Human trafficking: modern day slavery essay

Every morning, a little girl gets up, who heads to her master’s field. From sun up ‘ til sun down, she works in her master’s field. But as the sun sets, she heads into her master’s house to do all the households. Exhausted from working throughout the day, she heads onto her room and is shock by her master’s shout. Around her ankles are bleeding wounds, since she try to run away. Trembling in fear, she lays down the bed, listening to every sound, wondering, will it happen again? With her master once again? His master lies down, only to rape her. She doesn’t know what to do.

She contemplates suicide. At least if she’s dead, the beatings, the rape, the torture and the work would stop! We all heard stories about slavery. And this little girl’s story gives a straightforward definition of human trafficking. Human trafficking is the fastest growing criminal industry in the world and is today’s generation’s slavery. Now, we will know what exactly human trafficking is, its extent, the awareness and response to it. Human trafficking is defined as the recruitment, transportation, transfer, harboring or receipt of persons by improper means and improper purposes, such as sexual exploitation, forced labor and other servitudes. According to the United States Development data, an estimated of 600, 000 to 820, 000 men, women, and children are trafficked across international borders each year, approximately 80% are women and up to 50% are minors. Philippines is a source, transit and destination country for human trafficking.

Some have been bonded laborers as means of repayment for a loan, but the value of their work is greater than the money “ borrowed”. There are also instances in which victims are forced to work against their own will, under the threat of violence or punishments. As you would see, there are street children begging across the streets. Most of them are victims of trafficking syndicates who force them to beg just to earn money. Another form of human trafficking is the so-called “ sex trafficking”. Individuals vulnerable to traffickers are the homeless individuals, runaway teens, displaced homemakers, refugees and drug addicts.

Most have been told lies of promises about marriage, employment, education and/or an overall better life. Victims become prostitutes, dancing in night and strip clubs and performing in pornographic films or porn films. In human trafficking, the trafficker thinks that he owns the victim. Therefore, the victim has no right, but the most important thing to remember is the victim did not choose this life. At this very moment, there are 300, 000 to 400, 000 women victims and 60, 000 to 100, 000 children victims of slavery all throughout the Philippines. So, the government supports many projects to minimize the number of victims. In fact, the Government’s Interagency Council against Human Trafficking had established an anti-trafficking taskforce in airports.

They also showed anti-trafficking infomercials in local TV networks. Let us know what are the few things we can do about this slavery and how can we combat it. First, traffickers must be punished in accordance with the law. A court in Zamboanga City had sentenced a member of a trafficking syndicate to life imprisonment for having recruited six victims and selling them to a brothel in Malaysia.

Next, we have to educate people and talk about it. Some countries with their people educated about human trafficking, it has dropped to almost 50%. We have to choose whether to educate them or lose them. The choice must be clear! Now, I hope you see that human trafficking is our generation’s slavery. You’ve learned what human trafficking is and the few things we can do to abolish it. Our constitution stated: “ All people are created equal end free.

” Unfortunately, that was not the statement right now. Millions of people around the world are owned. They are living in slavery, which unfortunately is not a thing in the past. But hopefully one day, we will be up to say that all people are truly free.