Attending school as a child and an adult it is embedded into our minds that the 13th

amendment abolished slavery in the United States and it would no longer be a problem.
But the reality is slavery still exist today and it is called Human trafficking; also known as
modern day slavery, which is defined as the mistreating of another human being forcing
them to commit illegal acts such as prostitution or drug smuggling. According to
Soroptimist a nonprofit organization set on helping women and young girls, human
trafficking is a 32 billion dollar annual industry. It is the second largest illegal industry
next to drug smuggling. Why is this type of illegal activity still happening? Most of the time
people arent aware on what is happening and they arent sure on how to become involved
in stopping human trafficking. But the solution is as simple as becoming aware, perhaps a
policy must be in place that will campaign the awareness of human trafficking.
Becoming aware can be as simple as knowing exactly what to look for in order to
spot a human trafficking victim. Since human trafficking mostly involves transporting
victims to different countries the use of public transportation such as airplanes, trains, and
buses are involved. If the employees as well as the general public using and operating these
transportation services knew what signs to look for in order to spot a human trafficking
victim it could save many lives. According to the article, Human trafficking: Corporate
America enlists in the global fight, Because trafficking victims are often moved from place

to place, those in the travel industry are among the most likely to come into contact with
them. That recognition led AAI, a group of workers from every aspect of the airline
industry who provides humanitarian support for people in need worldwide, to enlist in
2009 in the fight against human trafficking (Karas, 2011). Most airline companies are
taking it upon themselves to require their employees to receive training on how to spot
human trafficking victims. But the government should get involved and require all public
transportation service employees be trained and become aware of human trafficking.
Awareness is the key to preventing human trafficking and eventually ending it.
According to an article in the El Paso Times newspaper, When it comes to sex trafficking,
the best tips and leads we get are from the public," Hernandez said. "We will comb and
search some of the sites that are known to post ads for escorts, and that is kind of the
starting point for some of our investigations. But information for the public is almost
always our best leads" (Martinez, 2014). It is important to understand this situation, many
people are misinformed and unaware of what is going on around them, the mentality of
most people today is It will never happen to me. But the truth is this can happen to
anyone and though many organizations are trying to campaign against human trafficking
more needs to be done by the government.

References

Karas, D. (2011, July 13). Human trafficking: Corporate America enlists in the global
fight. Christian Science Monitor. p. N.PAG. Retrieved from http://0web.a.ebscohost.com.lib.utep.edu/ehost/detail/detail?vid=6&sid=a668f036-6c9b-49779ef91eeeefbc9531%40sessionmgr4005&hid=4207&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZSZzY29
wZT1zaXRl#db=a9h&AN=62608302

Martinez, A. (2014, April 6). Informed public can fight human trafficking. The El Paso
Times. Retrieved from http://www.elpasotimes.com/news/ci_25505791/education-key-endinghuman-trafficking-victims-law-enforcement

(2012). Sex Slavery/Trafficking: Frequently Asked Questions. Soroptismist best for

women. Retrieved from http://www.soroptimist.org/trafficking/faq.html