In an article entitled “Tessa’s Story: Human Trafficking in America,” Venus Rodriguez tells the story of Tessa, a seven year old girl who was raped by her father and survived by viewing her body as not a part of herself. When she was a teenager, she was befriended by a guy named Jared who flattered her, bought her gifts, and made her feel special. She had no idea he was a pimp and that she would soon be on the street selling her body. Jared would withhold food if she did not meet her quota. Jared would drug her; he even convinced her that nobody would want her. At one point, Jared had Tessa so drugged that he tattooed her neck with his name to make it known that she was his property (Rodriguez, 2-6). This is one of the many examples of human trafficking that take place every day.
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Due to the lack of awareness about what is going on around communities and states, many men, women, and even children are sexually assaulted, beaten, threatened, drugged, and forced into servitude every hour of every day. There will be no solution to the growing problem of human trafficking until more people are aware of how human trafficking takes place, until states begin to deter human trafficking more effectively, and until more individuals take an active role in reporting possible acts of trafficking to the proper authorities. Therefore human trafficking cannot be defined as any one particular crime; it is not simply sexual exploitation. It is much more than that because human trafficking has many different characteristics. In the article "Hidden in Plain Sight: Human Trafficking in the United States,” Hepburn and Simon state that “. . . the characteristics of human trafficking are remarkably similar worldwide” (Hepburn and Simon, par.1). These authors go on to catalogue a variety of methods traffickers use to keep their victims under their control. Traffickers use tactics like fraudulent recruitment, travel, and exorbitant recruitment fees to hold their victims captive. They often withhold a victim’s visa and other identifying documentation, thereby controlling and limiting the victim’s movements. It has been reported that traffickers threaten deportation, threaten to harm the victim or his/her family, and physically harm the victim to keep this unfortunate individual under their control (Hepburn and Simon, par.1). Because human trafficking has so many different characteristics, it is hard for people in the general population to detect this problem happening right in their communities. Even when a person does not think such a violation of basic human rights can happen around him or herself, the United States is one of the top countries for human trafficking “. . . with tens of thousands of people trafficked into the country each year” (Hepburn and Simon, par.10). Human trafficking is not new. This type of criminal activity has been around for many years; however, due to the very nature of this form of exploitation it is almost impossible to know the exact number of people who are trafficked. Though the number of individuals who are victims may be an unsolvable mystery, it is clear who the prime targets are. According to Hepburn and Simon, women and young females are the ones who are more likely to be trafficked than men. This is because women and young females are most often used for the purpose of sexual exploitation. According to Hepburn and Simon, “. . . women and girls make up 56% of persons trafficked for the purposes of forced labor while men and boys make up 44%. In terms of those trafficked for the purposes of forced commercial sexual exploitation, women and girls make up 98% and men and boys comprise 2%” (Hepburn and Simon, par.4). With this being said, it is clear that women and young girls are typically the most at risk when it comes to commercial sexual exploitation. In this category of trafficking, traffickers act as “pimps” and sell these women like prostitutes. These victims are made to perform sexual favors to make their captor or captors a profit. Most of these crimes go unseen and unreported. Though justice does not prevail in most instances of human trafficking, there are laws in each of the 50 states in
Due to the lack of awareness about what is going on around communities and states, many men, women, and even children are sexually assaulted, beaten, threatened, drugged, and forced into servitude every hour of every day. There will be no solution to the growing problem of human trafficking until more people are aware of how human trafficking takes place, until states begin to deter human trafficking more effectively, and until more individuals take an active role in reporting possible acts of trafficking to the proper authorities. Therefore human trafficking cannot be defined as any one particular crime; it is not simply sexual exploitation. It is much more than that because human trafficking has many different characteristics. In the article "Hidden in Plain Sight: Human Trafficking in the United States,” Hepburn and Simon state that “. . . the characteristics of human trafficking are remarkably similar worldwide” (Hepburn and Simon, par.1). These authors go on to catalogue a variety of methods traffickers use to keep their victims under their control. Traffickers use tactics like fraudulent recruitment, travel, and exorbitant recruitment fees to hold their victims captive. They often withhold a victim’s visa and other identifying documentation, thereby controlling and limiting the victim’s movements. It has been reported that traffickers threaten deportation, threaten to harm the victim or his/her family, and physically harm the victim to keep this unfortunate individual under their control (Hepburn and Simon, par.1). Because human trafficking has so many different characteristics, it is hard for people in the general population to detect this problem happening right in their communities. Even when a person does not think such a violation of basic human rights can happen around him or herself, the United States is one of the top countries for human trafficking “. . . with tens of thousands of people trafficked into the country each year” (Hepburn and Simon, par.10). Human trafficking is not new. This type of criminal activity has been around for many years; however, due to the very nature of this form of exploitation it is almost impossible to know the exact number of people who are trafficked. Though the number of individuals who are victims may be an unsolvable mystery, it is clear who the prime targets are. According to Hepburn and Simon, women and young females are the ones who are more likely to be trafficked than men. This is because women and young females are most often used for the purpose of sexual exploitation. According to Hepburn and Simon, “. . . women and girls make up 56% of persons trafficked for the purposes of forced labor while men and boys make up 44%. In terms of those trafficked for the purposes of forced commercial sexual exploitation, women and girls make up 98% and men and boys comprise 2%” (Hepburn and Simon, par.4). With this being said, it is clear that women and young girls are typically the most at risk when it comes to commercial sexual exploitation. In this category of trafficking, traffickers act as “pimps” and sell these women like prostitutes. These victims are made to perform sexual favors to make their captor or captors a profit. Most of these crimes go unseen and unreported. Though justice does not prevail in most instances of human trafficking, there are laws in each of the 50 states in