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Stacie Williams
Mrs. Deezy
Eng. 1301.154
1 November 2013
Human Trafficking
Many people are victims of human trafficking all over the world; people may not
realize that victims could be as close as their own community. Merriam-Webster
Collegiate Dictionary defines human trafficking as “organized criminal activity in which
human beings are treated as possessions to be controlled and exploited.” Human
trafficking has expanded to include many types of trafficking purposes through many
centuries. Although human trafficking has been around for many centuries, the United
States has tried to stop this epidemic through public awareness, as a result, laws have
been put into place, additional new efforts need to be made to put an end to this black
market enterprise.
International human trafficking first became an issue in the 1400's. Agatucci tells
us that:
It started from the European slave trading in Africa with the Portuguese
transporting people from Africa to Portugal and used them as slaves. In
1562, the British joined in on the slave trade in Africa. The development of
plantation colonies increased the volume of the slave trade. Later on
throughout the 1600s, other countries became more involved in the
European slave trade. These included Spain, North America, Holland,
France, Sweden, and Denmark.
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Agatucci points out that after the beginning of slave trading in the 1400’s, more
countries started to participate in human trafficking. It became popular and started to
spread like wildfire; more and more countries became involved in trafficking. Some
examples of human trafficking in today’s society are sex trafficking, trafficking for forced
labor, commercial sexual exploitation of children in tourism, bonded labors, trafficking in
organs. Sheldon Zhang explains that victims of human trafficking are either: “willing
participants pay a fee to be smuggled to countries that offer better economic
opportunities [depending on the smugglers]” or unwillingly forced “for the purpose of
sexual exploitation or indentured labor” (107).
The awareness of individuals concerns has put an impact on the United States to
try and stop human trafficking by coming up with laws to make it illegal for our country.
The Currents Laws of Human Trafficking tell us “The U.S. Congress passed the
Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000 which is updated and reauthorized every two
years. Since TVPA is only for federal cases, each state is responsible to enact its own
legislation to handle cases within the state.” Relevant Magazine notes “out of an
estimated 27 million victims, in 2012, only 46,570 were identified” (26). Even with
“TVPA” human trafficking is still a big problem in the United States. The United States
should continue to enforce these laws and have more severe consequences in order to
help stop the process of human trafficking.
In the movie “Crash” Mr. Choi, an Asian man, represents the cultural issue of
international human trafficking. His character smuggles Cambodian women and children
to the United States to sell them. Mr. Choi disguises who he truly is as if he were
wearing a mask. People wear masks because they do not want others to know who
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they truly are as a person, they would rather hide their inner self from people than show
their true colors. The mask that the character Mr. Choi wore was just an ordinary worker
that ended up getting run over by a vehicle driven by two black guys named Anthony
and Peter. Mr. Choi pretended to be someone he was not because he did not want
people to know that he sold immigrants for money, however the audience of the movie
was made aware of his true self when the women were discovered in the back of the
van.
Human trafficking is everywhere throughout the world. Most people do not know
or realize that victims are all around the community. Victims affect the community
around us because these people could be closer than you think. They could be working
at nail salons, laundry cleaners, hotels, or even be housekeepers. Human trafficking
affects me because Corpus Christi, Texas is extremely close to the border of Mexico
and traffickers could easily cross over to the United States. In 2012 the Corpus Christi
community wanted to build a shelter for victims to help them and get their life back on
track (Villarreal). It would be an amazing step in the right direction to help local victims.
The community should always keep an eye out for people who look like they could be
victims and help them if they are in need. A friend of mine named Presley Smith has
started a business called Uniquely Woven. She makes and sells leather bracelets to
help support local victims of human trafficking through her church. The church is
currently forming a rescue house for victims in South Texas.
Society has become more aware of human trafficking. In the movie “Crash” Mr.
Choi was portrayed accurately as a human trafficker. Although the movie did not show
how he captured the women in the back of the van, it is inferred that these women were
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victims by their actions. In reality how the women were tricked or manipulated into
becoming victims may also be unknown or unseen.
The current laws are effective, however human trafficking is so wide spread that
it is difficult to contain. The United States should continue to play an active role in
putting a stop to human trafficking. This can be done through the laws that have been
put into place, the public’s awareness, and the communities’ support for the victims of
this black market enterprise. As a result, the future of the human trafficking population
will begin to decline. People will begin to understand that human trafficking is a very
serious crime. The world is a very dangerous place and human trafficking is just one of
the many cultural issues in this society.
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Work Cited
"Current Laws of Human Trafficking." Californians Against Sexual Exploitation Act. California
Against Slavery and Safer California Foundation. Web. 4 Nov 2013.
"The State Department’s Heartbreaking New Report on Human Trafficking." Relevant
Magazine. 21 Jun 2013: 26. Print.
Agatucci, Cora. "African Timelines Part III: African Slave Trade & European Imperialism."
African Timelines. Central Oregon Community College, 01 Jan. 2010. Web. 11 Dec.
2011.
Crash. Dir. Paul Haggis, Perf. Sandra Bullock, and Brendon Frasier. Lions Gate, 2004. DVD. 12
Nov 2013.
Mish, Frederick C. Merriam-Webster Collegiate Dictionary. Springfield, Massachusetts: 2003.
Print.
Villarreal, Michelle. "Human Trafficking Conference Attracts 70 South Texas Residents."
Caller.com/news. Scripps Interactive Newspapers Group, 19 January 2012. Web. 4 Nov
2013.
Zhang, Sheldon. Smuggling And Trafficking In Human Beings : All Roads Lead To America.
Westport, Conn: Praeger Publishers, 2007. 107. eBook Collection (EBSCOhost). Web. 11
Nov. 2013.