Human Trafficking

Human Trafficking

Imagine trying to pay off your bills and save up for college at the age of 19 with three jobs. Then being offered a chance of a life time, a chance to be a model. You drive to the studio and it turns out to all be a scam and you are sold into human trafficking where you are most likely to die. When people here the term Human Trafficking they think it only happens in Europe and around the world. Except, that story is true. Her name is Miya, she was lured into Human Trafficking with promises of jobs, money, clothing, and modeling like other young girls and also even boys. Human Trafficking is a part of slavery, which has been around for a very long time since ancient Egypt and been around since then; slavery wasn't illegal around the world until 1981. Although it is illegal, forms of slavery, especially human trafficking, still take place everywhere. Human Trafficking is a horrible industry and we need to do something about it.

Human Trafficking is much bigger than most people know. There is a National Human Trafficking Resource Center (NHTRC) that takes calls from anywhere in the United States 24/7/365 for reporting tips and receiving information on Human Trafficking. On an international level the fight against Human Trafficking is huge. Both the United Nations and the Council of Europe fight against it. There are over 60 Non-governmental Organizations in the United States two of which are in Minnesota. Even celebrity Ashton Kutcher led a campaign against Human Trafficking called "Real Men Don't Buy Girls." The horrors of this horrible industry have also been revealed in Hollywood in the movie Taken with Liam Neeson where his daughter is kidnapped and sold into the industry. Liam Neeson's actions are a little over the top but they all do something about the industry and combat it.

The facts and statistics of this industry are staggering. 185 countries have Human Trafficking happening in them. Human Trafficking is tied with Illegal Arms Trade as the 2nd largest criminal industry in the world under Drug Trafficking. It's also the fastest growing. In the entire world 32 billion dollars are made in this industry. That is 1 million dollars an hour. Children in this industry can be worth up to 400,000 dollars a year. A girl named Debbie was literally kidnapped from her driveway in Phoenix, Arizona. One evening Debbie said she got a call from a casual friend, Bianca, who asked to stop by Debbie's house. Debbie went outside to meet Bianca, who drove up in a Cadillac with two older men, Mark and Matthew. After a few minutes of visiting, Bianca said they were going to leave. When she went to give her a hug Bianca pushed her in the car as they sped away from her house one of the men told Bianca to tie her up and said he threatened to shoot Bianca if she didn't comply. Debbie said her captors drove her around the streets of Phoenix for hours. Exhausted and confused, she was finally taken to an apartment 25 miles from her home. Debbie said she was then drugged by her captors and other men were brought into the room, where she was gang raped. After the horrifying gang rape Debbie was tossed back into the car and again driven around Phoenix. One of the men forced her to have sex with him in the car and then later in a park. The same man took her back to his apartment; she ended up in the dog kennel. Greg