Heinous Crime and Global Problem – Human Trafficking

Human trafficking, one of the most heinous crimes, is a global problem that is flourishing in many areas of the world including our local college campuses. The problem has infiltrated Arizona State University (ASU ) as female students have reported exploitation and coercion at university events by traffickers promoting prostitution. Aside from prostitution, students could be at risk of being abducted and exploited for other human trafficking crimes such as drug trafficking, enslavement, organ transplants, or forced labor. Human trafficking victims are being stripped of their dignity and ASU's Administration Office should consider sponsoring a student-lead human trafficking awareness program and continue to notify and publicize the problem to students to prevent these crimes from happening to other victims and to help support survivors.

The inhumane and illegal practice of human trafficking is a recurring problem that puts men, women, children, and young adults in danger. According to The International Labour Organization, a minimum of 24.9 million people are bought and sold internationally into the commercial sex exchange and forced labor. They also state women and girls are disproportionately affected by forced labor, accounting for 99% of victims in the commercial sex industry, and 58% in other sectors (International Labour Organization). This demonstrates how often women and girls are approached in these situations. Campuses are prime targets for recruitment as students are vulnerable and more susceptible to consider illegal options to pay for student loan debts and bills. College attendees including myself, must be cautious of their surroundings at all times while attending college events, especially events where alcohol is served. Students should stay alert when walking alone or leave with groups of people.

According to the Texas School Safety Center, traffickers know that schools provide the ideal opportunity to coerce and recruit young students. For example, many who attend ASU parties leave under the influence and are more likely to be unaccompanied, making them vulnerable to coercion. The State Press News states the ASU Police Department recently had informed the public within a safety bulletin that there is a recent trend of traffickers who are targeting students at college parties and events. The bulletin noted traffickers use threats of force or exposure to the campus community to persuade victims into prostitution (The State Press). Not only are college parties targets, but traffickers have found creative ways to attempt to recruit new victims. At Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee, a student-lead news website reported that female students have been approached by recruiters involved in human trafficking. Reports from the incident claim that a woman overheard a conversation involving God the mother which is a term for a fake bible study group, and female students exchanging their personal contact information without knowing that this fake organization are traffickers who wish to lure them away from the college campus (VanderbiltHustler). Traffickers often take advantage of the victims who live in bad environments and attract them with promises of a better life.

Human trafficking has long-term emotional consequences on its victims and it is difficult for many victims to obtain help while they are being exploited. In the article The Impact of Human Trafficking by Gary Mohr, he states victims of human trafficking often experience severe and lasting mental health issues, such as post-traumatic stress disorder, anxiety and depression, some of the symptoms even include sleeplessness, nightmares, panic attacks, difficulty concentrating, physical pain, a feeling of hopelessness, suicidal thoughts, hyper alertness and dissociation. These are many of the consequences victims can face by being exploited in human trafficking. These victims often experience harsh long-term emotional trauma due to the excessive work requested by traffickers. Students should take in this information whenever they go somewhere unattended or while in vulnerable positions, such as being under the influence of alcohol.

Although human trafficking can have a harmful impact on the victims, there are many solutions that I and other entities have proposed. The U.S. Department Of State suggests that people should write to their local, state, and federal government representatives to let them know that we want to combat human trafficking. By doing this, it will help put the problem into effect and let them know that we want to put an end to it. Another solution would be to spread awareness of human trafficking and be well-informed. This will let everyone take precautions into their own hands and become alerted of current trafficking. While these solutions may be effective, they would not be the best choice to stop human trafficking. Some people are shallow and will not report anything suspicious because they would rather not have anything to do with it.

The horrors of this problem are reasons why ASU Administration Office should consider my proposed solution to advocate a student-lead human trafficking awareness program for the victims and survivors. When students have more knowledge about how human trafficking works, the better prepared and ready one is to stop this growing epidemic. Within the program, students and others can learn the necessary precautions to avoid these situations such as signs and causes of human trafficking. Reading articles and books, watching videos and listening to survivors who have been through this trauma, can help students recognize the red flags on campus. By implementing a human trafficking awareness program, students would be able to stay apprised on safety suggestions and programs that would promote ASU's Safety Escort Service and review ASU's Personal Safety Suggestions. Making this program happen would make a huge difference to help protect and ensure the safety of students on college campus grounds, and it would be the best choice.

Although my proposed solution is a prominent way to protect the safety of students, many may object my proposal. They may not agree with the program because it is expensive. As a college student, I would help fund this program by setting up online donations, fundraisers, and ask the ASU Police Department to help sponsor it. In a recent interview with a classmate who had objected my proposed solution, he asked how do you know that the sex traffickers did not infiltrate the program? (Nicholas). My response was that the program would have an online website that discusses what the organization is about and provide the names of the organizers. There would also be background checks to prove that the program is secure and legitimate. In another interview with a classmate he had asked me how I would support the program (Arrendondo). To answer this, I explained that the organizers would recruit students, start petitions, and create a social media page to gain support. In all, I believe that this solution would help ASU have a better atmosphere and provide students with the knowledge of real life situations that can happen to anyone.

This epidemic will be an ongoing issue if we do not raise awareness to support the survivors and victims locally. Schools are supposed to be safe for students and if safety is ASU's top priority then they will consider make their college campus as safe as possible. In order to adequately prevent human trafficking on campus, the ASU Administration Office will be inclined to accept my proposal solution to add a student-lead human trafficking awareness program. By accepting, this will benefit the university and incoming students will see that ASU is a safe campus and that they are creating a better atmosphere for their students.

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