community, when we learned that a 12-year-old Egyptian girl was imprisoned as a domestic slave in the garage of a family home in Irvine, California. Like many victims of trafficking, she was sold by impoverished parents and transported illegally across international borders. While in captivity, she

“Slavery occurs when one person controls another person, using violence or the threat of violence to maintain that control, exploits them economically, pays them nothing and they cannot walk away.” In 1865, slavery was abolished here in the United States. It states in the thirteenth amendment that, “neither slavery, nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction.” Even though it states that slavery is illegal in the thirteenth amendment, human trafficking is equivalent to modern slavery and it still exist today in the United States. Human trafficking happens when someone owes money, is kidnapped,

Human trafficking can take many forms, as well as many victims. One form of trafficking is slavery. Slavery is having a worker who is unpaid and who works by force using coercion, fraud or threat of bodily harm. “According to the United Nations, there are between 27 and 30 million modern-day slaves in the world (Jesionka, “Human Trafficking: The Myths and the Realities”).” “By 1860, the nation’s black population had jumped from 400,000 to 4.4 million, of which 3.9 million were slaves.(Henry Louis Gates).” That means there are nearly ten times more slaves today than there were in the late 1800’s.

The Republic of Cabo Verde, also known as Cape Verde, is the Small Island Developing States in which characterized by isolation, prone to natural disasters, repetition of drought, and small business size. According to African Development Bank (2016), weak global economy and domestic vulnerability cause Cape Verde’s economic recovery remains frail. Cape Verde's economy is limited by the difficulties of limited area of island, the lack of mineral resources, and rainfall deficiency; these difficulties vanish the idea of agricultural and natural resources production. As a result, the business tourism, tourism-related foreign investment, and remittance are major contribution to the country’s economy. As tourism has increased since 2013, domestic

Human Trafficking is a horrendous crime that takes advantage of people through the illegal trading of human beings for purposes of forced labor, and commercial sexual/child exploitation. Traffickers tend to prey on the vulnerable, those who want a better life, have little or no employment opportunities, very unstable, and have a history of sexual abuse. With this being popular in society, anyone can easily become a victim. By being an undocumented immigrant, runaway and homeless youth, and a victim of trauma and abuse, you have already put a target on your back. The most popular victims are the undocumented immigrants due to the lack of legal status, language barriers, limited employment options, and social isolation. ("The Victims.")

When we hear the word slavery our mind paints a picture of colonial America down in the South with big plantation houses harvesting wheat, with workers being unpaid and unfairly treated. At this time in our county we were struggling with the idea of equality for all. America has come a long way from those days but not with out a fight. Abraham Lincoln, the Civil Rights moment and free and public education has been addressed. Today, we face a new conflicts and a different type of slavery. Slavery and sex trafficking is occurring not just abroad but at home as well. In 2004, “800,000 to 9000,000 men women and children are trafficked across international borders every year, including 18,000 to 20,000 in the US. Worldwide slavery is in the

More specifically then human trafficking, there is child trafficking. Child trafficking is today’s version of slavery that involves transferring a child for the purpose of abuse or illegal activities. According to the U.S. Department of State, “Child/Human Trafficking is one of the fastest growing crimes in the world and is the world’s second largest criminal enterprise, after drugs. Child trafficking happens in every single country, including the United States. When people think of trafficking of people, most think of women, but children are also being sold as slaves all across the world. Children who are most likely to become victims are those who come from low income homes, have limited access to education and are