I have chosen my issue to be Human Trafficking. I think that even though it is more commonly practiced in Asia and Africa, there are girls that are being forced into it here. I think that awareness on sex trafficking could be increased. I noticed in Dallas, when the softball team was there, that in our hotel there was a sign. It read something along the lines of, "Human Trafficking is a crime, Please call the police if you have any suspicions". This was just a politically correct sign that summarized, "if you see any prostitutes, call this number, it’s illegal. I think that it is a very serious issue because it is children who are being most affected. Young girls and teenagers are being taken from their vacation spots and shipped halfway across the world before their parents even have time to report their abductions. The people running the kidnapping and shipping tell the girls who are disobedient, that there is a better life for them and the less educated girls who are poor believe them and go along willingly. If the girls don’t comply, they are physically grabbed and thrown into cars that take them to the place that they are shipped from. There are places, even in New Orleans, where sexual acts by young girls are encouraged and if there is anyone who thinks that prostitution of underage girls doesn't happen in New Orleans, they are crazy. Most people think that it can never happen to their families but more and more stories are popping up in the news and each of the stories carries the same common theme: young girl, moderately attractive, who was last seen in a public place and then vanished. The government has fairly accurate ideas of who is running these operations and they should try and stop this. In the long run, there are unwanted pregnancies, sexually transmitted diseases, rapes and murders, not to mention that it boosts the drug industry because all of the girls are forced to take drugs to be more willing to their customers. They are under the impression that they can earn their way outs of their imprisonment by working long days with very little breaks in between customers. These girls develop addictions such as sex addictions and drug addictions. They are fed very little food because the men prefer the girls to be small.
The government needs to step in and help these girls. There needs to be safe houses where these girls can go if they escape that will help them get back on their feet. The government should try and take down these men who run the operations in a way that can secure the girls a way to escape. The more people are educated about this issue the higher awareness will be and maybe we can slow down the line graph that charts the statistics of how many girls are taken a year.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
This is a great topic for you to focus on, particularly because you are so passionate about it. There are a number of ways that it affects the US. Not only does trafficking take place here but the US could also do more to insure that it was a more serious issue abroad--there are two bills at least before Congress that would do that. Then there is the issue of the Mexican border and the number of girls who come in here across that border. This topic would force you to learn more about the nature of the problem here and to consider the role that the federal govt. can play in trying to bring about an end to it. You'll also learn a lot more about the advocates who are trying to create change in this area and the pathways of action that they are using.
ReplyDeleteCheck out the NY Times Topic on this: http://topics.nytimes.com/topics/reference/timestopics/subjects/s/sexual_slavery/index.html