To the Unaware, Misinformed Party,
Human trafficking: the
act of ownership over another person for the use of forced physical labor
and/or sexual exploitation. Up to 27 million innocent men, women, and children
are trafficked around the world every year (Lea). Most of these victims never experience
freedom again.
Human
trafficking looks casual to observers and even to police, but it is dark and
wicked underneath (Lea). Almost no one does anything about it. People choose
the path “Ignorance is bliss.” And remain naïve to the ugly truth. They don’t
want to know about it or look it in the face, because the truth is, simply
stated, disturbing. But say someone does decide to step up and reach out. This
is such a large, widespread issue, how can one person make a difference? It’s
quite simple really: one person, then another, and another. It’s like voting –
it all adds up and makes a point.
Human
trafficking is a low-risk, high-profit business, and the slave markets are
rising. Victims are sucked in in many ways: job offers, kidnapping, deception,
or immigration across borders (Lea). Anyone can be a victim, no matter your
circumstances. Last summer during an awareness event in downtown Wilmington, a
woman drove by in her car and we heard her say to her daughter, “Look, that’s
what happened to your cousin.”
Many
people sucked into human trafficking, usually girls and young women, are
deceived and brainwashed. They are beaten or raped by their pimp/owner and then
rewarded with something they love or by being comforted and told they are
loved. I heard a story about a girl who was brainwashed this way for a bag of
cheese puffs. This confusion is part of the psychological torture the victims
endure. But it is the only act of love and care they are shown, so the girls
grasp on to it and don’t want to let it go. They begin to fall in love with
their wrong-doers despite the physical torture those men put them through. This
is a large excuse as to why most victims of human trafficking never escape –
they forget that they want to. However, the larger portion is killed brutally.
All
of this happens right under our noses. Prostitutes, for example, can be
arrested and convicted of crime, when in fact large quantities of them are
doing so for the profit of their owner. In many countries, men have the hunger
for women that they can be violent to (Lea). Prostitution provides that, and
the victims are again physically, mentally, and psychologically tortured.
So
why then are people entirely avoiding this issue? The human race is selfish and
cowardly, it’s part of our natural state. This topic is heavy, and it takes a
brave soul to stand up and say, “This is not okay.” And you can be that person,
if you are willing. Even here in Wilmington there are safe houses for rescued
victims that you can donate to, there are movies and documentaries being made,
even I am part of something. Staff from my dance studio put together “The Story
Collective”, a performance about human trafficking in which all of our proceeds
go to support an organization called Love 146. You too can do something to help
eliminate human trafficking. The real question is – will you?
Works Cited
Lea, Allie. "Human Trafficking: I Am Not for
Sale." Teen Ink.
Emerson Media, n.d. Web. 20 Sept.
2012. <http://www.teenink.com/hot_topics/all/article/434742/Human-Trafficking-I-Am-Not-For-Sale/>.
Salisbury, Kaylie D. "Human
Trafficking." Teen Ink.
Emerson Media, n.d. Web. Sept. 2012.
<http://teenink.com/opinion/current_events_politics/article/471711/Human-Trafficking/>.
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