Joshua Astill

Professor Tyler Barnum

English 2010

Slavery on the Rise

When the word slavery comes to mind, people often associate it during the 18th and 19th
centuries. A tragic historical event that forced people from their families and homes into forced
labor. With little or no freedoms, slavery brings to mind one of the worst things that could ever
happen to a human being. While many people in todays society believe that slavery is a thing of
the past, the harsh reality is that slavery still exists today in many forms and on an even grander
scale. There are more slaves today than there were during the 19th century.
Slavery today is often called by other names, such as trafficking and forced labor as well
as many other less savory terms, but it is still slavery and people are still being stripped of human
dignity, choice and human rights. Human trafficking is one of today's most horrendous human
rights violations. Trafficking is organized criminal activity in which human beings are
treated as possessions to be controlled and exploited, more specifically for the purpose
of sexual slavery.
The International Labor Organization estimates that there are 20.9 million
victims of human trafficking globally, 81% of these are women and children. Trafficking
impacts our society emotionally, economically, and politically. Those who are sold into this
slavery are used for commercial sex and forced labors.
When sex trafficking is present, victims are often subjected to violence, threats,
controlling behaviors, false promises, lies and manipulation perpetrated by their traffickers. This
is to help keep the victims in the sex industry for the traffickers own profit. Displaced persons,

minorities and other marginalized groups are vulnerable to human trafficking. Impoverished
populations and victims and survivors of interpersonal violence and homelessness are also at an
increased risk. Traffickers often take advantage of these individuals vulnerabilities and unmet
needs.
Since 2007, according to the Department of State, it has reported trafficking at 32 billion
dollars annually. Now human trafficking is one of the fastest growing illegal businesses with
revenues totaling yearly profits of nearly 150 billion dollars worldwide. That is almost a 370%
increase in just under 10 years. Human trafficking is a structured industry with both high supply
and demand sides and has at its core, investors, unscrupulous recruiters and corrupt public
officials as the principal participants.
So why is it that people can get away with enslaving people today just as they did almost
200 years ago? The victims are perceived as discounted humans. According to Nicholas D.
Kristof, Pulitzer Prize winning journalist states that people who usually live in a rural
community or are uneducated are the ones targeted to be sold. Therefore they become easy
targets, because no one will know or care if they are missing.
In sex trafficking, women and children are merely reduced to the status of a gratifying
sexual commodity. Because human trafficking is a crime recognized by international protocols
and state laws, traffickers are traditionally forced to conduct their activities underground. They
always fascinate the victims with high hopes that they will have a much better life and they can
start a new life that's brighter than the life they had back home.
While traditional channels of trafficking remain in place such as kidnapping and extortion
among others, online technologies give traffickers the unprecedented ability to exploit a greater
number of victims and advertise their services across geographic boundaries.

The use of Internet technologies in peoples daily lives has dramatically increased in
recent years. In contrast to the many social benefits that Internet technologies provide, a darker
narrative also has emerged. Social networks and online classified sites are being used by
traffickers to market, recruit, sell, and exploit for criminal purposes.
As a society we are oblivious to the facts that are all around us. We automatically assume
that just because the 13th amendment to the Constitution of the United States which states
"Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party
shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their
jurisdiction." This is not the case. Victims of trafficking are invisible, and yet they are
everywhere.
While most perpetrators are presumed to be men and most victims are presumed to be
girls, the gendered nature of human trafficking is messy. Many boys are also victimized and
some cases suggest that women are sometimes pimps (or, more commonly, are referred to as
madams). Overall, male victims of human trafficking are relatively under-detected. Men that
are exploited, deprived of freedom and control, or subjected to physical abuse and threats, are
generally not identified as trafficked, whereas women of similar circumstances are.
By most accounts, human trafficking is a highly attractive business for criminal groups
because it is low in risk and high in payoffs. The rise in human trafficking is disturbing,
especially because as more and more people are increasingly trafficked abroad, countries around
the world are losing valuable human capital.
While there are many positive aspects of market economies and enhanced opportunities
in this global age, the infiltration by organized crime and the social and human costs are great for
many less-developed countries that are unable to compete effectively in the global marketplace.

Anyone can be the victims of trafficking. Slavery and Human Trafficking happens in
nearly every country in the world, developing or developed countries. These individuals are
forced to work every single day without pay, under threat of violence, and theyre unable to walk
away. There's no access for them to run once they are trapped in those malicious circumstances.
They are forced to do things that they never imagine before, and they are treated not like a
human. They dont know what it feels like to be respected, to have dignity and to have secure
feelings like we do.

Works Cited
Kristof, Nicholas D., and Sheryl WuDunn. Half the Sky: Turning Opression into Opportunity for
Women Worldwide. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2009. Print.

STOECKER, Sally. "The War on Human Trafficking." Trafficking and Global Crime Control (n.d.):
129-44. Web.

Latonero, Mark. "Human Trafficking Online: The Role of Social Networking Sites and Online
Classifieds." Center on Communication Leadership & Policy 47.06 (2010): 8-54. Web.

Hall, Roy. "Domestic Human Trafficking." Domestic Human Trafficking: An Internal Issue (2008): 2
16. Web.

Banks, Duren, and Tracey Kyckelhahn. "Characteristics of Suspected Human Trafficking Incidents,
2008-2010." (2011): 2-11. Web.

Smith, Charles Anthony, and Heather M. Smith. "Human Trafficking: The Unintended Effects of
United Nations Intervention." N.p., n.d. Web. <http://college.lclark.edu/live/files/10776-1pdf>.