Human Trafficking is Modern Day Slavery

According to Hotline Statistics, in 2017, there were 8,524 human trafficking cases. Men, women, and even children are put to work for traffickers to earn money off of them. This is modern day slavery.

Human traffickers make $99 billion on commercial sex and $34 billion in construction, manufacturing, agriculture, etc. Money is being made out of the suffering, and brutal torture of humans. Which honestly is very disturbing, because we’re letting traffickers commit such an unsettling crime.

“We want to make a meaningful impact and raise the profile of this crime,” anti-slavery activist Kenneth Morris said on BBC News.

Morris is the great-great-great grandson of Frederick Douglass, and like his grandfather, he wants to fight against modern day slavery. He’s the president of the Frederick Douglass Family Initiatives (FDFI). Their mission is “To Advance Freedom through Knowledge and Strategic Action.” They help fight for those who are surviving everyday living a life they were forced into.

There are young children being sold for commercial sex. Children in Africa are forced to become soldiers, or are prostituted. In 2013, there were 45,000 children in South Africa who were forced into prostitution. Usually a child will be sold by their parents, a legal guardian, or person on the internet. For example, Connie and Ronnie McCall sold their three oldest daughters ages 12, 15, and 17 for sex in 2016 in Tennessee. This is wrong in every way. We shouldn’t have to read about a child’s parents selling them for commercial sex.

According to Ark of Hope for Children, two million children in the United States are subjected to prostitution. To let someone take a child’s innocence in such a revolting way is sick. If they aren’t sold on the streets, then there’s a special place for selling humans on the deep web. The deep web is a hotspot for auctioning humans.  People are sold on this highly secured site, mainly for sexual purposes, because it makes the most money. According to Human Trafficking Center, this illegal business generates $150.2 billion in illegal profits each year. Two-thirds are from sexual exploitation.

No child, woman, or man should have to be auctioned or sold for any reason. We, as a human race, need to fight for the people suffering such a dreadful adversity. The Polaris Project is a non-profit organization that fights against human trafficking. You can contribute by donating money to help them disrupt the human trafficking networks that rob people of their lives and their freedom. You can also take a step forward by calling the National Human Trafficking Hotline at 1(888)-373-7888 if you have witnessed human trafficking, or know someone who has.