In amongst exams and the excitement and stress of this season, I thought I would take a moment to write about something that I am very passionate about.
I am passionate about seeing the end to Human Trafficking.
For those of you who aren't aware of what Human Trafficking is I'll explain. Human Trafficking is modern day slavery and is the fastest growing crime in the world. It is the illegal trade of human beings, mainly for the purposes of forced labor and sex trafficking. It affects every nation across the globe and every 30 seconds, someone becomes a victim of modern day slavery.
Many of you I'm sure are shocked by that.
'Can there really be slavery today?' The answer I'm afraid is yes.
'Surely there can't be that many victims?' You may well ask but unfortunately the truthful response to that is shocking. There are MORE slaves in the world today than at any other point in human history. There are estimates of there being over 27 million victims across the globe. Men, Women and children are being exploited for manual and sexual labor against their will.
On the one hand I don't want to scare you, but on the other hand you need to understand the seriousness of Human Trafficking. Human Trafficking can happen to anyone, anywhere at anytime.
In my mind I thought Human Trafficking was a distant thing and something that only happened in Thailand and America, however after having researched into the facts more leading up to my photography exam (Which was based on Human Trafficking) I discovered how blind I had been. Little did I know, Human Trafficking was a crime active in the city I live. I learnt that child trafficking has been discovered in my city a couple of times where children have been trafficking from places abroad and brought to England to work as prostitutes. I learnt that a couple of years ago it was discovered that traffickers were holding open auctions in and outside of the big airports in England. I discovered that occasionally when people have been invited for job interviews or offered jobs after finding applications online, they have attended with their passports and unknowingly fallen into the hands of traffickers. I learnt that social media has been a key for Human Traffickers to find out all the information about certain people or children who post/parents post their lives onto social media and subsequently the traffickers are already trading people before they even have them in their grasp.
Many of the victims of Human Trafficking will suffer from verbal, physical and drug abuse. Very few are ever rescued.
- The average age of a victim is 12 years old.
- 1-2% of victims are rescued.
- Approximately 75-80% of Human Trafficking is for sex.
- There are an estimated 27 million adults and 13 million children currently victims.
- An estimated 30,000 victims die each year due to abuse.
- A human trafficker can earn 20 times what he paid for a girl.
- It is estimated 80% of victims are female and 50% are children.
- If a sex slave is arrested she is imprisoned whilst her trafficker is able to buy themselves out of trouble.
- Airports are often used by traffickers to hold 'slave auctions' where women and children are sold into prostitution.
- Human traffickers often work with corrupt government officials to obtain travel documents and seize passports.
- In China and North Korea if a victim objects they are thrown into a gulag (Concentration Camp) or executed.
Those are only a few of the heart breaking facts of human trafficking but there are many more and I'll leave all links below.
The A21 Campaign posted a video telling the story of a Victim - A Victim's Story
They also posted a video showing that Human Trafficking can happen to anyone - In Her Shoes
The reason I wrote this blog post isn't just to make you aware but also to tell you that YOU can do so much to help put an end to Human Trafficking.
There are many organisations around that you can donate money to:
A21 Campaign: http://www.a21.org/index.php?linkid=2319
Fairtrade: http://www.fairtrade.org.uk
Purple Teardrop: http://www.purpleteardrop.org.uk
Human Trafficking Foundation: http://www.humantraffickingfoundation.org
Catholic Church of England and Wales: http://www.cbcew.org.uk/CBCEW-Home/Departments/International-Affairs/The-Catholic-Church-and-Human-Trafficking/Santa-Marta-Group/
End It Movement: https://secure.enditmovement.com
On those sites are more ways you can be involved such as writing letters, holding awareness meetings, just simply telling a friend. Whatever you have the ability to do to help, I URGE you to do it.
We CAN put an end to human trafficking, but we need YOUR help.
