Human Trafficking

Story written by senior Alexandria Snavely

Imagine being in the middle of a park, stuck in a box that was sound proof and no one could see you but you could see everyone around you. They are conversing and carrying on with their everyday life. You pound violently on the glass walls and shriek in hopes someone would hear your cries. Now imagine a beautiful fifteen-year-old girl with blonde flown hair and the biggest smile on her face standing on a sidewalk at Troost in Kansas City batting her luscious eyes at everyone that passes her by. What people do not know is she is the same person trapped in that box crying for help, but not letting it out. Sex trafficking is the second or third most profitable crime in the world according to the Missouri School Counselor Association.

“I hate sex trafficking with a passion. I think it is actually one of the most inhumane things on this planet. It is so wrong forcing someone against their own will to become a sex slave. If these men or women trafficking these girls or boys have kids imagine if this was their child they need to put themselves in the shoes of these children’s parents and see how much it hurts having your child in a situation like that because I know that they would not like their child in a sick situation like so and they would probably do anything to protect their baby from that” senior Alice Mahinda said.

There are currently 161 countries affected by human trafficking, which comes to a $32 billion industry. Today in the United States the average entry to prostitution is 12-14 years old.

“I would like to get involved in helping to end sex trafficking. I would want to go to the place this problem is the worst and help rescue girls and women and even boys. I want to create a protected shelter where they are brought and they can have counseling help, therapy, and other things where they are safe and are able to feel safe again and able to become human again. The best part would be that these people would be able to become human again and not fear the world or the things around them. People deserve to be part of society and how to be free citizens” Mahinda said.

The United States of America is principally a transit and destination country for trafficking humans. It is estimated that 14,500 to 17,500 people, primarily women and children, are trafficked to the U.S. every year according to human trafficking.org. America is one of the most common places for sex trafficking compared to other countries.

“It is actually much worse in the U.S. than it is in Kenya. MUCH worse. It really is not as bad as people would think, yet it still of course has its problems with sex trafficking” Mahinda said.

There are approximately 27 million slaves around the world, although only six percent are considered “identified.” There 800,000 people  trafficked across international borders every year, and one million children fall to the commercial sex trade. Of all the world’s trafficking victims, 80 percent are women and children according to Law Street Media. With the amount of people being trafficked globally it stresses the importance of how this crime is tough to be investigated.

“Like I had said before, sex trafficking is just so wrong to force someone against their own will to be a slave. It is not right and the awful people that do these things need to put themselves in the shoes of these girls being abducted and have to experience the emotional and physical pain the girls go through. Some of these girls are kidnapped at the age of five and sometimes younger and forced to be with like a fifty year old man and being forced to do very mature things that they should not be doing” Mahinda said.

“I hate sex trafficking with a passion. I think it is actually one of the most inhumane things on this planet. It is so wrong forcing someone against their own will to become a sex slave. If these men or women trafficking these girls or boys have kids imagine if this was their child they need to put themselves in the shoes of these parents and see how much it hurts having your child in a situation like that because I know that they would not like their child in a situation like that and they would probably do anything to protect them from that” senior Alice Mahinda said.

There are currently 161 countries affected by human trafficking, which comes to a $32 billion industry. Today in the United States the average entry to prostitution is 12-14 years old.

“I would like to get involved in helping to end sex trafficking. I would want to go to the place this problem is the worst and help rescue girls and women and even boys. I want to create a protected shelter where they are brought and they can have counseling help, therapy, and other things where they are safe and are able to feel safe again and able to become human again. The best part would be that these people would be able to become human again and not fear the world or the things around them.”