Maryam was 17 years old when she found herself living in Kazakhstan dreaming of a better life. Her family was not wealthy nor were they poor. But Maryam wanted to travel; she wanted to see the world. After months of coaxing, her parents gave in and let her take an employment position as a shop assistant, 1,190 miles away in Samara, Russia. The man recruiting Maryam to the new position was named Dastan. He paid her mother and father 300 dollars, administered a fake passport to Maryam, and then took her away. Her life had not just started; it had just ended. Maryam woke up in a cage, tied to the rusty old bars, having no idea where she was. A man different from the one who took her away approached her as she woke up and informed her where she was, and who she was: a …show more content…
There are many ways humans are moved, and these ways are often covered by one of two topics, “smuggling” and “trafficking”. Smuggling is moving humans across a border, when they have willingly paid for their transport, most often being deceived into thinking they are going to a better life. Those who are trafficked have not given consent and were threatened and/or narcotized (“Human Issues”). Men and women who run an operation such as trafficking humans are most often known as “pimps”. There are many known ways of these pimps bringing men and women into the movement, but one of the most common to smuggle humans is by using a natural disaster to one’s advantage. When natural disasters strike, many men, women, and children are left stranded homeless and helpless. Traffickers will now send in people to recruit, claiming “it is greener on the other side” when really their life will be substantially worse than it is now. This often means traffickers may know the men, women, and children they are attempting to recruit into the