Argumentative Essay About Human Trafficking

How Bad is Human Trafficking? (607 words)

We’ve even seen the scenarios played out in popular movies: a seemingly free person is tricked, taken against their will and forced to live a life of hard labor or servitude. Unfortunately, these are more than a cautionary tale or Hollywood plotline. But just what is Human Trafficking? And how bad is it really?

When discussing human trafficking, the cases are broken down into two main categories: sex trafficking and labor trafficking. The latter being more common if not as often discussed. Victims of labor trafficking are often forced to work in sweatshops, mines and construction. Younger victims are often exploited for their innocent looks and forced to beg on the street all day, with all the funds going to their captors, or they may be enlisted in armies as child soldiers.

Victims of sex trafficking are forced into prostitution, pornography, or made to work in live sex shows. These victims don’t tend to stay in one place for long, often being transported from city to city as local men tire of them. These girls and women bring in tens of thousands of dollars for their captors each year; for example, the average annual salary in Bulgaria is $2,600, but a prostitute in that area can earn $23,500 for her trafficker.

But how do traffickers trick their victims into these new, indentured lives? Through the use of Force, Fraud and Coercion. Force refers to the fact that many victims are kidnapped from their homes. And, once enslaved, their captors use tactics such as rape, physical abuse and food and sleep deprivation to keep the victims controlled.

Fraud refers to the trafficker’s tactic of luring a victim out of their current life with false promises of legitimate work or a better living situation. Once the victim arrives at their destination, however, there is no work to be found. Instead, they are commonly rushed to a sweatshop or brothel.

Finally, coercion refers to a tactic commonly used to keep victims enslaved. Not only do traffickers threaten violence against their captives, they also threaten violence against beloved family members and friends should the slave get out of line.

It is estimated that there are approximately 12.3 million slaves working and living against their will worldwide. Worst of all, the percentage of victims identified is less than 0.4%, which isn’t even 1% of the 12.3 million.

Modern slavery isn't just something that happens in underdeveloped countries; it continues in the most developed countries in the world, including the U.S. Enslaved farmworkers have been found harvesting tomatoes in Florida and picking strawberries in California. Women have been enslaved as domestic workers in homes in Maryland and New York.

So what is being done to put a stop to human trafficking?

In the US, The Trafficking Victims Protection Act (TVPA) was authorized in 2000 and was the first federal law to address sex trafficking and labor trafficking in the United States. The TVPA focused on the prevention and protection for trafficking survivors, as well as prosecution for traffickers. Many other countries have implemented prevention strategies as well. Although to very limited success and much criticism. For example in Sweden, the Kvinnofrid law makes it illegal to buy sex, but not to sell sex. It was perceived that such a law would reduce human trafficking and the demand for prostitution. But have been criticized for forcing sex workers

underground.

Other countries have taken more radical stances. In 1999, Denmark actually decriminalized prostitution, banking on the theory that sex workers would be easier to regulate if the practice was legal.

No matter the country or the effort taken, human trafficking is a worldwide, 365-day-a-year problem.