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.

Disgust is easy to find when looking at the Capitol from the outside, but when you pull back the curtain you'd probably vomit.  Finnick is the one who brings to light all of the hidden evils of the Capitol through his payment as a sex slave.  Secrets, are what Finnick receives for his nights of being used, and he finally gets his revenge as he spills these secrets to all of Panem, "Tales of strange sexual appetites, betrayals of the heart, bottomless greed, and bloody power plays [ ] charges of incest, back-stabbing, blackmail, and arson" (171).  The crimes that were "whispered over damp pillow cases in the dead of night" (171), are appalling and unbelievable.  Yet, they are believable.  Humans have committed these crimes for years, and Collins makes the Capitol-polians a more obvious version of the dark side of people.  Tiger Woods, a world famous golfer, was a married man who had it all, turns out he was cheating on his wife with tons of women and in weird ways. Tiger would fall into the strange sexual appetites, as well as betrayals of the heart category of a Capitol member.  Bernie Madoff, scammed thousands of investors out of billions of dollars for his own greed.  These are just two examples of real life people who commit crimes like those in the Capitol.  All of these terrible accusations are existant in our world now, including the worst one, human trafficking.  It is through Finnick that Collins points out to the reader that human trafficking is an appalling crime that we need to fight.

Most readers would look at 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 times past.  An interesting connection between Finnick's situation and the history of human trafficking is that in human trafficking children are sought after, and Finnick as a young teenage boy was forced into sexual slavery.  Collins is illustrating how child trafficking is a frightening and very real issue throughout the world, even in the United States.  According to Weave Inc the United States is statistically one of the top three places in the world where sex trafficking takes place.  Statistics are tough to gage since human trafficking is an underground business, but there are estimated numbers that the profit from human trafficking is between 7 billion U.S. dollars and 32 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.

Finnicks revelation to the reader is one of shock and anguish.  It hurts the reader to hear Finnick tell us, "'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." (page 170).  Every reader's heart cries out in pity as we can see just by the way Finnick says he was sold is so damaging and painful for Finnick.  Finnick has been keeping this secret of his in for so long, and when he finally reveals it he slowly says it and is described as talking in a removed tone.  A moment like this is so powerful, that it is a great way for Collins to gain the readers sympathy for not only Finnick but everyone who falls victim to a similar situation.  And in our world, there are similar stories to Finnicks.  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.  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).  The way both Melissa and Finnick talk about their experience shows how human trafficking is an issue that turns people into an item for another's pleasure.
  
Not only was it awful that Finnick was forced into sexual slavery, but the manipulation that took place is just as bad.  First, it must be clear that Finnick was not the only winner of the Games to be sold, and that he and his fellow winners were frightened into complying with Snow's selling of them.  Threats against family and loved ones is how Snow manipulated his prized possesions, and Haymitch was the perfect example of what would happen if they crossed Snow.  Haymitch's family and girlfriend were killed two weeks after he won the Games in which he had used the arena's force field as a weapon which didn't sit well with Snow, "I was the example.  The person to hold up to the young Finnicks and Johannas and Cashmeres.  Of what could happen to a victor who caused problems" (172-173).  Haymitch really was the perfect person to scare the winners into Snow's submission.  A man who lost everyone he loved, turned to alcohol, and became a man who obviously had no reason to live anymore, that is what the winners saw.  Melissa, like all of the winners, 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.
 
If Suzanne Collins wants to get her audience to support the fight against human trafficking the question is how can the reader help?  There are organizations that can help save these children and adults who are forced into human trafficking, so the reader can help join or just donate.  Also, if a reader would like to start up their own organization that would be incredible as well.  As a whole everyone must stand up against the allowance of human trafficking anywhere within the world and to support a stronger fight against this crime.  Stories like Finnicks and the movie Taken are symbols to their audience that push for this fight, and thankfully it has made these issue more known to the public.  


