Human Trafficking
By Callie Hagen
Edmund
Burke once said, “Evil flourishes when good men do nothing”. This truthful
statement is applicable to many different social and criminal issues in today’s
world. Starting in Africa in the 1600s with the slave trade to America, the
enslaving of people has always been an issue. However, it has taken a turn for
the worse. Human trafficking is a rising issue and some say, is the modern
slavery. Human trafficking is, as defined by Merriam-Webster, “organized
criminal activity in which human beings are being treated as possessions to be
controlled and exploited (as by being forced into prostitution or involuntary
labor)” (Merriam). There are over 27 million women and children who are
trafficked each year worldwide (The Issue). It is a rather unknown issue in the
United States and it is common among Americans to think it is only a problem
overseas. However, in 2012, Lexington had a first human trafficking case that
hit home and brought the issue to people’s attention. Human trafficking, the
modern day slavery, is a worldwide and national issue, but it has impacted
Lexington and can potentially spread to other parts of Kentucky if it is not
brought to the public’s attention.
Worldwide, human trafficking is
enough of an issue that it has its own list of the worst countries. However, it
is important to remember the statistics of human trafficking are loosely based
because the large majority of cases abroad will never be reported; also, that
every statistic is of lives deeply affected by cruelty and crimes against
humanity (Knight 2). There are fourteen countries on this list, which are
primarily in the Middle East. Unfortunately, there are fourteen more countries
then there should be. Of these countries is Syria, who is actively trying to combat
the human trafficking that is occurring on the Iraqi border. There is an
anti-trafficking law that is currently moving through Syrian parliament, which
will be the first law against human trafficking in the Middle East (14
Nations). It is estimated that 50,000 women and girls have fallen victim to
this prostitution ring as they are lured across the border in search of jobs
but are forced to be sex slaves (Davenport-Hines). These women are in extremely
vulnerable situations to begin with, often in poverty, before being offered a
job abroad, which they are desperate for (Knight 3). Without this law, women
arrested for prostitution without a passport will be convicted regardless of
prostitution whether she was trafficked or not. Women and girls are also brought
across the border to be sold as wives. The prices for young wives can be up to
an astonishing ten thousand dollars. It is even common for the man of a family
to rent out his own female family members as prostitutes (Davenport-Hines).
This is a world where you have to people are skeptical to accept a job in
another country in fear of their human dignity. Events like these are so common
in places like Syria that they are no longer covered by the news. One campaign
against worldwide human trafficking, which brought a lot of media focus, was
Kony 2012. The campaign was run by an activist group called the Invisible
Children. The group released a thirty-minute viral video in March of 2012 that
quickly became a national phenomenon. In focuses on Joseph Kony who in Uganda
and adjacent countries kidnaps children, forces them to kill their parents; he
makes the girls become sex slaves and boys become child soldiers (KONY). These
boys are forced to fight for Kony and do such horrific deeds such as
disfiguring people’s faces. These intense crimes against humanity landed him
first on the world’s worst criminals list of the International Criminal
Court. The video informed the American
public of the injustice that was taking place in Uganda (About). Previously,
the issue was completely unknown but once informed, people took action. The
same exact thing can be the done across the world to put an end to human
trafficking.
As previously stated, human
trafficking has made its way to the United States. There is an estimate of
100,000 children across the nation in the sex and labor trade each year. Thus,
it can also be presumed that the number of total human trafficking victims,
both children and adults, must be twice this number. Overall, the state with
the highest percentage of crisis calls reporting trafficked victims is
California receiving almost sixteen percent of the nation’s total reports
(Polaris). States that are along the Mexican and Canadian borders are more
subject to trafficking because the victims can be smuggled across the border
(Polaris). Although sex trafficking is most well-known and common type of human
trafficking, labor trafficking is also becoming a large issue. The Trafficking
Victims Protection Act of 2000 defines it as “The recruitment, harboring, transportation,
provision, or obtaining of a person for labor or services, through the use of
force, fraud or coercion for the purpose of subjection to involuntary
servitude, peonage, debt bondage or slavery” (Polaris). Trafficking is the
modern version of slavery in both of its forms, labor and prostitution. People
are treated as possessions and are forced into prostitution rings or unpaid
labor, just as slaves brought from Africa were treated as property and then
used as a business asset, being sold from plantation to plantation. In this
way, slavery is still very present in the world, but is now called human
trafficking.
Kentucky, as of 2012, has been the
setting of a very horrific human trafficking case. Marco Antonio Flores-benitez
is the first person in Kentucky to be convicted of federal sex trafficking
charges. Flores-Benitez, Roxana Serna-Olea, Adrian Lezama-Ruiz, and Roberto
Salias-Riviera ran an interstate prostitution ring based in Lexington, which
was busted in November 2011 (Kegley). All of the accused pleaded not guilty.
Flores-Benitez was the leader of the operation according to the courts, who
scheduled the arrivals and departures of prostitutes. The team also operated a
brothel at Cross Keys Drive, also in Lexington. Salinas-Riviera kept the women
rotating to different cities like Nashville, Indianapolis, and Atlanta to try
to avoid being caught (Kegley). However, clearly their efforts failed. As a
result of all of these charges, he was sentenced in July to fifteen years in
jail. The men brought at least one woman from Mexico telling them that she
would get a good job with a cleaning service but ultimately persuading or
forcing them into their prostitution ring. Serna-Olia was sentenced to four
years on persuasion charge, while the other two members await their trials and
sentences (Kegley). A case of human trafficking has been identified in every
county of Kentucky, proving that it is no small problem that can simply be
tucked away under the rug. The amount of trafficking directly corresponds with
the demand within the population, meaning that bigger cities like Louisville
and Lexington are more susceptible then a less populated smaller city (Knight
2). The problem is magnified with a large increase of people to a certain area.
In Kentucky’s case, this would be during the Kentucky Derby. At this time, “human trafficking nearly
doubles in our state, as a large number of tourists / visitors come into town
and create a greater demand for products and services that exploit human
beings” (Knight 2). This brings human trafficking to a place that we can
control and that effects the residents in Kentucky and in the United States.
Putting an end to human trafficking
is, in original thought, quite simple; unfortunately nothing is as easy or as
rudimentary as it seems. Human trafficking is, from an economic standpoint, “a market-driven business that relies on
the aspects of supply and demand.
Simply put, human trafficking exists because we create the demand for its
existence” (Knight 1). This is clearly visible in the Kentucky Derby in
correspondence with demand. It is the fastest growing criminal enterprise of
the twenty first century, generating nearly thirty two billion dollars in
revenue every year, half of which is from western nations like the United States
(Polaris). It is also the second largest organized crime industry in the world,
next to the drug trade. It is estimated, due to its rapid growth, that human
trafficking is predicted to surpass the drug trade in growth in a mere five
years (Knight 3). This relationship between supply and demand can only be
stopped by the decrease or expiration of the demand. Thus, “We create the
demand, we create the problem” (Knight 1). Certainly, the issue needs to be
addressed in the public arena, which would illuminate the problem and shame the
perpetrator. However, to put an end to human trafficking, “there must be a
collaborative effort between governments, businesses, organizations,
communities and individuals. Together, they need to find solutions that work in
their community, and enact them everywhere” (Knight 1). This is the formal side
of the crusade against human trafficking which uses legislation and business
transparency. Although, the informal side is where the momentum will come from.
Awareness and action are what anti-human trafficking institutions are focusing
their efforts on. The founder of the Lexington based organization, Slavery is
Real, Austin Knight says that he first became aware of human trafficking from a
Frontline documentary that focuses on sex trafficking in Eastern Europe. The
documentary followed a suspected trafficker, talked to escapees, witness an
escapee return to prostitution, and a woman, Katia, being returned to her
husband. The documenters caught the traffickers on camera. Olga was videotaped
selling girls while Apo and Maria admitted to buying Katia. Both instances were
reported however, never pursued by the Turkish Police. This enraged him and was
inspired to work actively against human trafficking as a freshman, entering
college at the University of Kentucky and “witnessing the rampant verbal and
sexual abuse that I was witnessing on both UK's campus and other campuses that
I had the opportunity to visit” (Knight 1). After relating his experiences with
the documentary he had seen, he was determined to stop the terrible things that
were happening in the world. This is what needs to happen, but on a national
level by the combination of informal and formal sides of the battle against
human trafficking. Giving the public a sense of awareness, will lead to action
in the struggle against modern day slavery.
As previously mentioned, the Kony
2012 movement did wonders for the fight against human trafficking, but there is
still a long way to go. The largely successful films Taken and Taken 2 have
directed much attention. A teenage girl takes a trip abroad with a friend and
an outgoing man they just met offers them a ride from the airport. After
dropping them off, abductors come back to the apartment and take them to be
sold into a sex ring. Although they somewhat inaccurately displays who the
human trafficked people are, the initial idea is theoretically possible (Knight
3). The point is that the public was shown the injustice of human trafficking
and also by the audience siding with Liam Neeson’s character, it brought hatred
and disapproval onto the people who run human trafficking around the world.
Films like this are a form of awareness that institutions are trying to
advertise and promote the issue of human trafficking as a way of informing
people. This is also done through website, speeches, awareness materials, and
charities (Knight 2). Their other goal is action. Activists try to educate
people about human trafficking and to do something about it. They provide the
public with ways to make a difference like donating, educating, volunteering,
and reporting any instances of crime (Knight 2). Another part of the action
goal is what kind of action one is participating in; a volunteer can have a
neutral impact and or a positive impact. Both are influential and help combat
the modern day slavery. Neutral Impact is making sure that as a volunteer or
activist, you do not want to be contributing to any form of human trafficking
(Take Action). This helps lower the demand involved with human trafficking.
Positive Impact is taking
“direct action by creating a positive change in the issue of human trafficking
through donating, volunteering and educating” (Take Action). This type of
action is exactly what these organizations are working to accomplish. It is
possible, that the key to putting an end to human trafficking may lie in these
instrumental organizations.
Here in Kentucky, as well as all
over the country, efforts are being made by organizations to help put an end to
human trafficking. Based in Louisville, Rescue and Restore Kentucky has been
actively working toward a human trafficking free future across the state. They
have a branch in Lexington, which is called Slavery is Real and is run by
University of Kentucky student, Austin Knight. Recently, Slavery is Real teamed
up with “Jessamine County Educhasers to compete in the 200 mile long Bourbon
Chase, an overnight relay that runs through the beautiful state of Kentucky”
(Events). This event was called Strides for Freedom. Prior to the race, they
raised five thousand dollars to be put towards the end of human trafficking.
These are the kinds of efforts that organizations like Slavery is Real are
doing across the country as well as internationally. Human Trafficking was the
platform of the 2010 Miss Michigan, Katie Lynn LaRoche (Michigan). Miss
Michigan has her own charitable organization that works directly with an
anti-human trafficking organization called Mati Nepal. During her work after
winning her title, she raised money for her charity in Nepal, with a very
unique fundraiser. One school in every district did a fundraiser on May 1 2011
for human trafficking. However, all of the schools competed against each other
to see which school could raise the most money for One World One Future and the
winning school will receive both a trophy and a cash prize (Michigan). It was
highly successful at raising money and awareness for human trafficking in both
Michigan and Nepal while her presentations to the student bodies helped inform
the younger generation. Through these examples, clearly there has been a lot of
time and effort being put forth to educate people of the modern slavery and to
stop human trafficking in Kentucky, in the United States, and in the world.
It is now evident, that human
trafficking has become a very relevant issue in the World, the United States,
and even here in Lexington. Slavery has shaped itself into another form and is
once again threatening people’s freedom. It is a right that we need to stand up
for and protect. In human trafficking,
statistics aren’t just statistics; they are people who’s “lives have been
utterly destroyed by this crime, beyond the point of any hope for recovery”
(Knight 2). However, using tactics such as the Kony 2012 campaign, we can shine
enough light on the issue for more laws to be made against it and for an
eventual expiration. Human trafficking is real and just like slavery in the
United States, needs to come to an end.
Works
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