Noël Busch-Armendariz, a professor and director of the Institute on Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault, spoke about research on modern slavery. She discussed the prevalence of slavery on today 's streets as well as the importance of researching this issue in order to prevent enslavement. One of her main ideas was that we should be asking the difficult questions about the issue in order to solve this serious crime. Noël caused me to start thinking of how we should be viewing human trafficking and about the way that society reacts these sort of global issues. I agree with her idea that we should be asking these questions that disrupt the status quo in order to move pass the belief that we are powerless to bring about a difference in this world.
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One of her opening examples of modern human trafficking was the iPhone. She explained that children in East Africa are being coerced to mine minerals that are needed to produce coltan, a material that is used in the production of everything electronic. This includes phones, computers, game consoles, cameras, TV 's, and even cars. So, as a result of child slavery occurring on a different continent, almost every consumer in America is indirectly contributing to human trafficking. She states that after learning this fact, no one is going to and no one should stop buying iPhones or computers due to electronics being our gateways to information. Instead, she proposes that we start asking ourselves, what she calls "wicked questions". Typically, one would ask "is human trafficking wrong" or "should we do something to stop it" and there are obvious answers to these questions. What Noël means by wicked questions are the questions that disrupt the status quo, questions that change the way you view a problem. Based on this idea of thinking we should instead be asking "what could police do to prevent trafficking", "what laws should be passed to fight modern slavery", and most importantly "what can we do in our day to day life to bring a stop to human trafficking". The answers to these questions aren 't as …show more content…
Being told that when I purchased items that I needed such as my laptop and smartphone that I am now involved in the circle of slavery is disconcerting. It 's just too easy to pretend that, horrible crimes like human trafficking, are happening in a universe separate from your own. But to be told that you are unknowing a part of the problem slams the issue in your face and it’s impossible to ignore. I now feel connected to this global issue and more responsible for bringing an end to modern slavery, which seems like an impossible feat. As Noël says, everyone can agree that it 's wrong, but very few people act on these feelings. Only a minuscule percentage of the world is actually involved in actively finding ways to fight these crimes through research. These are the people interviewing victims, giving law enforcement advice for prevention, and being involved in spreading awareness of the issue, like Noël did when she gave her lecture. It is upsetting to realize that more work isn 't being done and that as a result, human trafficking is not going away and most likely won 't anytime soon. This thought process could also be easily applied to all sorts of crimes, notably the most common ones like theft and homicide. Everyone and anyone can agree that
One of her opening examples of modern human trafficking was the iPhone. She explained that children in East Africa are being coerced to mine minerals that are needed to produce coltan, a material that is used in the production of everything electronic. This includes phones, computers, game consoles, cameras, TV 's, and even cars. So, as a result of child slavery occurring on a different continent, almost every consumer in America is indirectly contributing to human trafficking. She states that after learning this fact, no one is going to and no one should stop buying iPhones or computers due to electronics being our gateways to information. Instead, she proposes that we start asking ourselves, what she calls "wicked questions". Typically, one would ask "is human trafficking wrong" or "should we do something to stop it" and there are obvious answers to these questions. What Noël means by wicked questions are the questions that disrupt the status quo, questions that change the way you view a problem. Based on this idea of thinking we should instead be asking "what could police do to prevent trafficking", "what laws should be passed to fight modern slavery", and most importantly "what can we do in our day to day life to bring a stop to human trafficking". The answers to these questions aren 't as …show more content…
Being told that when I purchased items that I needed such as my laptop and smartphone that I am now involved in the circle of slavery is disconcerting. It 's just too easy to pretend that, horrible crimes like human trafficking, are happening in a universe separate from your own. But to be told that you are unknowing a part of the problem slams the issue in your face and it’s impossible to ignore. I now feel connected to this global issue and more responsible for bringing an end to modern slavery, which seems like an impossible feat. As Noël says, everyone can agree that it 's wrong, but very few people act on these feelings. Only a minuscule percentage of the world is actually involved in actively finding ways to fight these crimes through research. These are the people interviewing victims, giving law enforcement advice for prevention, and being involved in spreading awareness of the issue, like Noël did when she gave her lecture. It is upsetting to realize that more work isn 't being done and that as a result, human trafficking is not going away and most likely won 't anytime soon. This thought process could also be easily applied to all sorts of crimes, notably the most common ones like theft and homicide. Everyone and anyone can agree that