Blog 1: Human Trafficking Around the World

    According to Tirman in the Washington Post, Human Trafficking is an epidemic that is present in every corner of our world, yet it is one of the most well hidden epidemics of our time. Many people are ignorant of the fact that human trafficking, mostly in the form of forced labor, is something that occurs across the globe, much less that it occurs right here in the United States. The group of trafficked individuals consists mostly of women and children that have been promised a job in another country. Many of the children are sold by their parents to traffickers posing as adoption agencies, as their parents hope to give them a better chance at life. Once they arrive, their travel documents are destroyed and they become enslaved to the person that brought them over the border .The most common form of slavery to date is forced labor, with sex trafficking following closely behind. Many governments aren't educated in this topic, which results in the victims being punished if they get caught. The victims have no way of escape, as their traffickers dig them further into debt with each day that they live.

     This has become such a secret epidemic because in many countries, the police officials and governments are those that exploit people for cheap labor or sex (Tirman). So many families are driven to seek jobs away from home or to sell their children due to the poor economies or being a single parent without any other means of income. Most often it is war torn countries that are swept into the trafficking industry, yet we unknowingly employee these victims right under our own noses, with the United States being within the top ten destinations for trafficked victims (Hidden in Plain Sight, Hepburn & Simon). This is something that the majority of people are uneducated about, which has spurred some authors to produce books on the topic ranging from factual accounts to personal testimonies. It is a growing industry, and our knowledge and ambition to fight it is growing at a much slower pace than it should be. It is an epidemic that we can solve.

Caroline Califf
9/8/13 - 9:39 pm
Sociology 202-03
Human Trafficking, Human Rights

http://articles.washingtonpost.com/2013-08-16/opinions/41416573_1_trafficking-victims-global-trafficking-human-trafficking/2

References to Hidden in Plain Sight by Stephanie Hepburn & Rita J. Simon