Slavery Still Exists: What You Need To Know About Human Trafficking
Start writing a post
Politics and Activism

Slavery Still Exists: What You Need To Know About Human Trafficking

It is easy to overlook the signs, but they are there.

220
Slavery Still Exists: What You Need To Know About Human Trafficking

***Author’s disclaimer: Trigger warning to readers. If you struggle with reading about rape and abuse, this may be too graphic.***

Today, many people believe that slavery has been abolished and no longer exists. However, despite what is commonly believed, slavery–now better known as human trafficking–does exist. Not only does human trafficking exist today, it is everywhere.


According to Polaris Project, an organization that helps prevent human trafficking and spread awareness about it, over 20 million people globally are victims of human trafficking. According to the International Labor Organization, just over half of those victims are women and girls, and about a quarter of the total are children. “The International Labor Organization estimates that forced labor and human trafficking is a $150 billion industry worldwide,” says Polaris Project on their website www.polarisproject.org. You can learn more about the statistics on their website.

Human trafficking, as I’ve said before, exists everywhere. In order to really make a difference and squash the growth of this despicable business, we must first face the facts that it exists and it is in our own backyards. It could impact your children, siblings, cousins, neighbors, classmates, parents, friends and even a whole community. Sex trafficking is an endless cycle of rape, dehumanization and abuse for profit. People are taken and forced to work in dangerous environments, like old factories. The victims are abused every day, wearing scars on more than just their bodies.

Oftentimes it is too dangerous for victims to try to escape. To take that even further, the life these people live while they’re being forced into labor removes them from any sense of safety, protection, or comfort. Isolation and fear become their best friends and any sense of self-agency or power is stripped away. They gain the ultimate sense of “other” in which they are treated as only bodies, not people, and come to believe they are so far from human that any sense of the outside world is diminished or completely out of reach.


[Trigger Warning] An NPR article read: “In the process of working as a prostitute, she [the victim] had to have anal intercourse with men. Many times, if the victims refuse, they are humiliated, beaten up, some are even thrown out a window or killed. So most victims agree. The girl's large intestine became twisted and blocked. She could not go to the toilet and became weak with a serious stomachache. She was dying. But the traffickers didn't help her.” (Malaka Gharib, www.npr.org). This is only one example of the terrors victims of sex trafficking face every single day and night.

Once we realize that human trafficking is a real problem that exists so close to everything we hold dear, we have resources that can help us combat this war on the most fundamental form of freedom. Organizations such as Polaris Project and Amnesty International are working nonstop to fight these injustices.

The National Human Trafficking Resource Center provides a list of signs to look out for if you think someone you know may be a victim of human trafficking. Some of those listed are:

  • The person isn’t free to come or go places as they please
  • Works excessive, long, or unusual hours
  • Is under 18 and promotes commercial acts of sex
  • Owes a large debt
  • Where they live or work is under high security watch, including opaque windows, barred windows, barbed wire, etc.
  • Has a pimp/manager

You can read more about the signs at www.polarisproject.org.

If you suspect someone you know is a victim of human trafficking you can call the National Human Trafficking Resource Center hotline at 1-888-373-7888. If not, you can text HELP to: BeFree (233733). (www.polarisproject.org).

In addition, www.dhs.gov (Homeland Security) clearly states that you should never directly confront the suspected trafficker or victim. The website also provides a number for tip line you can call if you are outside of the country (U.S.) by calling 802-872-6199.

While the point of this article is to spread awareness about human trafficking and what we can all do to help stop it, I also hope to create a dialogue. I think many people are plenty aware that human trafficking exists, but I never hear it come up in discussion. Why aren’t we learning about it in school or classes? Why is it rarely brought up in political discussions by our leaders? The world has many dark fissures that threaten to crack wide open and swallow us whole. We need to start realizing that human trafficking is one of those fissures and it is far wider than many of us realize.

For more information, you can visit the following websites:

https://traffickingresourcecenter.org/states

www.polarisproject.org

http://sharedhope.org/the-problem/what-is-sex-trafficking/

https://www.unodc.org/unodc/en/human-trafficking/what-is-human-trafficking.html

https://www.ice.gov/human-trafficking

https://www.dhs.gov/blue-campaign/identify-victim?utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=search-humantrafficking-exact&utm_content=statistics&utm_term=human%20trafficking%20statistics

Report this Content
This article has not been reviewed by Odyssey HQ and solely reflects the ideas and opinions of the creator.
Student Life

Waitlisted for a College Class? Here's What to Do!

Dealing with the inevitable realities of college life.

50502
college students waiting in a long line in the hallway
StableDiffusion

Course registration at college can be a big hassle and is almost never talked about. Classes you want to take fill up before you get a chance to register. You might change your mind about a class you want to take and must struggle to find another class to fit in the same time period. You also have to make sure no classes clash by time. Like I said, it's a big hassle.

This semester, I was waitlisted for two classes. Most people in this situation, especially first years, freak out because they don't know what to do. Here is what you should do when this happens.

Keep Reading...Show less
a man and a woman sitting on the beach in front of the sunset

Whether you met your new love interest online, through mutual friends, or another way entirely, you'll definitely want to know what you're getting into. I mean, really, what's the point in entering a relationship with someone if you don't know whether or not you're compatible on a very basic level?

Consider these 21 questions to ask in the talking stage when getting to know that new guy or girl you just started talking to:

Keep Reading...Show less
Lifestyle

Challah vs. Easter Bread: A Delicious Dilemma

Is there really such a difference in Challah bread or Easter Bread?

32284
loaves of challah and easter bread stacked up aside each other, an abundance of food in baskets
StableDiffusion

Ever since I could remember, it was a treat to receive Easter Bread made by my grandmother. We would only have it once a year and the wait was excruciating. Now that my grandmother has gotten older, she has stopped baking a lot of her recipes that require a lot of hand usage--her traditional Italian baking means no machines. So for the past few years, I have missed enjoying my Easter Bread.

Keep Reading...Show less
Adulting

Unlocking Lake People's Secrets: 15 Must-Knows!

There's no other place you'd rather be in the summer.

955595
Group of joyful friends sitting in a boat
Haley Harvey

The people that spend their summers at the lake are a unique group of people.

Whether you grew up going to the lake, have only recently started going, or have only been once or twice, you know it takes a certain kind of person to be a lake person. To the long-time lake people, the lake holds a special place in your heart, no matter how dirty the water may look.

Keep Reading...Show less
Student Life

Top 10 Reasons My School Rocks!

Why I Chose a Small School Over a Big University.

180684
man in black long sleeve shirt and black pants walking on white concrete pathway

I was asked so many times why I wanted to go to a small school when a big university is so much better. Don't get me wrong, I'm sure a big university is great but I absolutely love going to a small school. I know that I miss out on big sporting events and having people actually know where it is. I can't even count how many times I've been asked where it is and I know they won't know so I just say "somewhere in the middle of Wisconsin." But, I get to know most people at my school and I know my professors very well. Not to mention, being able to walk to the other side of campus in 5 minutes at a casual walking pace. I am so happy I made the decision to go to school where I did. I love my school and these are just a few reasons why.

Keep Reading...Show less

Subscribe to Our Newsletter

Facebook Comments