Yulissa Reyes

Dr. Santosh
ENG 113B
17 May 2016
Human Trafficking
Most people never seem to think much of something until it happens to them. Good
things happen to people and bad things happen to people and that's just how life is. We tend to
ignore the bad and focus on the good around us. That's just how the majority of people mindsets
are. Our society is filled with so much beauty but there is also so much ugliness. Our world goes
through many crisis over the years but there is one global crisis that has continued to grow and
expand and that is human trafficking. Human Trafficking is an illegal movement of people that
usually forces them into doing labor work or sexually acts. It can be dated back thousands of
years ago and is still on going till this day. Human Trafficking is a huge global crisis that must
come to an end.
In order for something to work together for a long period of time, there must be some sort
of system or strategy. Of course people want to sell things that other people will buy but first
they would need to get the merchandise. In this case, the merchandise is vulnerable or naive
people, who were promised something that they never received. Thats how human trafficking
works. Women, men and children are lowered in by fake advertising, fake promises, and most of
all fake hope. Like as in the article by How Stuff Works Shell never receive a paycheck or a
chance to talk to her family again. Once the victims are in human trafficking, rarely anyone ever
gets out.

There are different categories that fit under human trafficking. Probably the most well
known one out there is sex trafficking. Sex trafficking is when someone forces someone else to
do a commercial sex act. A commerical sex act includes prostitution, pornagraphy, or any other
sexual act. Mostly women and children are victims of sex trafficking more than men. It seems to
be a lot easier to force women and children into doing these acts than men. As stated in the
article by Shared Hope International The common age a child enters sex trafficking is 14-16
years old. Too young and naive to realize whats happening. Most of these children that are
victims of sex trafficking are usually runaways or child who are poor, who tend to have no
authority. Homeless children are as well easy targets. These children are the ones that have no
knowledge of what lies ahead of them.
Due to children being so young, they might not understand that what is happening to

them is not normal. Most children get scared to speak up and say something. Theyre too scared
of being judged or even worse, getting killed by their owners. In the article by Ark of Hope for
Children states that 2 million children are subjected to prostitution in the global commercial sex
trade. Imagine that. Two million children are forced into prostitution and other sex acts. Imagine
how much these children are missed from their friends and family. Imagine what these children
are going through. Having to wake up everyday knowing that this is what has become of their
young lives. This is why there needs to be an end to human trafficking.
There is a great amount of women who are in human trafficking today as prostitutes and
in porngraphy. Women tend to make up the majority of the people in human trafficking as well.
Women seem to be much more valuable targets when it comes to human trafficking because they
are capable of basically doing any job that their owners might want them to do, plus its not like
many women can fight against what they are told. Unless they would like to end up dead
somewhere in a ditch. In the article by Soroptimist claims that In order to keep women captive,
victims are told their families and their children will be harmed or murdered if they (the women)
try to escape or tell anyone about their situation. These threats are one of the main reasons that
no one ever ends up escaping from human trafficking.
Just because someone doesnt live in a third world country doesnt mean that the same
type of things cant happen there. The United States is one of the most powerful countries but
despite all the power that it may have, human trafficking is well done in the states. There has
been thousands of cases reported about sex trafficking and they have only continued to grow
over the years. Maybe not everyone has seen a prostitute in the United States, but the majority
has have and even though people may or may not realize it but many of the women that they see

are getting held against their will to be doing those sexual acts. Prostitution is illegal in the
United States, so of course when someone gets caught being a prostitute they get sent to jail. But
what if the person who got caught prostituting is just another victim of sex trafficking? Police
officers may have no way of knowing that since most victims don't speak up on whats
happening to them. The problem with human trafficking is that of course the victims are
silenced. said by an article in The Atlantic. So if someone is really a victim of sex trafficking,
their life just continues to become more of a mess because they are too scared to say anything.
Since human trafficking can happen in non third world countries then of course it can
happen in third world countries. Many of the victims that are in human trafficking come from
third world countries. Its a lot easier and faster to get poor victims in third world countries
because majority of the time no one goes looking for that person or makes such a big deal about
it. No one really seems to care about what happens to the victims. In Brazils poorest regions,
mothers, many of whom are stuck in the sex trade, often push their own daughters into the
business at age 12 or younger to increase the familys meager income.said in an article by Mark
Hanlon. Its crazy to think that even family members can put other family members up for the
market.
Thailand has been to shown to be the biggest involved when it comes to human
trafficking worldwide. Theres only a few countries in the world where the victims are more
protected than they are in others. The United States, Europe, Australia, and Canada are the only
major countries to comply to the acts against human trafficking. Other third world countries like
Russia, Africa, Asia, South and Central America allow for sex trafficking to happen with hardly
any punishments to those who run the markets.

With the majority of the countries in the world allowing for sex trafficking to happen is
one of the huge reasons why our society needs to do something about it. There are too many
innocent victims that are harmed in ways most people couldnt even imagine. Physically,
mentally and emotionally are all the different ways that these victims are hurting. Something
must be done to end this cruel way of how millions of people are treated. Of course there are
countries that have passed laws and acts about human trafficking but that doesnt mean that it all
just goes away. Its still very much alive these days.
Millions of people are victims of human trafficking today. From all ages, races, and
gender, no one is excluded when it comes to claiming victims. It doesnt matter if you are rich or
poor, it can happen to anyone at any time. It is a huge global crisis that must be stopped before it
gets an bigger than it already is. Some have taken action to stop human trafficking worldwide but
its going to take a massive amount of effort to ever end it permanently. Its something that needs

to be done and it needs to be done now. Many young and innocent lives are destroyed because of
human trafficking. What if it was your own child or someone you knew? Wouldnt you want to
do something about it? To make a difference? Human trafficking is a huge global crisis that takes
away millions of peoples freedom through the year and it must be stopped.

Work Cited
Alvarez, Priscilla. "When Sex Trafficking Goes Unnoticed in America." The Atlantic. Atlantic
Media. Company, 23 Feb. 2016. Web. 08 May 2016.
"Child Trafficking Statistics." Child Trafficking Statistics.Web. 08 May 2016.
"Facts on Human Trafficking and Sex Slavery | Soroptimist." Human Trafficking Facts. Web. 12
May 2016
Hanlon, Mark. "The New Slavery -- Human Trafficking | Fox News."Fox News. FOX News
Network, 15 Sept. 2011. Web. 09 May 2016.
Edmonds, Molly. "How Human Trafficking Works." How Stuff Works. Web. 06 May 2016.
Oster, Grant. "The History of Human Trafficking - Hankering for History." Hankering for
History. 03 Oct. 2015. Web. 09 May 2016.
"What Is Sex Trafficking? - Shared Hope International." Shared Hope International. Web. 09
May 2016.