What Is Human Trafficking, and Why Should You Care?

Just about a year ago, I had no idea what human trafficking was. That might seem a bit difficult to imagine for anyone who knows me at the moment. I’m currently president of an awareness club at my high school, and I have a habit of getting into long-winded discussions about different facets of the problem at parties. But only a year ago, I was completely ignorant about this issue, with only a vague knowledge of what it was and a distinct sense of separation from the people involved.

Then one day my church held an event, the 24 Hour Justice Experience, with an amazing organization called International Justice Mission. IJM has an international focus and works with, rather than against, the legal systems in countries where trafficking is prevalent in order to rescue victims from slavery. During these 24 hours with my church, we learned what human trafficking is, its extreme prevalence worldwide, and, most importantly, why it matters to us in either a religious or moral sense. For the first time, this issue seemed real to me — not something I’d hear about in the news or discuss in a Model United Nations class, but something that was happening everywhere to millions of innocent people. It’s an issue that happens not to just a statistic of the world’s population, but that destroys the lives of countless individuals.

Which leads us to the main question here: What exactly is human trafficking? The technical definition, paraphrased from that of the UN and several governmental organizations, would be the transportation, harboring, recruitment, or receipt of persons by means such as force, fraud, or coercion for an improper purpose — including forced labor or sexual exploitation. As I’ve learned from input from a number of my friends, this definition isn’t helpful at all except for in a purely academic sense, and it doesn’t really give you an idea of what trafficking actually is.

So, allow me to rephrase in my own — albeit not as technically correct — terms: Human trafficking is using another person for one’s own monetary benefit, with either physical force or psychological manipulation, usually in a highly degrading way that takes away their dignity as a person. Some examples include:

Trafficking is a human rights issue that permeates both developed and developing countries worldwide, preventing disadvantaged men, women, and children from ever achieving true equality in the modern world. Estimates vary greatly, and since this issue is for the most part so hidden from the public view, statistics will never be definitive; but, there are about 20 to 30 million people currently being trafficked internationally. Some estimates say that 1 out of every 236 people in the world is trapped in this form of modern day slavery.

A few questions might arise at this point. How do people get into these situations, and if they do, why doesn’t anyone stop it? The situations in which victims are trapped in these forms of slavery vary dramatically based on their society and the particular form of trafficking involved.

In the US, UK, and other highly-developed nations, the extent to which human trafficking still occurs might shock some, but 17,500 people are trafficked in the US every year, with thousands more young adults and children at risk. It also surprises many to find that even the most affluent areas or “good neighborhoods” are not immune from this issue. At the first meeting of our awareness club at my high school a couple weeks ago, I mentioned two verified trafficking cases covered by our local human trafficking operations office, the OCHTTF, in communities just across the street from our school. It was this — the realization that such an issue could affect people in such a close proximity to our private Catholic school in some of the wealthiest areas of Southern California — that really got to people more than any other statistics or accounts I shared.

Although this issue can and does occur in even the most affluent, “safest” communities, certain risk factors increase the odds that a young adult will be trafficked. The foster care system in America is a breeding ground for trafficking because it produces so many runaways, with some sources suggesting that about 70% of the children being trafficked for sex in America are from the system.

Abuse at home and a lack of supportive parent figures or friends can also put teenagers and young people at risk. Most often, in developed nations, traffickers rely on psychological methods rather than blatant physical force or coercion — sometimes first initiating what seems to be a romantic relationship with their victim. Young adults lacking a solid adult presence or strong friend group in their lives can be at risk of becoming involved in such a relationship with a potential trafficker.

Consider the prevalence of this issue in developed nations where, at least outwardly, the presence of modern-day slavery is reviled by society and prohibited by our legal system. Then picture the commonness of this issue in countries where the culture regards this issue differently and where the law hardly acts as a buffer between traffickers and their victims. That should give you a mental image of the absolute proliferation of this issue worldwide.

In many poorer countries, a child’s parents, desperate to pay off a debt or survive the ravages of poverty, may sell their child into slavery in a sweatshop or brothel. Although incomprehensible to most Western minds, this is the choice seen as acceptable by the society they live in, and it’s often disregarded by legal authorities in their country. In other instances, orphans or abused children — similar to risk factors like the foster care system in America — may seek out shelter at the hands of a person who ultimately becomes their trafficker.

So why does human trafficking continue despite the presence of numerous activist groups, nonprofits, and governmental initiatives? There are a number of factors, but it all derives from poverty and human greed. Without a “market” for these crimes, they wouldn’t continue. Unfortunately, for every activist group out there, there is a business willing to buy unethically sourced products produced in a sweatshop, and for every person dedicated to fighting this issue, there is another person ready to exploit someone else as a forced prostitute or worker. Without the complete eradication of poverty, widespread knowledge of this problem, and a global commitment on the part of individuals to treat other people ethically, it’s unlikely we’ll ever see the end of human trafficking in our lifetime.

All cynicism and hopelessness of the above paragraph aside, it is likely that we’ll be able to make a great difference in the presence of human trafficking in our society by making the utmost effort to fight it. By reforming the legal system in order to better prosecute traffickers and to better protect victims from prosecution of their own, providing accessible aftercare and treatment for survivors, and, most of all, spreading awareness of this issue, we can expect to make an impact.

Know the warning signs and characteristics that might lead you to a person being trafficked. Call the human trafficking hotline number and file a report with your county’s police office if you see anything suspicious. Most importantly: Tell everyone you know.