Trafficking of women

By Britt Henrix

Human trafficking, you may have heard of it. Human Trafficking is a crime against humanity. It involves an act of recruiting, transporting, transferring, harboring or receiving a person through a use of force, coercion or other means, for the purpose of exploiting them (Trafficking in Persons Protocol). In other words, someone who is forced and threatened into doing something they dont want to. However, they have to do it from someone who wants to make money and is threatening to kill them and their loved ones. Human trafficking is a terrible thing that is happening worldwide. Every country in the world is affected by trafficking, either a country where they get taken, they have to pass to get from one country to another or a destination for victims. Every year, thousands of people fall into the hands of traffickers. 80% of them are women,(Farrell, 38) who either have to work as a prostitute or become labors. You may have heard that people get kidnapped, and thats why they trafficked. However, most people get tricked into it. Some younger people get sold by their family, because theyre poor, others trust people they really shouldnt, or it also happens because people dont get educated enough on the topic. Either way, trafficking is a horrible thing that happens worldwide. Firstly, a lot of people are poor and they will do anything for money. If your family is poor and they cannot make any money they can sell you. In Moldova-one of the poorest countries in Europe- if you have a pretty daughter you can get around 500 dollars if you sell her (Farrell, 41).In Moldova this is a lot of money, and if your family is dying from hunger, you would take the money. Poverty also increases sex trafficking. Rising levels of poverty around the world appear to directly correlate to increasing numbers of children caught up in sex trafficking, especially in Southeast Asia(Bernish). Also, poor people try to find jobs, and are desperate for finding one. This way, they will take any job without knowing what they signed themselves up for. They also have a lack of education. Not a lot of women get education in poor countries. They dont understand the dangers, the sicknesses, and most importantly how they get trafficked. If they would get educated about it then they would understand it better. The bad part is that this is a reason of human trafficking we cant really change. Mostly, it is poor people being trafficked. This is, because their family probably

doesnt have enough to go find them. Poor peoples families are mostly small, because most die. We cant change it but, this is a reason of why it is happening. Secondly, another reason people get trafficked is trust. This is one reason that is horrible. You trust someone, and then they sell you. For example, when you are in love you trust your boyfriend. People say that you have to stay away, but you dont. Some guys pretend to be in love with you. Then you ran away with them into another country. Before you know it, you are either sold, or you are working for your so called boyfriend. Once they were in Italy, her boyfriend changed - he told her she'll work for him as a prostitute. She thought he was playing some silly joke. She left home to be with him; to one day marry him. He is older. She's in love. He slapped her back to reality. Told her how much money she cost him for the speedboat ride, her fake documents, the clothes and make-up he bought to make her look pretty and pass for 18 (Chakarova).Your friends can also sell you. Either they pretended to be your friend, or are low on cash. It does happen, but it is not as common. Sometimes people even trust strangers. People pretend to be giving away jobs, when they really are going to be giving you away. The hardest part is trusting people again Trust is a word that victims of human trafficking may easily forget. Those who care for them need to remind them that it still exists(Sheikholeslami) Sometimes we trust the wrong people, even though we dont really know we are. Lastly, people dont get educated about the topic enough. They dont need to know pages about it. They just need to know symptoms of being trafficked, reasons, how and why. Educating people on the topic can really help them. They will understand the symptoms of being trafficked. This way they wouldnt be tricked as easily. Education itself is important for girls More educated women also tend to be healthier, participate more in the formal labor market, earn more income, have fewer children, and provide better health care and education to their children, all of which eventually improve the well-being of all individuals and lift households out of poverty.(Human development network, education) Sex education is also important. Sexual risk taking behavior has increased in the past decades and this has brought an increase in unwanted pregnancies, sexually transmitted diseases and abortions among others. Why are these behaviors bad, you may ask? Simply because it can ruin and risk their lives if they are suddenly become pregnant and their

bodies are still young, it might cause maternal mortality too, and they might get STDs if they are having unprotected sex and multiple sex partners(hubpages). It tells girls why sex trafficking is so bad and dangerous for you. They can prevent doing things that could lead to being trafficked. They can educate others and help them understand it better. This way, they can keep other people save. You can educate young girls in poor countries that cant afford education. If you can, you can help people that are being trafficked. If you know the symptoms, and see someone who you think is being trafficked, you can help them. As well, you can help organizations who try to prevent this. If you see a person who is pretending to give a job as a waitress, but really as a prostitute you can warn the police. Even though most people know what it is about, some dont. Some children in poorer countries might not know as much about it as someone in a well-developed country. It is important people understand the topic and can protect themselves and others. Every year a lot of people get tricked into doing it. Either they trust someone who isnt trustworthy, of poverty, or lack of education. These are only three reasons and to be honest, the list never ends. It is important people understand it, because there are a lot of reasons why people are being trafficked. We have to find a way to make sure people dont get tricked into it anymore. Better yet, we have to find a way to stop trafficking, and imprison the traffickers. Human trafficking is a terrible thing that doesnt need to happen. There shouldnt be any demand for it. Hopefully people will want to learn more about this. Every country is affected by it, and every country can change it.

Work cited page

Farrel, Courtney. Human Trafficking. Edina, Minnesota: ABDO, 2011. Human Trafficking. UNODC. <http://www.unodc.org/unodc/en/humantrafficking/what-is-human-trafficking.html>. Bernish, Paul. Rising poverty traps more children in sex trafficking. september 30th 2009 national underground railroad freedom center. <http://freedomcenter.org/freedom-forum/index.php/2009/09/rising-povertytraps-children-sex-trafficking/>. Chakarova, Mimi. Undercover filmmaker: Trafficker priced me up. 2011 CNN. <http://thecnnfreedomproject.blogs.cnn.com/2012/03/23/undercoverfilmmaker-trafficker-priced-me-up/>. Sheikholeslami, Ali. Human trafficking. 2012 Euronews. <http://prodeuronews.euronews.net/2011/03/08/human-trafficking-rebuilding-a-victimstrust>. Education-Girls' Education. 2011-08-18 Human Development Network. <http://web.worldbank.org/WBSITE/EXTERNAL/TOPICS/EXTEDUCATION/0, ,contentMDK:20298916~menuPK:617572~pagePK:148956~piPK:216618~theSiteP K:282386,00.html>. The importance of sex education among the youth. 2010 Hubpages. <http://prettydarkhorse.hubpages.com/hub/The-importance-of-sex-educationamong-the-youth>.