Imagine living life everyday in fear of when it's going to happen next and not knowing when everything will end. That's how it is for each and every victim of human trafficking. This traumatic event could easily happen to anyone and there needs to be an awareness brought to it. People are living everyday being put into sexual labor or hard labor, being taken away from families and homes and it's not getting noticed enough. Human trafficking is an issue that is substantial in the United States and effects victims permanently afterwards causing problems for the public.
Human trafficking is not just an issue in other countries, it's an issue in the United States as well. In the United States there is estimated to be 4.8 million victims of human trafficking, out of a total of 40.3 million victims in the world. Everyday people pass or come in contact with a victim that is currently in trouble and no one realizes it. An Article about human trafficking States, “The Urban Institute claimed in their 2014 report, Hidden in Plain Sight, 71% of the labor trafficking victims in the study entered the United States on lawful visas.” (Fisher 1). Basically, even though there are 40.3 million victims around the world, 71% of them come into the US and yet stay unnoticed or don't get help causing this issue to grow more and more as each day passes. As if these numbers don't sound bad enough, the average age of human trafficking victims is 12 to 15. On average there are 46 children daily that become apart of human trafficking, bringing awareness to this could very much so reduce those numbers. As if this issue doesn't do enough damage to the victims while it's taking place, it also causes permanent damage that the victim has to deal with for the rest of their life.

The mental and physical damage that is being done to these victims is astounding, human trafficking can make these victims do things that could get them in a lot of trouble. There's an article about how prisons are flooding with victims of human trafficking because they are committing crimes and are psychologically unstable because of the traumatic event they were put through. Human trafficking victims are mainly committing crimes of drug overuse because they use drugs to distract them from their everyday lives. Victims of human trafficking often experience severe cases of mental illnesses such as post traumatic stress disorder, anxiety and depression. This articles states, “That is why Ohio has been active in its approach to assisting in the rehabilitation of these individuals. These efforts begin by completing a human trafficking screening of more than 20,000 individuals, both men and women, who enter the state correctional system each year.” (Mohr 2). Ohio has the right idea of trying to bring these victims back to their normal daily lives as best as they can. This is why awareness needs to be brought to this topic so that more states and people can get involved in helping reduce the number of victims each year and help these victims move on from the trauma. When victims are going through all of this, they usually are going through it alone and staying unnoticed.

The main issue with human trafficking is that it's so hidden in the world and hard to notice or recognize when there is a victim or situation where this could be happening. An article states, ““The problem with human trafficking is that of course the victims are silenced,” Villa said. “We don’t have good data about it. You don’t know how many slaves there are around the world.” (Alvarez 1). Its hard to collect data or to help someone out when the victims are silenced and there's no way of telling what the situation could be. Victims are often threatened by traffickers that they will turn them in as a prostitute causing a legal issue for the victims. Because victims are threatened, they are fearful of trying to get help and reach out. Over 4,000 cases of human trafficking were reported this year out of the estimated 40.3 million victims. People need to start being on the look out, more aware of unsettling situations. If a situation is being questioned even a little bit, it needs to be reported because someone's life could be saved.

It's hard enough for victims of human trafficking to move on from something so traumatic. Especially when most victims are diagnosed with mental illnesses or are being threatened by traffickers for reaching out for help. Raising money could help start on building a shelter just for these victims, men and women. A shelter that takes in these victims and gives them a safe place to stay and get back on track to living a normal daily life again. Surrounding victims with people who have gone through the same thing as them, allowing them to share their stories with each other and talk about everything they've been through without feeling scared. Having a shelter for these victims could reduce the numbers of the statistics in this paper, making the world a safer place day by day and bringing awareness to a topic that never gets talked about.

The main idea people should get from this paper is that human trafficking should be a topic more recognized and more paid attention to. When people see a situation that seems unusual, speak up and report it to law enforcement so that cases can start getting worked on and numbers can start reducing, decreasing the number of victims each year. It's sad that the average age of human trafficking is 12 to 15, leaving children mentally unstable and making it hard for them to live a normal daily life. It could be anyone, victims look just like normal people and are hidden in society. Raising money to start a shelter for these victims and bringing more awareness to this topic could easily decrease the number of victims and that is the least people can do. It's time to pay more attention to this topic and make a change.

Works cited
Alvarez Priscilla. “When trafficking in the US goes unnoticed”. The Atlantic. February 23, 2016. Google.
Berlatsky Noah. “ “Human Trafficking” has become a meaningless term”. The New Republic, October 30, 2015. Google.

Boyce Sabrina. “Childhood Experiences of Sexual Violence, Pregnancy, and Marriage Associated With Child Sex Trafficking Among Female Sex Workers in Two US-Mexico Border Cities”. American Journal of Public Health Research, Volume 108, Number 08, August 2018, Page 1

Fisher Nicole. “Human Trafficking is in Plain Sight. Are You Supporting It Without Knowing?”. Forbes, April 24, 2017. Google.
Mohr Gary. “The Impact of Human Trafficking”. Corrections Today, November/December 2017. Discus.