    What comes to mind when you hear, “human trafficking”? It might be some crazy story you’ve heard on the news or maybe the popular movie, Taken.  Many people wouldn’t correlate it with any part of their daily lives… but for many places around the United States that is an inaccurate way of thinking.  The enslavement of people to be used for sex, labor, or harvesting of organs is everywhere in America. It could be happening in the nail salon you go to, the bus stop you wait at, or the neighborhood you live in.  Just last year, Myrtle Beach Police caught four men selling two four year olds on the Grand Strand for sex which lead to other findings of multiple people being trafficked in the same area. It is literally all around us. With this horrific industry growing every year, how can we take steps to help put an end to human trafficking in America?  Bringing awareness to communities is the first and one of the most important steps. Through understanding the problem, people will be able to see when human trafficking is happening around them and know the correct way to respond. Hopefully, when this first step starts to take root in America, the fight against this issue will make headway and future victims can be spared from this terrible crime. 

     Human trafficking is defined by the Department of State as “a crime ‘in which a commercial sex act is induced by force, fraud, or coercion, or in which the person induced to perform such an act has not attained 18 years of age.’”(Hughes). “A more inclusive term would be modern-day slavery” (393 Hepburn) that would encompass all forms of exploitation including harvesting of body parts and forced labor. Taking a human being and forcing them into these situations is horrific and you would hope in 2017 this would not still be an issue in America. Unfortunately though, the opposite is true and it is actually a growing problem. Statics are hard to get, but one article said, “the estimates conclude that nearly 670 persons are advertised daily for commercial sex in South Carolina, with around 10% of those persons being minors” (Hughes). And again, this is just in South Carolina. So how are so many of us unaware of this issue in our country?

     In a TEDtalk by Noy Thrupkaew entitled “Human trafficking is all around you. This is how it works”, Thrupkaew talks about growing up with an “aunt” who was beaten and trafficked right in front of her. Because she was young and didn’t want to see the truth, Thrupkaew didn’t realize the horrible situation her “aunt” was in until her mid twenties. This is a perfect example of how people can overlook a terrible problem because they don’t see it for what it is, even though it’s right in front of them. Another source I came across stated that, “recent studies found nearly 20% of homeless youth in the United States and Canada are victims of human trafficking” (Dahu). Many homeless youths live in Columbia, but I doubt when we see them walking by we think about them being trafficked. 

     Thrupkaew also goes into detail about how labor trafficking, another form of human trafficking, can be in our daily lives, from the restaurant you eat at, the massage parlor you go to relax in, or the construction sites you pass on the highway. A prime instance of this is when Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans and, “resulted in rampant labor exploitation and human trafficking” (Hepburn). Because of the destruction from the hurricane, a high demand for cheap labor was formed. This made way for illegal contractors to bring in forced laborers and no one noticed because law enforcement did not have the resources at the time to be overlooking the situation.  All of these examples show that if we would look a little closer at our surrounds, we might catch on to the terrible trafficking that is taking place- but so many of us choose to ignore it instead.  

     Another reason people choose to not acknowledge human trafficking is because they think that it is the same thing as prostitution and thus it is the person’s choice and or their own fault that they are in the situation. Taking a look at different victim’s stories should persuade people that this attitude is incorrect thinking. Andrea, a human trafficking survivor said, “..he (the pimp) took ownership of me..he trafficked me out of this house until I found a way to leave.. I didn’t ask for it. I didn’t want it”(Kelly). Jennifer, another survivor said, “..I was branded like cattle... exhausted, starved, addicted, and barely alive”(Kelly). These are just two, out of the hundreds of thousands of stories around the world of victims or survivors. Their wording gives clear indication that this was not their choice. 

     Along that same line, another problem some people have with this issue is that they don’t understand why some victims are rescued from the industry but then turn around and go straight back to being trafficked. In the words of one survivor, “..even though they pimped me out and fed me drugs, the gang offered me a warped sense of protection and belonging after a childhood of violence and abuse.” (Kelly).  Another woman explained, “I went from thinking I was in the first loving relationship of my life with a guy who treated me like a queen, to becoming an addict and being sold by him to supply his drug habit…And then he sold me again for financial gain to a known gang that put me on the streets and took me to the darkest point in my life.” (Kelly).

     Many victims come from broken and abusive backgrounds and the pimps are aware of that so they are able to create a sense of family and security that, though it is manipulative and abusive, is still a better alternative in the victim’s mind. “There is a huge misconception about the choices women make…There are always men waiting for the girl whose father keeps hitting her or coming into her room at night, or whose mother is not present, or drunk, or high. These men often give them the first hope of love and protection they’ve ever had, and once they’re inside their heads – especially if addiction is part of that dynamic – then the psychological and emotional manipulation is often more powerful than the physical stuff.” (Kelly).  If given the choice, some victims might say that they would stay with their pimp because the alternative in their mind would be starving on the streets, trying to find drugs that their pimp has forced them to become addicted to. It’s a vicious cycle that is very hard to completely get out of, especially if the victims are young. And it is not a choice. Most victims don’t think they have any other option but to go back to their old lives. This is a bondage that they deserve freedom from. 

     Looking at this problem from a different angle, some people like author Cathy Reisnewitz’s, think that human trafficking is sensationalized in the news when in reality it isn’t a big deal. She also makes a point that legalizing prostitution would help end the problem. I disagree, and would counter this argument by saying that for every one story, there are ten more that haven’t been published. This is because human trafficking is such a dark world that the victim is sometimes literally scared for their life and decides to not speak out. I would also use the point that prostitution and human trafficking are separate things: prostitution is something a person chooses to do, they keep most if not all of the money they make, and they can usually walk away whenever they want. Human trafficking on the other hand, is where someone is coerced into it, held against their will either physiologically or physically, is abused, and makes no profit. Legalizing prostitution, in my opinion, would open a bigger need in our society that would spill over into more human trafficking and would do more harm then good. 

     Another article I found while researching this topic, goes into depth on how the mindset that Reinewitz’s article is showing is wrong. In the counter argument article, the author makes points on how saying human trafficking should be sensationalized because it is a serious problem and that legalizing prostitution to help with the issue would be an incorrect ways of looking at human trafficking. “The problem with privileged white "sex work" advocates is that they're operating under a privileged white notion of what the word "willingly" means, where "choice" involves "tall" or "venti," not "starving and homeless" or "sex work." Their visions of an empowered Pretty Woman are needlessly complicated by the reality of sex trafficking, which is, yes, actually a thing.” (Christopher) 

     A different article entitled “Sex for Sale: Legalized Prostitution Hurts Human Trafficking Victims” from the Huffington Post gave evidence to why legalizing prostitution would not be helpful in the fight against human trafficking. Rudder starts by talking about how legal prostitution would actually be making it easier for pimps to traffic their victims. “Coerced prostitution is one of the primary forms of exploitation that trafficked women and girls are subjected to in the developed world. Legalized prostitution allows traffickers to hide victims in plain sight as consenting sex workers.” (Rudder) As an example, the author used the Netherlands, and showed how legalizing prostitution in Amsterdam has actually created a bigger problem, saying that, “regulating brothels was not enough to stymie the impact of global human trafficking on prostitution in the Netherlands. Instead, licensed brothels became a magnet for human trafficking.”(Rudder) The bottom line is that just legalizing prostitution would only create a bigger market and or want for human trafficking, not help end it. 

     Is there a different approach? At the end of the article, the author brought up how prosecuting the act of buying sex and not the victim would be a much better option. “By criminalizing the purchase of sex, and decriminalizing prostitutes authorities show that the law is on the side of the victim who is exploited in the process.” (Rudder). Sweden has already started using this process and it has shown great results. “ In Sweden, prostitution is considered to be a form of violence against women. Under the Swedish law, jail terms are permitted…when johns fear the loss of their privacy, prostitution becomes less profitable for traffickers. Sweden’s model shows that criminalizing everything about prostitution except for the prostitutes themselves, works.”(Rudder). Another great article stated it this way, “if no one solicited sex, no one would be needed to service that demand.” (Hughes). Prostitution and human trafficking are very different and we must acknowledge that. Therefore, legalizing prostitution will not help end human trafficking. But if we can look more specifically at it, we can come to a solution like Sweden has done. 

     How can we start the process of ending this unforgivable crime in America? As stated in my first paragraph, awareness is a key component. One article from Post and Courier said, “Law enforcement personnel and advocates who work with victims say that it's more important than ever for residents to be aware that human trafficking is happening in their communities.” (Yee). Why would it be especially important in communities? When people come together and fight an issue, things happen. An example of this would be

in one of the scholarly articles I found titled “Ending Sex Trafficking of Children in Atlanta”. In the article the two authors explained how uniting people through knowledge on the subject of human trafficking and children led to individuals rising up in different communities in Atlanta and helping try to stop children be victimized. They were also able to start helping with victims after they had been rescued, something that had never been addressed in their counties before. This instance was a great illustration of how social consciousness in communities can lead to change. 

     Another scholarly article goes even farther by making the point that with awareness we could end this issue because, “prostitution and trafficking can only exist in an atmosphere of public, professional, and academic indifference" (Farley). Americans have no idea that human trafficking is all around. Because of this, they are indifferent about this issue. They might receive a newsletter from a nonprofit organization fighting human trafficking, but more times then not that letter is thrown in the trash without opening it. When people start seeing what is happening around them though, change begins. 

Becoming aware of how human trafficking is all around us makes people want to do something. Granted, some people may feel badly for the victims and yet do nothing. But the hope is that for every ten people like that, there will be one person that decides to do something. 

     Other steps that need to be taken against human trafficking are prosecuting the crime, not the victim, having more recovery homes that can help the individuals regain their lives, and watching others around you to see if they are showing signs of being trafficked. An article from the Atlantic stated, “The Victims of Trafficking and Violence Protection Act of 2000 focuses on the prosecution and enforcement against traffickers. The Department of Justice has cited the legislation after a bump in trafficking investigations and prosecutions. Between the fiscal years 2001-2007, there was a 360 percent increase in convictions compared to the seven previous years.” (Alvarez). This shows that these steps are starting to happen, but not quick enough. If we can spread awareness, it will help all of these parts move along faster. 

     Human trafficking is one of the biggest problems this world faces.  Robyn Causey, a national expert in human trafficking, domestic violence, corrections and vulnerable youth made the statement, “There are more human slaves in the world than at any other time in history..almost every country in the world is affected by trafficking.” (Weaver). This awful issue has already affected so many American in the United States. In an interview from a survivor named Jennifer, she commented, “We can live way above that. Trafficking survivors have faced evil and conquered it. We have lived on the streets and survived the worst of the worst. We have had demons attack us, beat us, rape us. We are some of the strongest women in the world, and we can go above and beyond what other people can do. You’re not going to box me up – no way, I’m sorry but no. I’m here to stay.” (Kelly).  She came out on the other side stronger. But what about those that didn’t? And what about future victims? We as a nation need to stand up against human trafficking so women like Jennifer don’t have to go through horrific circumstances. Slavery is a stain on our country that needs to be wiped clean. When we realize this, hopefully we can abolish the issue once and for all. 
