Human Trafficking

One of the major problems of human trafficking is that so many of those trafficked are children or young adults who end in first world countries, enslaved as prostitutes. As Rahman points out, “an estimated 1.2 million children are trafficked each year,” most of them between the ages of 18-24, and almost all of them victims of “physical or sexual violence while being trafficked” (57). Indeed, 50% of all persons who are trafficked fall into the hands of sex traffickers and are forced into prostitution

“in advanced countries” (Rahman 57). If advanced countries are supposed to be leaders in the world, the problem is very clearly a moral and ethical one and shows a severe failing in the resolve of the industrialized world to address this decline in cultural standards. This paper will address this issue of human trafficking and offer a way to solve the problem.
As Rahman shows, human trafficking is actually a problem of globalization: in other words, globalization has made it possible for human traffickers to flourish in the 21st century. They are better connected thanks to the range of communications made possible via the Internet, and transportation is much easier to provide in today’s day and age than it was even a century ago. However, the problem is not just that globalization has allowed it to happen, it is that a decline in morality and ethical culture has allowed it to happen. A civilized nation that is focused on teaching and living according to a moral code would not condone human trafficking of children or tolerate sex trafficking so that half of persons end up working as prostitutes in their own country. They would identify the problem, identify those behind it, and put a stop to it. The issue in the industrialized world today is that so many people are focused instead on other things—such as the pursuit of wealth, profits, and glamour. There is a severe moral failing throughout the nations of today for allowing this to happen.
Bales and Soodalter note that, those who are trafficked into the U.S. are the new slaves of America. So while most people think slavery ended because of the Civil War, the fact is that slavery still very much exists in the U.S.—because of human trafficking. Children are sold into slavery and then brought into country and subjected to sex work—all in a nation that is supposed to be one of the leading nations of the world—the light shining on a hill. Yet, Americans have allowed children to be sold into slavery right under their noses—and what is worse Americans are the ones buying these slaves or using them for their own enjoyment. It is a horrible crime that has to be addressed and there are a number of ways to do that.
First of all, as Bales and Soodalter point out, advocacy is one option. They highlight how groups of organized advocates can make a difference by raising awareness and pressing for action. They draw attention to the effective advocacy movement that took place in Washington, D.C., in 2007: “a small, diverse coalition of antislavery and antitrafficking groups was formed with the intention of speaking with one voice to policy makers. The group, now called the Alliance to End Slavery and Trafficking (ATEST), was given crucial guidance and support by Humanity United, a foundation that supports work to eradicate slavery” (Bales, Soodalter xii). This type of advocacy is what is required to put a stop to human trafficking and to prevent people in the U.S. from taking advantage of children and causing them harm. If more people took to the capital to protest and push lawmakers to take action against those who allow trafficking to occur or against those who look the other way when they should be putting their foot down, the problem of young people being sold into sex slavery would disappear.
Second, the moral stands of the nation have to be improved so that the ethical culture that should drive American decision making and social action can be strengthened. This has to be accomplished through the schools, through the churches, through the family and through the workplaces. It must take a concerted effort by all stakeholders to address this situation by raising awareness and by teaching the moral and ethical lessons that people need especially from a young age to be aware of the new slavery and the reality of the situation—namely that action is needed and that society must be held accountable. This second step is essentially an extension of the first step: in order for people to advocate, they need to be informed: in order to be informed, they need educators in all walks of life who are willing and able to step up and make a difference by providing information and know-how to individuals at all ages. This is how a community becomes informed.
The proposal, therefore, is for communities to advocate in an organized manner so that education is provided, awareness is raised, and people are given the tools (the knowledge) and the means (the methods) to make a difference by taking social action to combat the human trafficking of children into sex slavery. The example set by the Alliance to End Slavery and Trafficking in D.C. is a perfect example of what can happen when people are informed and willing to work together to make a difference. The more that attention is given to this issue and the more that communities’ moral standards are emphasized, the more likely it is that social justice will be pursued.
The counter-argument is that human trafficking is an issue that takes place in the dark and that people sometimes cannot even know who is a slave and who is not. This argument suggests that social advocacy is not going to make any difference because one is still going through the bureaucratic machine of red tape that is Washington, D.C. Bales and Soodalter make the point that so much of the government is bogged down by red tape, legal loopholes and lackadaisical lawmakers that nothing will ever happen to change the situation for the better.
However, this argument can easily be countered by pointing out how the rise of nationalism is actually changing things not just in the U.S. but throughout the world. In England, the people have voted to leave the EU because of its open borders policy (which actually aids in human trafficking), and other states in the EU are thinking of doing the same, like Italy and Hungary. Russia has been focusing on setting new moral standards so that its people can be better informed and more willing to stand up for what’s right, and this trend could move people to begin to look inward to themselves and to their people at home.
Globalization has allowed many to look elsewhere: it has allowed companies to look overseas for off-shoring labor. It has allowed traffickers to take advantage of newfound demand. Nations that want to have a strong national identity and character, however, can take action by resisting the temptations of globalism and focusing on strengthening their own national and moral character. These nations can take action against human trafficking by organizing groups to lobby, advocate and implement laws that would call for a new task force to crack down on human traffickers and make them pay for the injustices they perpetuate. This is not an idealistic aim but rather one that can be accomplished right now today.

Works Cited
Bales, Kevin, and Ron Soodalter. The slave next door: Human trafficking and slavery in
America today. Univ of California Press, 2010.
Rahman, Majeed A. "Human Trafficking in the era of Globalization: The case of
Trafficking in the Global Market Economy." Transcience Journal 2.1 (2011): 54-71.