Log #4

The fight against human trafficking

This week I continuously read stories and articles about sex trafficking, but different from previous weeks, I had different thoughts and realizations toward sex trafficking.

In the first article, about how Backpage's sex ads are gone rather than human trafficking, the author said, "The fight against the sex trafficking of children is an old and often doomed one, in part because the crime is typically tied to poverty and dysfunctional families. Many of the girls and boys are runaways or foster children whose disappearances rarely set off a real Amber Alert." I suddenly realized that if we really wanted to help those victims of human trafficking, we needed to know the main causes. Moreover, it is obvious that those traffickers must have close relationships with some of the officials; otherwise, it is impossible that they could still run their business. 

The second aritcle focused on the story of Joannie, a girl who ran away from home because of her mother, her one-month terrifying experience of forced prostitution. Joannie kind of reminds me of the relationship with my mom. We sometimes argue the small things that she and her mother did. When she finally escaped from the trafficker and was found after a few days, she was reunited with her mother. “She was very quiet,” Her mother said. “She had pain in her eyes. A mother knows.” I'm positive that my mother would know whether I was in pain, even though I didn't say anything. She would simply give me a gentle hug and tell me that everything is going to be okay. Thus, I think what Joannie had done, standing out to share her story in order to help many other girls who suffered, is really brave, and that's how we're going to fight against human trafficking.

Resource:

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/03/11/us/backpage-ads-sex-trafficking.html

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/01/15/nyregion/runaway-teen-slowly-reveals-tale-of-horrors-while-away.html