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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; many people do
not realize that victims could be closer than you could imagine, and in their own
community. Human trafficking has expanded and includes many types of trading
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 all the way back in the
1400's. “It started from the European slave trading in Africa with the Portuguese
transporting people from Africa to Portugal and used them as slaves” (Agatucci). Slave
trading gave people the idea about other kinds of human trafficking and it has greatly
expanded. Some of the types of human trafficking today are sex trafficking, trafficking
for forced labor, commercial sexual exploitation of children in tourism, bonded labors,
trafficking in organs, and many more. Victims of human trafficking are either very willing
and want to leave their lifestyle or unwillingly forced to participate in the action of
trafficking. “The willing participants pay a fee to be smuggled to countries that offer
better economic opportunities. The fundamental issue in human smuggling lies in the
voluntary relationship between the smugglers and the smuggled. Others are trafficked
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for the purposes of sexual exploitation or indentured labor” (Zhang 107). After the
beginning of slave trading in the 1400’s, more countries started to participate in human
trafficking. “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” (Agatucci).
Slave trading became popular and it started to spread like wildfire. More and more
countries became more involved in trafficking.
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 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”
(Currents Laws of..). Even with many different acts the U.S. Congress passed; human
trafficking is still a big problem around the world. The United States needs to come up
with better solutions and laws to stop the process of human trafficking.
In the movie “Crash” Mr. Choi, an Asian man, represents the culture issue
international human trafficking. His character would smuggle Cambodian women and
children to the United States and sell them (Crash). Mr. Choi wears a mask to hide what
he truly does as a man. People wear masks because they do not want individuals to
know who they truly are as a person, they would rather hide their inner self incase
people do not like them for them. What is on the inside of yourself is who you truly are
as a person, on the outside is what you want people to perceive you as or what they
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might think of you. The mask that the character Mr. Choi wore was just an ordinary
worker that ended up getting run over 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. He knew that he would get caught from all the illegal
things if he did not hide them.
Human trafficking is everywhere throughout the world. Most people do not even
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 could 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 amazing if they actually fell through with this
project to help victims. I think 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.
Traffickers trick and manipulate innocent people turning them into victims. The
victims think that the traffickers are helping them but in reality they are not. In the movie
“Crash” I think it does a good job portraying the concept of human trafficking. It does not
show how or when Mr. Choi received the victims, but the movie presented it like the
audience should already know. As I was watching the movie you could tell the victims
were scared in the back of the van all bunched together like it would probably be in
reality.
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If more effective laws are passes, I do see human trafficking change in the future.
The human trafficking population will begin to decline as the United States enforces
more laws. As these laws will be enforced, people will began to understand that human
trafficking is a very serious crime. The world is becoming more and more corrupted as
the years pass. Human trafficking is just one of many cultural issues taking place right
now.
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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.
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.
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.