Human Trafficking

Article Author name(s): David McKay Wilson
Title of article: Human Trafficking
Title of journal: Teaching Tolerance
Volume of the journal: Spring 2011
Issue number of the journal: 39

http://www.tolerance.org/magazine/number-39-spring-2011/human-trafficking

Slavery is still alive in today’s society, both abroad and here in the US. Millions of people are enslaved worldwide, but not necessarily in the form that we learn about in school. There has been an up rise in the human trafficking trade, which carried many forms, one of which includes human sex slavery.

Intended audience: Good info for everyone, but a great eye opener for students.

Human trafficking is growing in strength, and while found in the highest number abroad, is also found domestically. Awareness of this lesser known form of enslavement is one of the keys to solving the problem. Human trafficking includes forced labor, domestic servitude, sex trafficking, bonded labor, forced child labor and the impressment of child soldiers into army units. Although not a hard fact, the estimated international price to purchase a human slave is just $90, but the slave trade industry pulls in upwards of $32 billion annually. As part of the human rights curriculum, teachers are showing films and documentaries and bringing in federal prosecutors to speak on the topic, all of which present a great reality to students. Reggie Wills at the Edmund Burke School says that, “The students learned that it’s important not to turn a blind eye to [modern slavery] and that they can make a difference in saving the lives of the innocent.”

As the article mentions, there are an estimated 27 million people worldwide who are enslaved, and many of those individuals are found here within the US. This topic is relevant because I think curriculum most often poses slavery as an issue of the past, when really it is extremely prevalent today. Perhaps it does not show the same face of what we are traditionally taught about slavery (African American’s working manual labor and being physically punished, etc), but current day slavery is alive and well within the sex trade. Students may be shocked to learn that children are subjected to this labor right here in their own neighborhoods, and that the I-5 corridor is a hotbed for a “sexual slave trade”. If students are presented with an issue that has relevance now and presents issues that directly affect people in their same “groups “ (color, SES, gender, age, etc.), discussing the issue creates understanding for something that they can be involved in today and be motivated to become engaged in solving.