The brutal custom of which we built our own country upon has, yet again, shifted to our present day reality. From the blood, sweat, and tears of the slaves we worked to the very brink of death, to the modern day slaves that are currently being deprived of their basic human rights all across the United States, it is evident that slavery has never truly ceased to exist in our country. Consequently, from this appalling truth arises the question of whether or not we have really progressed much as a society in a justified manner. .
The silent epidemic of human trafficking is characterized as the recruitment, transportation, transfer, harboring or receipt of persons by forms of coercion, abduction, fraud, or deception. It is a drastic violation of all human rights and it seeks to exploit individuals in exchange for payments or other benefits; in other words, it is a type of "modern day slavery" ("Human Trafficking"). Following close behind the drug trade industry, the smuggling of human trafficking has already surpassed the illegal arms trafficking business, and is increasing each year at astounding rates ("Facts on Human Trafficking and Sex Slavery"). Globally, human trafficking victimizes adolescents around the ages of 6 to 24, which are generally the ages where victims are most vulnerable to traffickers due to maturity levels (Pokharna). Sex trafficking specifically in the United States, affects an estimated 800,000 adolescents annually, although many numbers remain uncounted to due the fact that the crime is performed behind closed doors and may often be overlooked (Carr). Although unseen, it is a real phenomenon that is happening all across the United States, with reports from every state ranging from cases of forced pornography, to stripping, and to commercial sex ("Resources and Publications"). Victims of sex slavery are repeatedly raped, brutalized, and even tortured to the extent where they lose all hope in regaining a sense of humanity.
