Policy Against Human Trafficking and Slavery Essay
1395 Words
May 5th, 2012
6 Pages
The definition of human trafficking has changed since the first reports in 1994. The U.S department of state began to collect reports on trafficking across borders as a severe violation of human rights. Its’ office to monitor and combat trafficking in persons originally focused on the sexual exploitation of women and girls smuggled by international prostitution. Over the years the definition has broadened to cover anyone recruited, transported, transferred, harbored, and compelled to work in prostitution, domestic service, agriculture, construction work or factory sweat shops, by means of coercion, force, abduction, fraud or deception. Any commercial sex act performed by a person under age 18 is considered human trafficking, regardless of
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( http://www.dcf.state.fl.us/initiatives/humantrafficking/) This crime affects all types of individuals, both foreign and domestic. Currently, there are approximately 27 million people enslaved throughout the world with 2.5 million located right here in the United States. Each year, 600,000 to 800,000 more people are being trafficked worldwide. Florida has been identified as a hub for human trafficking activity, citing one of the highest incidences of human trafficking in the country. Between May 2009 and May 2011, 498 Florida kids were reported to DCF as potential human trafficking victims. “Orlando, Florida is the number two destination for human trafficking and nearly 20,000 per year are entered into trafficking,” said the Coalition against Human Trafficking (Human Trafficking Rings Operating in Central Florida, 2007). The reason Orlando is one of the top locations for human trafficking in the United States exists for two reasons. One, Orlando is a top city for vacation and easier clientele to lure. Two, many refugees from other countries come to Florida and continue their fight for freedom and these types of individuals are easier to persuade. (http://humanrightsblogucf.blogspot.com/2011/03/central-florida-human-trafficking.html) To combat human