map via polarisproject.org
My latest romantic suspense novel, The Lair, will be released June 16th. It’s set in Verona, Italy, in the glamorous world of elite hospitality. Several of the characters, including the heroine, are co-owners of a five-star luxury hotel company that caters to the world’s richest clientele.
Yet the crime at the heart of the story is anything but high class. I’m talking about human trafficking, which is a fancy term for modern-day slavery for the purposes of forced sex or labor.
My fictional victim isn’t based on any particular person; she could be any one of thousands of women who find themselves tricked into horrific situations from which there seems to be no escape.
Many of us who live in decent, privileged circumstances here in the United States wish we could think of human trafficking as a scourge that happens someplace else … someplace “over there.” But the sad truth is, it is happening in virtually every country, including our own … and in every state.
The organization Force 4 Compassion (F4C) http://fashion4.org/ reports that human trafficking is the second largest crime in terms of dollars spent, surpassed only by the illegal drug trade. Because it’s so lucrative, it’s also the fastest growing international crime.
The numbers are staggering. A report issued last year by the International Labour Organization (ILO), a special agency of the United Nations, says that forced labor generates $150 billion in illegal profits per year, two thirds of which comes from commercial sexual exploitation. Almost thirty percent comes from forced labor in industries such as construction, manufacturing, mining, and agriculture. Several billion dollars more are stolen every year by exploiting domestic servants. In all, it’s estimated that the number of people trapped in forced labor situations worldwide is upwards of 21 million, and some researchers say the number is closer to 30. More than half of those are women and girls. http://bit.ly/MHlXB2.
chart courtesy of F4C.org
It’s a fact that the majority of human trafficking victims come from less developed countries and from poor families with few resources. Like my fictional crime victim, many are duped into traveling to unknown places in order to find work, improve their lifestyle, and help support their loved ones. Some make the gut-wrenching decision to sell a child or even themselves into servitude because their economic situation is so dire. Still others, especially children, are out and out kidnapped.
But even developed nations like the United States and the countries of Western Europe have their share of exploited individuals. Many come from broken or abusive homes and hit the streets looking for something better, some relief from the pain they’ve been living with. Only the “something better” turns out to be as bad or worse than what they left behind. F4C estimates that over half of girls living on America’s streets, for example, are engaged in sexual slavery.
The victim in my story is highly valued, financially-speaking, but that’s not the norm. In reality, says F4C, human beings are sold for an average of less than $100 per person. But they make enormous profits for their “owners,” especially in the sex trade, and are sold over and over again as they are moved around to avoid detection by authorities. And more than three thousand men, women and children join their ranks every single day – that’s well over a hundred new slaves per hour. F4C cites estimates (and say they’re probably low) that more than a million modern slaves reside in the United States alone. The Polaris Project http://www.polarisproject.org/ puts it in perspective: “There are more individuals in slavery today than at the height of the trans-Atlantic slave trade.” Wouldn’t Abraham Lincoln be surprised to hear that?
When I read statistics like that, my immediate reaction is, how can there be so many evil people out there? What are the men thinking who take advantage of these women and children, both as “owners” and “customers”? Don’t they have mothers, sisters, wives, daughters, sons? Slavery has always been a blight on humanity, but testimonials from today’s survivors seem to point to an almost institutionalized depravity. I don’t understand it.
What follows on the heels of those thoughts is, “What can one person do to fix the problem? What can I do about it?”
The short answer is: not much, on your own. But that’s too easy—it gives us permission to ignore it. Instead, I think we can all be both proactive and productive in the following way:
1) Recognize and come to grips with the fact that human trafficking exists. It’s the most horrific thing one human being can do to another, short of torturing or murdering them (and some victims are indeed tortured if they try to resist). Human trafficking is happening not just somewhere overseas, but in our very own communities. It’s a growing problem and it’s something we, as civilized people, shouldn’t stand for.
2) Learn more about it. You can start by checking out the links I’ve cited above; another good source is the blog series by Natalie Jesionka at The Muse: https://www.themuse.com/advice/human-trafficking-the-myths-and-the-realities. Use your smarts to determine which organizations are trustworthy and effective.
3) Find a way to help the cause that works for you and your situation. Maybe it’s contributing financially to an organization you believe in. Perhaps you have time to give and can volunteer in some capacity, helping with fundraising, manning a hot line, or lobbying for better anti-trafficking legislation. Knowing that many runaways are ripe for sexual exploitation, maybe you can provide support for programs that reach out to low income/at risk teens or impoverished children. The connection between poverty and human exploitation is undeniable, which means there are any number of ways to help lift people up and make them less vulnerable to predators.
Okay, I know what you’re thinking: how on earth can I deal with one more sob story? And I get it: there are so many problems that need solving in this world. Maybe the most important thing is to find the one thing that gets your blood boiling and do something—anything— to help make things better. Can one person do it all? Heck no, but just imagine if every one of us did just a little. In our own way. Wow. That would really add up to a whole lot of good to counteract so much bad.
I’d love to hear your thoughts on this issue. What do you think would be an effective way to stem the tide of human trafficking?
