Raising Awareness Of Human Trafficking

President Abraham Lincoln abolished slavery on December 6, 1865, when he ratified the 13th amendment to the Constitution. But today in America and in countries across the world there is a modern-day slavery, human trafficking. The U.S. Department of State began monitoring human trafficking in 1994, it initially happened to focus on the women and girls that were being trafficked for sexual purposes. Since 2001 the U.S Department of Justice has prosecuted 360 defendants. From the 360 defendants, 238 have been convicted. In addition to that, in June of 2007 there were 1,264 foreign nationals that were certified by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services as victims of human trafficking. (Clawson, Heather, Nicole Dutch, Amy Soloman, and …show more content…
Some people are unaware of the human trafficking in our country and even in our area. By raising awareness we could stop some of the ongoing trafficking. There are many ways to raise awareness for human trafficking. Planning a film screening that has informative and powerful references to human trafficking is one way to raise awareness, another way is to share information through social media about human trafficking so that other people become aware of the slavery going on today ("Raising Awareness of and Ending Human Trafficking—Suggestions for Action." Presbyterian Women. Web. 28 Apr. 2016.) Raising awareness is difficult because it takes donations and advocates to get it started. It takes advocates wanting to make a change and …show more content…
I believe this is the best solution because it does not cost a lot and it is very beneficial. Young people need to be aware of the red flags. Some of the red flags would be if the victim is living with the employer or if the victim answers questions as if they rehearsed it. Signs of physical abuse may also indicate that the person is a victim of human trafficking. Children that are abused at a young age are normally victims of human trafficking. A shocking 55% of victims are women or girls (“Hotline Statistics”.) These young victims are promised by the trafficker that this is the only way to make money and that it is a good decision. It is necessary to authenticate any easy offers from strangers so as not to fall victim to such lies (“How to Stop Human Trafficking.”) Becoming educated is also very important for health professionals. Health professionals with the right education may be able to identify if a person is a victim of human trafficking by the physical and emotional signs of abuse. Some of these signs may include that the person is being controlled by someone, signs of depression or physical abuse, for example visible bruising. In Caring for Trafficked Persons: Guidance for Health Providers, a book designed for health care providers it discusses the risks and safety issues when approaching a potential victim of abuse. Belgian is a good example of this call to