Human Trafficking

Posted by Milahn Shurelds in English 1 - Dunn on Monday, January 21, 2013 at 10:26 pm

In my previous blog post I gave a general sense of where human trafficking takes place in the U.S. Also I gave some statistics. The difference between the last blog post and this one is I went out and did original research. My research was an interview about a book. This book is about human trafficking. Even though the book is about countries across the world it still fit in with the topic. On top of the interview I did more research on human trafficking in the United States.
Human trafficking that is a big issue but many people don’t call attention to it. What is human trafficking? Human trafficking is a form of modern day slavery. Girls and boys, starting at the age of twelve, are forced into this “industry” involving selling their bodies against their own will. These traffickers, also known as pimps, use violence, tell lies, make threats and false promises, and other power/control to keep the victims involved. Human trafficking has been found in a vast variety of venues. These venues include residential brothels, hostess clubs, escort services, fake massage businesses, strip clubs, and street prostitution.

This “industry” is world wide. I interviewed two seniors about the book/movement Half the Sky, Katherine Hatzidais and Catherine Nardone. This book is broken up into different stories about girls apart of sex trafficking. This was not their choice they were forced. Half the Sky by Nicholas D. Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn. It teaches about girls in different countries and what they are forced to do, sometimes by their parents. It talks about the movement and they help they provided young women. The movement was created because of inspiration of the book. Not only is the movement supposed to raise awareness but also provide steps to help these women fight against human trafficking and empower women.

The interview went very well. Many questions were asked such as if Katherine and Catherine enjoyed the book, why or why not. Katherine. said “ It was biased. The information provided was very repetitive and it singled certain people out. Made the people who tried to help the girls seem like the bad guys. This is because they don't have the equipment to help these women. Also she felt as though the book wasn’t mature. It was very factual. Lastly, it needing to be a little more transparent.” Catherine agreed with Katherine. She added, “ Seem as though the authors were doing a good deed in a negative way. Also the stories were very repetitive.”

Another question was what they learned. Katherine learned about not getting involved. Women aren’t allowed to go to school pushing them towards being in brothels. Catherine learned the authorities were in the pockets of the brothel owners. Also if the women had children they would take them away. Lastly, it’s safer to have a baby in Ireland than here. One question asked if the book effective? Catherine said, “The stories aren’t boring but they get old. You want it to stop. Stories don’t make you feel any better.” She liked the documentary and felt moved by it. Wasn’t moving enough to make her want to go and change the people. Katherine felt statistics were more effective. The stories were readable like an editorial. She liked it but thought there needed to be more to it.
Human trafficking happens all over the world. More awareness needs to be brought to the topic. This is a big issue and people need to take a stand on it. It's not right and it needs to stop.

Annotated Bib

Comments (1)

Melissa Alvarez

Your explanation and questions on Human Trafficking were very informational. You gave good insight and it was interesting how you used a book about your topic with real stories and got the opinions of others. I'm curious on how your going to make awareness to it.