Bates 1

Jessica Bates
Ms. Megan Shepherd
English Composition 1000
30 November 2015
Human Trafficking Can be stopped
Kika was a young working mother living in Venezuela. She was swept away by a
handsome man named Daniel. He offered her and her son a good life with him and showed her
just how sweet he could be. When she agreed to follow him to the United States, things changed.
Little did she know he was running a brothel. She was being monitored by him and eventually
was told that she had to pay off his debt and by payoff he meant that she had to work in his
brothel. In just one night, Kika had to provide sexual services to 19 buyer (Leidholdt). Just
imagine what it felt like for her. Her life was fine before she met Daniel and now she is forced to
work in a brothel and do things that she never wanted to do. The people of this world have the
power to help innocent victims like Kika. The ability to end the suffering of thousands of people
rests in the hands of those willing to help fight this abomination and stand up for those people
who cant stand up for themselves. Human trafficking is a disgusting act of human kind and it
can be stopped.
What is human trafficking? Human trafficking is the form of modern day slavery, which
involves exploiting all varieties of people for sex or labor that is forced fraud, or coercion.
Human trafficking is 100 percent illegal, and is very much so underestimated. Human trafficking
may often involve crossing the border, but that doesnt necessarily mean that a person will be
moved to and from. It typically means that person will be bought, sold or exploited. Many people
are fortunate enough not to personally deal with anything regarding human trafficking in their
lifetime. However, that fortune that so many are lucky enough to have, creates a growing fog of

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misconception that trafficking does not happen where they live. Human trafficking can be
happening to anyone in any place. Not only is human sex trafficking slavery, it is a big business.
It is the fastest-growing business of organized crime and the third-largest criminal enterprise
(Walker). Thats why we as Americans need to take a stand and get informed and get educated on
human trafficking and all thats involved with it.
Imagine youre out shopping and just enjoying the beautiful day. You come across a
teenage girl who looks like she hasnt eaten in days, her clothes dont cover half of her body, and
she constantly has someone watching her. Your first instinct is assuming that she is a whore who
doesnt have any morals and is sleeping with this older guy that keeps following her around. But
in reality that girl is a victim of human trafficking. If Americans learned the signs of human
trafficking it would be easier to spot out someone that you might think is a victim of human
trafficking. That would be one less person that is being sold to sleep with many people a night.
No one wants to continuously live a world where their abused and sold to have sex with
countless men a night. According the article Smuggling and Trafficking, The state Department
has estimated the annually 20,000 people are trafficked in the United States, out of the 800,000
that are trafficked worldwide". Every day one of our family members or someone that we love
could be out there, but if we can recognize the immediate signs then we can save them. They will
no longer be a victim, we could turn them into a survivor.
Its not easy to learn about the signs of human trafficking. Its hard to take that all in. To
realize that someone that we might know or love is being treated in such bad ways. Its breaks
your heart to think that someone could actually do that to people. When it comes to the signs of
human trafficking some would say that they could be easy to point out, or they could be hard.
Recognizing the signs are the most crucial part of putting a stop to human trafficking. Signs that

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we need to be on the lookout for are when someone doesn't make eye contact, they might seem
fearful or nervous, might look malnourished or show signs if physical or sexual abuse. Victims
might also show signs of not being able to walk with you places to talk because they're not
allowed to come and go places as they wish, or not being able to speak for themselves and their
pimp/manager will speak for them.
Women, girls, kids, guys can be treated so badly and abused. Not getting to eat every day,
getting beat up for not making enough money in one night. Just thinking about it sounds so
inhumane. It might be hard to be able to recognize a victim or maybe a place where theyre being
held. According to Rodriguez Walker, the business of human sex trafficking is much more
organized and violent. These women and young girls are sold to traffickers, locked up in rooms
or brothels for weeks or months, drugged, terrorized, and raped repeatedly. Thats a shame to
realize that, that is happening to women and young girls out there. If each state or city could hold
meetings or seminars, put out flyers, have classes over human trafficking we can eliminate all of
those horrific things that happen to them. We can take down their pimps/bosses and make them
pay for what they have done.
So, take action. We Americans can take down human trafficking leaders. There would be
not greater feeling than watching the leader get put into handcuffs, as the victims are coming out
and being reunited with family. It can be done. Lets say there is a girl walking up and down the
street. You see her get into car after car, all the time this guy is standing by this building
watching her. Each time she gets out of the car, she goes to the guy and hands him money.
Sometimes he is okay with it and she goes back to walking up and down the street. Or theres
that one time, she gets out of the car and SMACK. He hits her. She didnt make him enough
money so she is punished. Thats not right. So youve just witnessed the abuse from a human

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trafficking leader. Or how about you see a group of teenage girls being thrown into a van. Guys
are hitting them and throwing them into this van that could possibly be fleeing the state to be
sold to someone. According to Detective Thomas Stack of the Montgomery County Police,
Criminals are moving girls from states like California, Pennsylvania, and New York into
massage parlors, brothels and hotels. Thats not normal, that definitely needs to be reported.
What needs to be done is call the police when you see it happening, follow the victim throughout
the day and take pictures. Get the proof out there to the cops so they can actually see the
evidence. Take action. Dont be afraid. When action is taken then we have the ability to stop the
circle of human trafficking. It doesnt have to be a reoccurring problem. Once someone takes
action, we are one step closer, once case closer to putting a stop to the trafficking of innocent
people.
Some people say that it's pointless to help stop human trafficking because some girls are
there because they want to be. Yeah, maybe some girls are okay with being victimized but you
we can't think that way about everyone. That's not always true. We shouldn't let girls that enjoy
it, stop us from helping the ones that are looking for a miracle of help. Some people also say that
contacting the police isn't going to help because theyre going to brush it off like it's nothing
because they don't have the evidence to show that there is a circle of human trafficking being
formed around the United States. If we Americans can gather evidence, then it can be
investigated. There is nothing wrong with taking pictures as if we were private investigators. We
need to get the proof and we can. We can talk to the victims to tell them its okay to come forth,
we're going to help get them safe. Yes, some say that it isn't safe to take action especially if we're
not involved, but those victims could be someone that we love, or someone that we know loves.
It doesn't seem right to sit back in the audience and not take a stand.

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At the end of the day, we need to realize that coming together and getting informed,
raising awareness, and taking action is what needs to be done. Americans need to take a stand for
those innocent people and save them. There is no feeling worse than thinking that someone you
love is out there being beat and sold and raped every day. It happens countless times a day.
Victims experience the act of prostitution not as sex but as rape. They often adapt to their
circumstances of being raped multiple times each day. (Leidholt)
So what needs to be done in order to stop human trafficking? Americans need to realize
that it is a problem and its real. Human trafficking is happening in the world and it needs to stop.
Tomorrow is never promised. You could be living the best life right now, and tomorrow be a
victim of human trafficking. Imagine waking up in a brothel, not knowing how many people you
were going to have to have sex with or perform sexual favors to. This has to be thought of as a
serious problem. Not just an issue thats brushed off like its nothing. When its seen, it needs to
be reported. It can be done. . Who wants to live that way? I know I wouldnt. No one does. Its
not fair for us just to sit back and live our life while there are people out there who need our help.
Lets raise awareness on human trafficking and get it known. If cities and towns could come
together and let human trafficking be known that we can get more people educated.