Human Trafficking

 One of the biggest issues our country is responsible for is Human Trafficking. The trafficking businesses keep on growing and growing no matter how many human trafficking industries we shut down. There are so many people that are involved in this industry and you can never identify which one is helping aid in human trafficking. On the other hand, The United States has helped with initiating things as we learn more about how to deal with situations like these, such as:  Homeland Security Investigations initiated 1,686 criminal investigations related to sex trafficking and forced labor, leading to 2,545 arrests (https://www.dhs.gov/news/2025/08/13/dhs-center-countering-human-trafficking-releases-fiscal-year-2024-annual-report), blue campaigns have been initiated to help look for signs of someone in need of saving from human trafficking and they have to go through training to be able to identify it, in addition to having Childhood Smart Ambassador programs to help adults and children understand online safety. 

So what makes a person vulnerable to human trafficking? Here are some things that make people vulnerable to human trafficking—these are vulnerabilities that we are not adequately protecting people from:

1) the desperation for income can lead people to accept offers of employment they yet to fully understand—poverty and economic hardship can play a big role. 

2) refugees and populations of displaced persons due to natural disasters or conflict can make them vulnerable. 

3) people who experience homelessness, or run away from abusive homes and unstable lifestyles can make them vulnerable to believe in people who they don’t know. 

4) poverty can also sometimes limit educational opportunities and restrict job prospects and 

5) the market for cheap goods and services such as commercial sex fuels the trafficking industry. 

There are ways for us as a country to provide these things for people so this industry can stop fueling human trafficking, like providing for people who are going through economic hardships, and giving a safety net to those who have come from wars or abusive households and need a safe place to stay. In addition, we need to improve our anti-trafficking laws to make it easier  for victims of exploitation to report without risking prosecution. Why do we criminalize people who report being exploited instead of helping them to recover? There are a lot of steps that need to be taken to identify how to proceed amongst this global issue as well as our country's issue.    

Fact: Alabama law: In June 2024, an Alabama law was passed that raises penalties for first-degree human trafficking of a minor to a mandatory life sentence. The bill was titled the "Sound of Freedom Act," with lawmakers citing the movie as an inspiration.

Wow, that mandatory life sentence for trafficking of a minor in Alabama sounds pretty harsh.  Doesn't "trafficking" refer to a fairly wide range of activities?  All of them are horrible and wrong and deserve punishment to satisfy our sense of justice, but aren't there some cases that are relatively mild compared to other cases?  A life sentence is a terrifying thing, and I'm not sure it's always the most appropriate sentence, even for someone who traffics a person who is under 18.  Like, if I'm hiring a 12-year-old child to help de-tassel corn or pick berries, and I drive them across the border from Alabama into Tennessee or Georgia, and then it turns out the worker was too young, and so it was illegal to have them pick berries or de-tassel corn or whatever, would I be given a life sentence in Alabama?  I mean, that would be transporting a minor across state lines to engage in illegal labor pratctices.

You've given five reasons people become vulnerable to human trafficking, and so there will be some solutions in policies and services, which you have sort of given us.

Economic desperation will induce people into taking jobs that have dodgy employers who might traffic the naive employees.  So, end economic desperation.  Make it possible for people to earn a decent living, or receive welfare benefits to provide a decent life, so that they will not make risky employment decisions.

Displaced persons are desperate for work.  So, offer legitimate work to refugees when they arrive. Work to create positive peace so that there are no conflicts or disasters that lead to masses of displaced persons.  Create a generous system of refugee care so that displaced persons will have no need to take risks with employers who might turn out to be human traffickers. 

Persons who are homeless are vulnerable.  So, obviously, end homelessness.  Create a sufficient supply of affordable and subsidized housing.

Persons without good job skills or job prospects (people with few skills) may be employed in occupations that use trafficking (unskilled labor, custodial work, household chores, sex work).  Ensure that our education system has a robust career and technical education component.  Provide more opportunities for affordable adult education. 

Do more to encourage sexual health and good sexual relationships among citizens, to diminish the demand for cheap commercial sex.  Legalize and regulate sex work, so that trafficking won't be such a thing. But tarrifs on things produced in societies where workers have no rights, so that consumers and retailers will be forced to purchase from suppliers whose workers are free and protected by good labor laws.