Moreno 1 Valentina Moreno Professor Vana DerOhanessian English 114B February 17, 2014 Broken Children In the United

States, our children rest in the safety of their homes, in the warmth of their parents they grow up healthy, strong and full of innocence; however this cant be said for the children of Thailand. In almost all poverty stricken countries, children are the first to suffer its consequences. While we rest in a country full of opportunities and justice, children in Thailand are exposed to the corrupt world of human trafficking. Thailand should take measures to prevent children from being trafficked and spread awareness around the globe to protect their innocence, and support organizations who protect their rights as minorities. Sex trafficking holds a long history in Thailand, and it has been able to maintain itself up by the unlimited amount of poor or abandoned children. Children as young as ten are scouted to be used for prostitution, Thembi Mutch (BBC et al., 2007) interviews one child trafficker who points out At first I didn't realize it was even possible for men to have sex with men, or boys, and at that time I still looked like a boy. That even male prostitution is all common in human trafficking. There are no boundaries to what kind of abuse a child of either gender can attain in Thailand in contrast to North America, where it is not seen often. In the U.S. there are laws and forces that prevent such a thing as child abuse to occur commonly here. Thailand, unfortunately, does not have the same law system that we are fortunate to have here. Human trafficking has been an ongoing problem that has plagued Thailand for decades. Many children migrate to

Moreno 2 Cambodia or Laos in hope of finding a job, but they are soon taken to be sold for sexual exploitation. UNICEF, a program that helps both children and woman in developing countries; has supported organizations in Thailand to make sure children such as, Poon from their website, to stay away from the harsh depths of child prostitution. But even that is not enough to cease human trafficking in Thailand, and is it why there should more awareness in this developing country. There are various form of organizations that arrive to Thailand in order to help children from entering human trafficking. UNICEF is one of the biggest organization in the world that has had a strong impact in countries surrounded by poverty. There are other organizations who hold a more religious aspect in protecting and decreasing victims of human trafficking, such as Lighthouse. UNICEF supports and funds a protective home for children who are victims of human trafficking; Often times as said in the opening video of the UNICEF site, children are either abandoned or desperate to support their own family that often they will be persuaded by older kids to enter prostitution (UNICEF et al., 2012). The video of Lighthouse in Action: Fighting Sex-Trafficking in Thailand introduces that many children are often times kidnapped or are left no other option but to work in human trafficking (Lighthouse e al., 2013). Emmi Khantana explains through her own experience, that in 6th grade they were told that they would be taken away to work, this was a hard experience that Emmi survived but her best friend did not. This organization is one of the few religious foundations that provide jobs and a home for victims to move away from human trafficking and turn to God. Nonetheless, while some organizations have made a hefty improvement in Thailand, it has not stopped the problem that their children face.

Moreno 3 Imagine living in Thailand, in one of the poorest villages, and one night your find you little sister/brother is gone without a trace. Kidnapping is another common way in which children are forced into sexual labor. Often times children are taken out of the country into bars and brothels, and are accompanied by pretend moms, called mama-san, who sell the children for an amount of hours for sex (Child Trafficking in Thailand et al., 2011). Iris Gonzales explains in her blog when she Interviews Moe, that Moe is one of the estimated 10,000 victims trafficked to neighboring countries every year for sexual slavery or forced labor that regardless of regulations made to prevent trafficking, it has yet to fix the problem (Iris Gonzales et al., 2013). There are various ways and ongoing forms of child trafficking, and it is a disgrace to let it continue. Though the problem of trafficking still rages on, Thailand has made laws against human trafficking within their country. King Bhumibol of Thailand, made sure that it would be illegal to traffic both children and women of their country by force (UNIAP et al., 2008). Yet Thailand continues to suffer and revolve itself around trafficking. Many accused Thailands poverty, lack of development and acknowledgement from the king, as the blame for trafficking. But I believe that this is problem with human vice and the evil that dwells within adults who see children as objects for their mundane needs. It is a tremendous immorality to touch and abuse a child into trafficking, no one considers that the actions they do are vile and harmful to a child. We as citizens of a privileged country that does not face this often, but many developing or poverty stricken countries involve itself around trafficking as an income. It is essential for the widespread of awareness and support for the victims of human trafficking in Thailand. While we are fortunate enough to live in a country that protects its children, Thailand succumbs deeply into the darkest way to abuse a child. Big and small, organizations are not

Moreno 4 enough to end human trafficking, but are helpful enough to decrease the numbers. In the most horrendous way, children are forced into this type of labor to provide a roof for their family or for themselves. While we wait, there are thousands of children who are abused each second and ultimately of all broken.

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Works Cited Mutch, Thembi. "Thailand's Child Trafficking Industry." BBC News. BBC, 07 July 2007. Web. 11 Feb. 2014. "Thailand." UNICEF. N.p., 7 Mar. 2012. Web. 13 Feb. 2014. Christophel, Drew. "Lighthouse in Action: Fighting Sex-Trafficking in Thailand." Online video clip. YouTube. YouTube, 7 Oct. 2013. Web. 11 Feb. 2014. xlchildrenshome. "Child trafficking in Thailand." Online video clip. YouTube. YouTube, 28 Feb. 2011. Web. 11 Feb. 2014. Gonzales, Iris C. "Thailand Must Do More to End Human trafficking." New Internationalist All Posts RSS. New Internationalist Blog, 17 Oct. 2013. Web. 11 Feb. 2014. "National Laws & Agreements: Thailand." UNIAP. N.p., 30 Jan. 2008. Web. 18 Feb. 2014.