The Horrors and Statistics on Human Trafficking in the United States

There should be stronger enforcement of the human trafficking policies in the United States. Human trafficking is modern day slavery that consists of men, women, children being forced into sex or labor work. Some think that human trafficking policies shouldn’t be enforced because it brings in money and sometimes the victims choose to be in the business. Human trafficking victims suffer from many health deficits as the result of being trafficked and the cost to help pay for these health deficits are expensive. The trafficking of humans is a huge human rights violation and it needs to be stopped.

Human trafficking is a public health problem within the United States and Internationally. The victims subjected to the lifestyle of human trafficking can have sexually transmitted disease, HIV virus, and AIDS. It is an estimated 30,000 victims of human sex trafficking dying each year from abuse, disease, torture, and neglect. According, to U.S. government an estimates, of 800,000 people are trafficked across international borders annually, and up to 17,500 people are trafficked into the United States each year (Hodge, 2008). “According to United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), over the past 30 years, over 30 million children have been sexually exploited through human trafficking” (Random Facts, 2015, para. 24).

Human trafficking is a prominent problem within the United States that is often overlooked. The definition of human trafficking is, “Human trafficking - the illegal practice of procuring or trading in human beings for the purpose of prostitution, forced labor, or other forms of exploitation” (“Human trafficking”). People in the United States believe that human trafficking is a problem that occurs in other less developed countries compared to the United States. What these individuals do not realize is that human trafficking occurs on American soil contrary to popular belief. The United States is one of the top three destination countries of human trafficking and human trafficking is a top criminal enterprise across the world (“WEAVE, Inc.”).

Globally, about 20 to 30 million people are involved in the human trafficking system, and of those, 14,500 to 17,500 people are trafficked in the United States every year. Human trafficking is more prevalent today then ever before. It is the third largest crime internationally. People are abused and taken advantage of. According to the article, “11 Facts About Human Trafficking,” on average, a person is forced into the system around age 9, and the majority of victims are women and girls, with a small percentage of men and boys. In addition, the human trafficking system is a $32 billion dollar industry. Human trafficking can be defined as the selling and trade of human beings, ranging anywhere from children to adults, for the purpose of

The United States has always been known for sticking their nose in places where it does not belong. America has been part of wars that could have been avoided, scandals that had nothing to do with the United States. Millions of lives over the years could have been spared if America would have just simply stayed where they belong. What if though, America feels like they have to get involved in forging affairs if they think it can cause or is causing a problem on American soil or with the Americans themselves? Human trafficking is issues that most people do not necessarily knows about or even really think about. There are several different types of human trafficking and smuggling crimes that are in today's society. The number one kind of human trafficking is sex trafficking. The handlers usually kidnap someone, ninety percent of the time, a girl under the age of eighteen, and sell them to different people all over the world for sexual reasons. The girls they kidnap and sell can be from the area or just passing through and get in the wrong place at the wrong time. Forced labor is the second most common type of human trafficking in the world. This is where a person takes advantage of a worker and changes labor laws to make them work longer hours or harder, more tiring jobs with very little pay. Victims of forced labor most of the time do not even know what is happening to them. Most of the people that get sucked into the forced labor trade are very vulnerable;

Each year about 17,500 individuals are brought into the United States and become victims of human trafficking. Every country has this problem and it has become the 3rd largest illegal industry worldwide.

In today’s day and age human trafficking is a serious problem that is only getting worse as we become more technologically advanced. It is easy to transport human beings across the border, on ships, and into foreign countries. Women, children, and even men are the victims of these individuals. These poor souls stolen for the sex trade or for physical labor as a slave in modern world. As our enemies become more sophisticated in their evil craft, so must our law enforcement and investigation agencies. In order to stay up to par with the enemy these organizations make sure they stay up to date with the most advanced programs, tools, and systems in order to not only catch those responsible for mayhem, but to give a sense of justice to those who were wronged in the first place. We begin with a history of what human trafficking is, some current cases that were followed by the world, and way we fight the enemy and counteract their form of terrorism.

This past year in the United States, there were an estimated 21,431 calls made to authorities concerning potential human trafficking situations and yet, the average American does not know that forced labor and prostitution is even a problem. (Melissa) Second to drug dealing, human trafficking is the largest criminal industry in the world today, and is growing fast. (Human Trafficking – Exploitation…) This modern day form of slavery takes victims captive against their will by using violence, threats, deception and other manipulative tricks. Even though each trafficking target has a different story, they all have similar experiences because they lose their freedom. In the United States, the First amendment protects all people citizens or aliens with basic freedoms. Therefore, human trafficking goes against ones American civil rights; human trafficking is major issue in the USA that needs to be stopped.

I analyzed human trafficking in two different locations of the United States, one being California, and another being Florida. My main reason for choosing the two was because both states have been actively participating in working on helping the police, and prosecutors identify and prosecute trafficking. In California local police have been able to “identify 1,277 victims, initiated 2,552 investigations, and arrested 1,798 individuals” in regards to human trafficking cases (California Justice Department). In California we have our own legal definition to help us identify trafficking through the passing of AB 22 in 2005. California defines human trafficking as “all acts involved in the recruitment, abduction, transport, harboring, transfer, sale or receipt of persons, within national or across international borders, through force, coercion, fraud or deception, to place persons in situations of slavery or slavery-like conditions, forced labor or services, such as prostitution or sexual services,

The Trafficking Victims Protection Act (TVPA) of 2000 aims to combat human trafficking within the United States as well as abroad. On October 16, 2000, President Clinton signed the bill into law (Ryf, 2002). This statute states that slavery continues through the 21st century and is an issue that must be addressed. There is a three-tiered method to target human trafficking: prevention, protection, and prosecution. Additionally, this law requires the President to assign an interagency task force to monitor and combat trafficking as well as the responsibility to release the Annual Trafficking in Persons Report (Victims of Trafficking and Violence Prevention Act, 2000). Throughout this policy analysis, these areas of the law will be discussed in greater detail.

Although, smuggling and trafficking involve both humans, human trafficking differs from human smuggling because it is “compared to a modern day form of slavery”, involving “the exploitation of unwilling people through force” (Schmalleger, 2012, pg.605). Capturing, arresting and prosecuting human trafficking kingpins wouldn’t eliminate the problem, but rather encourage aspiring cartels to continue a “legacy”. However, fighting human trafficking is perhaps the most dangerous and difficult problem because of drugs and weapons, but nevertheless a rewarding accomplishment because “women and children compromise the largest group of victims” who are “often physically and emotionally abused” (Schmalleger, 2012, pg.607). A solution to this problem would probably be awareness, where the Federal government communicates to states, cities and communities to report suspicious activity. Therefore, proper help can be admitted to the victims by allowing new identities to be assigned; in addition, this would lower fraud and provide

“People were created to be loved; things were created to be used. The reason the world is in chaos is because things are being loved and people are being used.” --John Green. Human Trafficking is a big problem here in the United States and all around the world (Zhai 2). Trafficking is violent, both emotionally and physically (Hummel “Human Smuggling” 1). There are three major forms of human trafficking: forced labor, bonded labor, and forced prostitution (Petriliggieri 1). Forced Labor is the most common type in the U.S. (Haerens 17). About 17,500 people are trafficked to and from the United States every year (Haerens 16), but there were only 3,000 known cases (Zhai 2). Some critics may say that there are organizations and government programs

The United States of America has been fighting human trafficking since the 1800s, when slavery happened to be was outlawed. Since then, several laws have been passed to help the fight against human trafficking. According to the Polaris Project, the “current federal laws” include the Trafficking Victims Protection Act, along with several reauthorizations of the Act during four separate years, the Tariff Act, the Customs and Facilitations and Trade Enforcement Act, the Racketeering Influenced Corrupt Organizations Act, or RICO, The Mann Act, last amended in 1986, the Protect Act, and the National Defense Authorization Act which was passed in 2013 (Current Federal Laws). Each of these laws have their distinct uses, however, these laws were

With an estimated 17,500 individuals trafficked into the U.S. annually, 1,000 individuals received certification within six years following the laws that were set up to stop human trafficking.(Wolf-Branigin, 2010, pp. 424-436) .Certification makes victims of trafficking eligible to receive services from federally funded or administered programs. Even after significant funding for services to support victims of trafficking at the federal level, these resources appear insufficient to meet the demand (Wolf-Branigin, 2010, pp.

many academics, public officials, law enforcement authorities, and the news media believe human trafficking to be among the most tragic and horrendous transnational criminal activities facing us today. Victims are typically transported from