You may think “Human Trafficking,” occurs only in California, Texas and Florida. However, as recent as February 6, 2021 two major and separate Trafficking cases occurred in St, Joseph, Missouri. In 2016, then-President Barack Obama told the Clinton Global Initiative: “I’m talking about the injustice, the outrage of human trafficking, which must be called by its true name: modern slavery. It is barbaric and it is evil and it has no place in a civilized world.” Awareness is the key in many social issues such as autism, veterans and homelessness. Awareness is needed now for all places in America which could be used to exploit innocent human beings.
Many of our government resources have been diverted for the COV-19 and its related causes including unemployment, business failures and general social discord. This vacuum of social distress may lead to issues such as slavery in the US becoming a back burner concern. Sadly this affects greatly women, children, minorities and immigrants. Here is a quote from the INSIDER: Sources: Department of Justice, State Department
“The United States, along with Mexico and the Philippines, was ranked one of the world’s worst places for human trafficking in 2018. In the US, there is no official number of human trafficking victims, but estimates place it in the hundreds of thousands.”
Here is but a few sobering points to consider in dealing with slavery in America. There are 18,000 to 20,000 new trafficking victims every year. The Human Trafficking Hotline receives 150 calls a day of potential victims. Children are the most vulnerable especially those in foster care but women constitute 71% of the estimated slaves in America. The women number is further revealed to be 40% Native Americans. While the child number is primarily in the age group of 12-14.
There are more and more sad numbers to report but the above is a brief sampling. Assuredly with the past “Wall Crackdown,” new emigrants legally or illegally entered, face less options and greater weakness to slavery as an answer to survival. We are not the new answer but maybe we can make the public aware of this situation in the less than obvious locations.
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