Human Trafficking Today

When people think of slavery, they think of African Americans on plantations in the 1800’s. Unfortunately, slavery is still prevalent today, and it’s happening all over the world. Many innocent civilians lose their freedom due to human trafficking. Human trafficking is a growing problem that happens in many places, but if people come together there is a way of trying to prevent it from happening.
The African slave trade was the first form of human trafficking. In 1820, America passed the 13th Amendment, which abolished slavery (Curry, 2007). Quickly replacing the slave trade was white slavery. White slavery is more of what human trafficking is today. White slavery is acquirement- by use of force, dishonesty, or drugs- of a white woman or
Worldwide, the net worth of the industry is around $150 billion. Many victims are fearful of law enforcement because the women are committing a crime. However, they should not be punished for their actions because nine times out of ten they are being held captive or forced to do this work. Victims also worry about their pimps finding out they went to the police (Alvarez, 2016). Although these victims live in constant fear, many people are unaware of their suffering.
There are two types of trafficking: sex trafficking and forced labor trafficking. Forced labor happens in other countries. 12.3 million people are victims of being forced into labor trafficking. 14,500-17,500 people are trafficked into the United States each year (Baldas,
The woman’s foundation of Minnesota was established in 1983. Their main focus was to start pushing for a social change to achieve equality. When human trafficking became such a broad issue they pulled people together all over the state of Minnesota to build a $5 million dollar campaign raising awareness (wfmn.org). The main priority of the Woman’s foundation is to house the victims and provide proper treatment for their mental health. Another foundation is The Polaris project. The Polaris project is another huge organization working together to end human trafficking. The Polaris project is a non-profit organization that works throughout the U.S. They as well are trying to prevent modern day slavery and combat the issue (Polarisproject.org). The National Human Trafficking Resource Center is hotline that many victims call to seek help. The hotline is open 24/7 all year long. More than 27,000 cases were reported to HNTRC in the last eight years. The resource center averages about 100 phone calls a day. The issue of human trafficking is also being brought to light through the use of