What is Human Trafficking ?
To first understand the crime of human trafficking and how it impacts the lives of people involved in it, we must look at what human trafficking actually is. According to the Points of View Reference center, human trafficking can be described as recruitment, transfer, or harboring of persons, through the use or threat of force, coercion, or deception, for the purpose of exploitation, including sexual exploitation and forced labor. The problem today is that women all over the world are becoming victims of this crime and there’s not a lot that the citizens and law enforcement can do since most of the cases go unreported. In my opinion, I feel it is a crime that goes under the radar because of the lack of crimes reported and the amount of victims that cannot be identified. Think about what you see and hear when you watch the news. The first crimes always to be reported are generally murders and robberies. In fact, according to the FBI, in the US last year there were 17,250 reported murders. According to NBC news, The National Human Trafficking Hotline reported 7,500 cases worldwide which was a big jump from last years numbers, which had 5,526 cases reported.
Just another statistic
The International Labor Organization (ILO) estimated that there were almost 21 million people in forced labor across the world. Not all of it is due to human trafficking, but the number of human trafficking cases across the globe doesn’t have an approximate number. The number of trafficked persons is difficult to determine, in large part because reporting rates and prosecutions are low.
One out of many
The stories of these victims truly say it all of how gruesome this crime is. Some people get to tell their story, and some people don’t. For the people that do live to tell their story, their lives are scarred forever. A prime example of a recent case of human trafficking comes right out of Mexico City. According to CNN news, Karla Jacinto was a victim of not only Human Trafficking, but rape as well. A number that she wants you to remember from this case is the number 43,200. Karla Jacinto was reportedly raped 43,200 times by 30 other men 7 days a week. It is such a bizarre story to hear and the sad part is there’s a lot more cases like these that go unnoticed or unreported.
Now you're aware
Human Trafficking is truly one of those crimes you just have to sit there and think, " why would somebody do something so cruel". Although there's not a lot that law enforcement can truly do about the crime do to the lack of reports, people are still trying to make a difference by the creation of the National Human Trafficking Hotline. In todays world, It's a good thing to be informed about crimes like these because you never know who it could happen too. Being informed and aware could help save yours or another persons life in the future. It would be great to see the number of reported human trafficking cases decline in the coming years.
