As a young adult male from a small rural town in Connecticut, there is not much that I have to worry about. I was born into a family that had its struggles at times, but nothing that ever affected my personal well-being or safety. I lived in a primarily middle-class neighborhood where I could play outside without having to worry about cars flying by or precipitating violence. I had all the toys I could ever want because of the fact that my parents had access to education and employment. Then as a child, I went through a school system where there were under 150 students in each grade level, and I knew most of the students since I was eight years old. My family was also fortunate enough to be able to afford school supplies, adequate clothing, and school lunch so I could get the most out of each school day.
From here, I had the privilege of coming home to a mother that would ask me how my day was, often times making dinner for me without asking. I could then eat this dinner and work on my homework knowing that I was safe and that I had a supportive network of people around me. I could afford to go on vacations and travel, during which I was encouraged to try new things and experience the world. I had grandparents that had enough money saved to buy me a car, so I could get to places like school, work, and extracurricular events without hesitation. As if all of this was not enough, I could then afford to go to college and graduate school in addition to all of the various events that they sponsored which furthered my education.
Why am I mentioning all of this? I am mentioning all of this to boast about all the things that I had that others potentially did not; I am doing this simply because I never realized how privileged I was. When I was younger and more naïve, I always thought that privilege was being a Kardashian or a Warren Buffet, or anyone else with an unreasonable amount of wealth. I thought that because I struggled like many other families do, I did not feel justified calling myself privileged. I did not consider that I had all of the basic resources that I needed in order to live, grow, and thrive in my environment.
The reason I bring up this idea of privilege and opportunity is because it favors those that are financially stable. As a person growing up in poverty, you do not have the same opportunities as upper-class citizens, and that is just considering the ability to provide for oneself and their family. This has many implications as I have learned, but that is something that I will touch upon later. That being said, there was a borough of my town that was and is still known for its low socioeconomic status, where I have seen how the effects of poverty and discrimination transpired both socially and financially.
Around the time that I graduated from high school, there was a young woman in the grade below me who overdosed on fentanyl-laced heroin. Heroin and the opioid crisis are not only a widespread issue here in the United States, but particularly in this borough of my town. While I felt for this young woman and her family, I did not know her personally and had never really talked to her. That being said, I remember feeling moved because of all of her friends, some who were my friends, being completely overwhelmed with emotions and having nothing but kind and positive things to say about her.
After some time had passed, one of my friends informed me that the police had further investigated this individual’s death, ruling that it was an act of child sex trafficking that was being carried out in the greater-county area. After meeting a man whom gained her “trust,” he manipulated her into a lifestyle of prostitution. From here, he would then provide her with heroin laced with fentanyl, a highly potent drug with a high potential of addiction. This gave her a reason to keep coming back. Eventually, the dependency became so strong that she was forced to run away from home where she overdosed a few days later. While at first I was hesitant to believe this, given the nature of how rumors unfortunately spread through small towns, I ended up doing some further research and realized that it was true. This was not only a huge moment of realization for me, but one of confusion and anger as well.
I was confused as to why a man would want to do this to a young woman, and how he thought that he could get away with it. I was confused as to how this transpired, and how nobody warned her of the situation that she would eventually become a part of. I was confused that the police did not have the necessary resources to save this individual’s life prior to her eventual overdose, rather than after. Given what I had just learned, I felt considerably angry as I knew that if something was done earlier, that she would have been okay. If this happened to a young woman from rural Connecticut, then I knew that there were hundreds, probably even thousands of young women falling victim to this system that just goes completely under the radar.
In paying respect to this young woman’s parents, I would never want them to feel as if there was more they could have done. Trafficking is extremely difficult to prevent, as the scope of its operations span wider than we realize. That being said, our legislators and law enforcement agencies need to create prevention plans, strategies, and resources that can aid this process for the sake of individuals like her. I feel for this young woman because I cannot even imagine what she had to go through, but more importantly, I feel for her because she did not have the resources that she needed to help inform her perspective on this issue. She also grew up in an area of Connecticut where drugs, prostitution, and poverty are more prevalent and make people more susceptible to danger, exploitation, and manipulation.
I wanted to share this story on a platform like this, as I feel that it encompasses the horrific and inhumane nature of human trafficking. I want to encourage everyone that comes from a place of privilege to not only be appreciative of that, but realize that they have access to resources that many others do not have. In this way, we can use our knowledge and our position in society to create a positive impact and inform others of the threat of trafficking. As you will see, trafficking exists in different forms but the more that we spread the word, the easier it will become to identify and eventually prevent. This blog post is for those living in the US who have either been personally affected by trafficking, know somebody that has, or simply someone that wants to know more on this topic. I wanted to take the time to also disclose that I am not an expert by any means on this subject, just a man who had a personal experience he wanted to share and how it affected his understanding of this. I hope you find it helpful.
The Context
Human Trafficking can be interpreted in many different ways, however, it has become universally known as this silent epidemic. Because this issue has persisted for so long and is now just recently starting to become recognized as a human rights violation, many are unaware of its context. A great resource that has a lot of up-to-date information on human trafficking is the Global Emancipation Network. Based on this site, the legal definition of human trafficking is as follows:
"The recruitment, transportation, transfer, harboring or receipt of persons, by means of the threat or use of force or other forms of coercion, of abduction, of fraud, of deception, of the abuse of power or of a position of vulnerability or of the giving or receiving of payments or benefits to achieve the consent of a person having control over another person, for the purpose of exploitation. Exploitation shall include, at a minimum, the exploitation of the prostitution of others or other forms of sexual exploitation, forced labor or services, slavery or practices similar to slavery, servitude or the removal of organs."
Although this definition is long, it sums up all of the different modalities that human trafficking operates under. As mentioned previously, the four major categories that it encompasses are labor, sex, medical, and other. Labor and sex seem to be the two most prominent forms of trafficking, with labor trafficking affecting 24.9 million individuals, and sex trafficking affecting 4.8 millionindividuals (Global Emancipation Network, 2017). While labor affects more people worldwide, sex trafficking has become more prevalent within the last decade. This includes any form of sexual exploitation, such as pornography and prostitution, both of which are again, highly prevalent in the United States.
When trying to understand traffickers themselves, it is important that the reader knows that they will use any means necessary in order to lure in victims. This includes force if the individual is unwilling, coercion in order to control someone to perform labor or sex, and fraud in order to convince the victim that they are safe and can trust them. These individuals are manipulative and will often try to use money, drugs, or individual praise as means of making this lifestyle appear glamorous.
A Human Rights Violation
While human trafficking certainly has become more recognized in mainstream culture over the last decade, many have only been exposed to this issue through its interpretations in film, television, and various social media platforms. Human trafficking is a very complex trade that goes far beyond profit and exploitation; it is a human rights violation in every sense of the phrase. For many reading, I’m sure this is not anything new, however human rights goes beyond just respect for other human beings.
When looking at the Universal Declaration of Human Rights that was adopted by the United Nations General Assembly, each article following the preamble states liberties and freedoms that every human being is entitled to. Article 4: in particular states that “no one should be held in slavery or servitude, and that slave trade shall be prohibited in all forms” (UN General Assembly, 1948). Human trafficking is essentially a form of modern day slavery, as victims are forced into the trade against their will most of the time.
Looking to Article 2 of this same document, this section goes into more depth of what I interpret as the different social constructs that affect our society. It states that “everyone is entitled to all the rights and freedoms set forth in this Declaration, without distinction of any kind of race color, sex, language, religion, or other opinion” (UN General Assembly, 1948). This is extremely important to note, as these are all factors that either elevate or lower a person’s status in society. This is especially true in American culture, as race and sex are two constructs that make people more susceptible to discrimination. This discrimination not only exists socially through day to day interactions, it also exists in form of financial and economic discrimination. This makes certain people more susceptible to poverty, and with this comes threats to safety and well-being depending on the surrounding environment.
Even though many countries support these documents, the United States has been ambivalent in ratifying the core articles. In doing so, I think we have unintentionally sent a message that we neglect human rights here in this country. While it would be naïve of me to assume that of everyone, in terms of policy, we could be creating legislative to reflect the growing social and economic disparities that make more people susceptible to danger and vulnerability. In this way, we need people to stand up as advocates as well. Social workers, politicians, and even celebrities are some examples of individuals who can have an impact.
Click on the link(s) below to see an example of this in action with a testimony provided by Ashton Kutcher:
Shortened clip: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EPPT9urr8Ew
Full Testimony: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HsgAq72bAoU
Resources:
Just as sharing my personal experience and context of the overall issue is important, it is also important that I provide resources so that one can further their own understanding on the silent epidemic of human trafficking. Each one of these resources provide information on human trafficking as well as ways in which one can intervene. Please take the time to check these out.
Human Trafficking Hotline This site includes the national hotline number for those that want to report an incident of trafficking in the United States. It also includes safety planning, statistics, and further resources that are meant to aid victims or potential victims.
Polaris Project This second site also includes the national hotline number, but also signs to help someone recognize when someone is in danger. They also include survivor stories that are inspirational and empowering to those that are dealing with these struggles.
“TraffickCam." This app, in particular, is very resourceful. "TraffickCam" enables you to take pictures of your hotel room(s) with your smartphone when you travel and send them to a database that works to connect the photos with cases of human trafficking. For those that travel often, this helps create a database of hotel images that investigators can use to identify rooms used for online advertisement.
The link for The Universal Declaration of Human Rights on the United Nations website can be found within this post, or you can click on it here. I highly encourage that you check it out if you haven’t already.
Cover image provided by: https://engagetogether.com/2018/02/22/human-trafficking-101-victims/