Human Trafficking: False Information and Taking Action
June 12, 2021
In the 1800’s, slavery supposedly ended. However, while it’s not as apparent as it used to be, slavery still exists. Human trafficking is the modern day form of slavery and not enough people are talking about it. Over 40 million people are targeted worldwide and that number grows everyday. Women, men and children are all victims of enslavement and forced labor. A lot of people think they can’t help make a change but there are so many things everyone can do to help end human trafficking.
While a lot of people think only women are victims of human trafficking, only about 51% of victims are women. 28% are children and the other 21% are men. Men are just as vulnerable to human trafficking as women, but it is not talked about as much. While children and women are more likely to be trafficked, it is harder for men to talk about it because it doesn’t happen as much to them. The same thing goes for human traffickers, 63% of all reported traffickers are men and 37% are women, yet most people think that only men are traffickers. So many human trafficking cases aren’t reported because the trafficker is a woman. Human trafficking isn’t talked about enough as it is, but men that are survivors definitely need more attention.
A false statement about human trafficking is that it only involves forced sex, but that is far from the truth. Forced labor, fraud and coercion are common forms of human trafficking. About 82% of all cases are sex trafficking cases, the rest involve some sort of forced labor as well as some other forms like organ extraction and even torture. Most people think that survivors are trafficked by strangers, but many people are actually victims of spouses, family members and friends. Another false statement is that all human trafficking cases involve violence, but some victims have actually been manipulated and mentally harassed into labor. While it seems unlikely, there are a surprisingly large amount of survivors that were never physically touched by the person attacking them, they were emotionally abused and manipulated into labor. There’s so much misinformation about human trafficking but if the topic was talked about more, researchers would be able to come out with accurate statistics and information.
So what can you do to help end human trafficking? An easy but efficient way to help is to sign petitions and donate to organizations. Change.org has a ton of petitions and Polaris, Save the Children, and Great NonProfits are some donation sites. Signing petitions and donating can help make a change, but not everyone can afford to donate. Just educating yourself can help. Some great organizations have articles, statistics and websites that help educate the public. Educating yourself not only helps you become more aware of what is going on but it also helps spread awareness about what is going on. Some of these organizations are:
https://www.missingkids.org/HOME
Human trafficking has been going on since the beginning of the 1900’s, yet still not a lot of people are trying to help end it. Millions of people are targeted worldwide and that number is not getting any lower. Taking action by just signing some petitions can help make a change. Human trafficking has been going on for over a century, but if more and more people spread awareness and become educated on the topic, human trafficking could finally end.
