Understanding Human Trafficking and its Impact

What is human trafficking? Human trafficking, according the dictionary.com’s definition, is the illegal movement of people, typically for the purposes of forced labor or commercial sexual exploitation. However there are many different forms of human trafficking and one that has caught my eye is the form called sex trafficking. This is very important because many young teenage girls around my age are affected by it the most and they grow up being a sex slave. Although majority of the victims are young girls, human trafficking affects everyone: male, female, young, and old. There are very few people out here hearing their cry. We are very blind to this topic in the United States because its not very well-known and also because it’s such a big

Majority of the victims of human trafficking are kidnapped and held against their own will. The victim’s trafficker usually provides them with a place to stay and enough things for them to live and do the things that they are being trafficked for. The women of human trafficking typically grows into it. By this I mean they start when they are young girls and they grow up into the field of human trafficking. Half of the time it’s not even under their control they’re just doing what they are being told. So this brings me to my Research Question: Why do victims of sex trafficking not run away or ask for help? If they were kidnapped and doing things that they don’t want to be doing why don’t they just stop? Why are some victims trafficked for years and years? Why are some only trafficked for a few months? What prevents the victims from leaving and being free

Many times, the victim is by themselves, with fellow victims, or with their own children produced through this horrible event. Victims can easily feel isolated and naturally, like all humans, look for someone to love and bond with, this person could be their abuser, this is called Stockholm Syndrome. Stockholm Syndrome is a group of psychological problems that are shown in people held captive. It comes from a famous bank robbery in Stockholm, Sweden in 1973. The bank robber took three women and one man captive for over 130 hours. When the victims were eventually released, they seemed to have an emotional bond with their abuser, and came to see the police as their enemies rather than the bank robber (Stockholm Syndrome). These people were only held for 5 days, (compared to decades that some sex trafficking victims are held), and they already formed a bond with the abuser. It is not uncommon for sex trafficking victims to become emotionally connected to their abuser. Their abuser is the one giving them the things they need to survive, telling them any news or information, and providing drugs and alcohol. Victims can view these actions as kindness from their abuser, causing them to want to connect with them more. When the victim knows that they could be raped every night, but instead their abuser only does it once a