Did you know that sex slavery was recognized as a war crime under international law in 2002?  How did it take us so long to recognize this as a crime against human nature?  Suzanne Collins uses her The Hunger Games trilogy to shed light on a number of real world atrocities that have occurred or are taking place today in our own world.  We see allusions to today's economic inequalities, traumatized war veterans, corrupt governments, and another atrocity that Collins finally touches on in Mockingjay, human trafficking.  Human trafficking is the selling of people for sexual exploitation, and is a very real issue.  The character that is the symbol of human trafficking in The HungerGames is Finnick Odair.  By looking at Finnick's past of sexual slavery, we can see that Collins is trying to show the prominence of human trafficking that is present and how we must take more action against it; this is important because sex slavery has existed for thousands of years and is not viewed as big an issue as other crimes.

The people of Panem have such a lack of respect for human beings that they are simply looking for their selfish wants to be met.  Panemians want power, feasts, money, clothes, drugs, and the instant gratification of sexual intercourse.  To the beasts of Panem, sex is simply for pleasure not a beautiful act saved for a married couple.  The people of the Capitol simply want the feeling that comes with sex, but is that so unheard of?  Don't many people in the world want atleast some of these wants.  Society today chases money, power, and sex.  Just look at some students that go to the University of South Carolina; some want to get an education so they can make the big bucks, some want the education so they can run a company or be important in the world, and some are looking for sex with as many partners as possible when they go out to party.  Not all students do that, but there is definitely a decent amount of students who want that.
   
We read The Hunger Games and say, "this could never happen," but a number of these atrocities actually do take place.  Human trafficking is a very real subject in today's world and in past times.  An interesting connection between Finnick's situation and the history of human trafficking is that in human trafficking children are sought after, and Finnick won the Games as a young boy and was forced into sexual slavery.  Collins is trying to show how child trafficking is a scary and very real issue in the world, and also in the United States.  According to (place source) the United States is statistically one of the top three places in the world where sex trafficking takes place.  Statistics are tough to gage because it is such an underground business, but I have read estimated numbers that the profit from human trafficking is between 7 billion U.S. dollars and 31.6 billion U.S. dollars.  That kind of uncertain gap shows just how shady and unknown human trafficking is, and those large figures shows how large of a crime industry it really is.  It is said the human trafficking is the third largest crime industry behind arms and drug trafficking.  Not to mention it is the fastest growing criminal industry as we speak, and one of the most dehumanizing.

A very real connection can be placed between a woman, Melissa Woodward, who had been forced into sex slavery as a young girl and Finnick Odair.  Melissa at the age of 12 was sold to clients on a daily basis and describes the experience in a similar fashion to Finnick.  Melissa describes the way she was treated by those who bought her, "You get lavished with so many gifts and get treated like you're a piece of property."  Finnick says something similar, "To make themselves feel better, my patrons would make presents of money or jewelry [ ]" (page 170).  This is a very valid description Finnick has given about being a sex slave, and the connections don't stop there.  Finnick describes why he was forced into prostitution; "'President Snow used to sell me  my body, that is,' Finnick begins in a flat, removed tone.   I wasn't the only one.  If a victor is considered desirable, the president gives them as a reward or allows people to buy them for an exorbitant amount of money.  If you refuse, he kills someone you love.  So you do it'" (page 170).  Finnick was forced through the threat of harm to his loved ones if he didn't comply so he had to agree with President Snow's sick decree.  Melissa like Finnick was threatened, but not towards her loved ones, just herself.  Melissa was beaten, burned, and drugged during her life as a slave.  She only complied because she feared for her life.  It is scary how this dystopia of Panem is seen as fiction, but is truly very tangible.

