Modern Day

Slavery
Written by Rachael Bailey
According to States Fight Sex
Trafficking of Kids, nearly 300,000 US
children are at risk of being exploited,
mostly young girls ages 12-14, and over 1
million children globally are at risk. Human
Trafficking is a modern form of slavery.

Overall most trafficked people are

females, 94%, and 6% are male. 85% of sex
trafficking cases are women, and 40% of
labor trafficking cases are male (Human
Trafficking Trends in the United States).
The NHTRC, National Human Trafficking
Resource Center, had a 259% increase in
calls from 2008 to 2012 (Human
Trafficking Trends in the United States).
How many people are being trafficked may
be a concerning number but what is even
more concerning is the ratio of men to
women being trafficked.

Trafficking Victims
Belinda Luscombe and Rana
Foroohal believe that most slaves in Europe
are African. China, India, and
Pakistan have the
most slaves. They
also believe that
there are 21 million slaves,
trafficked people, worldwide.
Since this number is
so huge it is very
concerning. People in the United States do
not think about
how many people
are enslaved.
Modern day
slavery is the
most ignored issue, no country goes
untouched.
The trafficker generally goes for
younger people because they can work
harder than an older person. According to
States Fight Sex Trafficking of Kids,
people age 24 or younger are 87% of
trafficking cases, while people 25 and older
are 13%. They also state the FBI, Federal
Bureau of Investigation, averages they have
recovered 2,700 exploited children since
2005.

Background on

Trafficking
Traffickers and their victims
generally have the same type of background
(Human Trafficking). States Fight Sex
Trafficking of Kids believe these people are
mostly runaways, or from abusive or foster
homes. It is unfair for children already in
abusive homes or foster homes to be abused
more. While Belinda Luscombe and Rana
Foroohal think anybody who is poverty
stricken, vulnerable, poor, or have little rule
of law are most at risk or being trafficked.
Either way it is an issue.

According to Julie Kaye, John

Winterdyk, and Lara Quarterman, trafficking
is the second most profitable organized
criminal activity, and there are many
different types. The top sex trafficking
industries are pimp-controlled prostitution,
commercial-front
brothels,
and
escort/delivery services. The top labor
trafficking industries are domestic labor,
restaurant/food service, peddling ring, and
traveling sales crew (Human Trafficking
Trends in the United States). Some people
also consider child marriages a form of
trafficking as well. But neither is a broader
category of industries known to use
enslavement in order to make profits, and
its not just brothels, it can be a nail salon, a
restaurant, a farm (The Hidden Faces of
Modern-Day Slavery). Places, ways, or
how traffickers will exploit you are
advertising, labor brokers, airlines, busses,
trains, taxis, landlords, money transfer
services, hotels or motels, and visa/passport
services (Human Trafficking). With all
these ways and places people could become
trafficked or used, it is uneasy to feel safe in
a world filled with these risks everywhere.
Also for people in the United States its not
easy see how at risk they are because this
isnt something people just come out and tell
their story.
People victimized by trafficking can
get many diseases or mental disorders.
According to Melanie Abas, in Moldova, a
country in Europe, 54% of people trafficked
met the requirements of a mental health
disorder six months after the abuse.
Symptoms of a child victim of trafficking
are depression, hostility, stress, anxiety,
PTSD (Post-traumatic Stress Disorder), and
fear of authority (Child Trafficking Facts).
These symptoms are very similar to that of
an adult, high levels of depression, anxiety,
and PTSD (Melanie Abas). They are also at
a
high
risk
of
HIV,
Human
Immunodeficiency Virus, or AIDS, Acquired

Immune Deficiency Syndrome. Its sad that

kids and adults have to go through abuse,
then they have to suffer through mental
disorders and possibly a life threatening
disease.

Help for the Victims

In 2003, Washington was the first
state to criminalize human trafficking. Since
then all other 50 states have outlawed sex
trafficking and most have outlawed labor
trafficking. This year alone states are
considering 220 bills to address human
trafficking (States Fight Sex Trafficking of
Kids). In Canada, section 279.011
criminalizes trafficking of people under the
age of 18 (Kaye, Winterdyk, and
Quarterman). The Swedish model
prohibits the buying of sex but the selling of
sex is not. This law is not only in Sweden
but many other European countries are
adopting it like Norway and Iceland. Many
other countries are still thinking about the
positives and negatives of the laws
(Goldberg). The law is not helping anything,
it still allows prostitution, which most of the
time is pimp controlled. Most of the time
prostitutes dont even realize that they are in
a pimp controlled business.
Felicia Anna is a 27-year-old
Romanian prostitute. She has a blog called
Behind the Red Light District and her
boyfriend, who was one of her clients
before, writes it most of the time because
Felicia is busy. She says her boyfriend is
100% supportive of her job, but is it only
because she makes five times as much as
him during one shift? Felicia does not view
her job as human trafficking (Goldberg).

Human Trafficking is not tolerable.

Peoples lives are affected everyday by this

issue. If you or anyone you know is affected

by this issue please contact 1 (888) 373-

7888, NHTRC. Save someones life or save

yourself.

Works Cited
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Student Resources in Context. Web. 29 Jan. 2015.
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