What is human trafficking? Human trafficking is the modern day slavery which is a felony under Iowa law. Traffickers force many of their victims into prostitution, involuntary labor and other forms of enslavement to repay debts, which are often “entry fees” into the U.S. Many of the victims are children. According to a study made my U.S Department of Justice human trafficking 83% of sex trafficking victims identified in the United States were U.S citizens which were the ages between 12-14. In some cases involving domestic child human trafficking, criminals use force, threats and coercion to control their victims’ behaviors. For example when foreign children are transported to the U.S they find themselves in an unfamiliar environment and fear their own life and their family lives.
Human trafficking is not just done by men. The UN Global Initiative to Fight Human Trafficking saw that 52% of the traffickers are men, 46% are women, and 6% are both men and women working together. Trafficking can happen almost anywhere but “75% of trafficking occurs in hotels/motels” said by Stephen O’Meara , retired human trafficking coordinator with the Nebraska Attorney General’s office. So that is why advocates in Iowa are focused on training hotel and motel staff to recognise trafficking as it happens.
Theresa Davidson, who is the president and cofounder of Chains Interrupted, says some common signs of what human trafficking is “Anyone coming in with long term healthcare issues that aren’t being addressed, like diabetes, chronic issues, multiple STDs, and old wounds that weren’t cared for properly.” She also addressed to look for someone who is being controlled by another person. For example: if the person won’t look you in the eye, won’t speak for themselves, and they don’t know where they are. Also another sign of trafficking is the victims will be marked with a certain tattoo like: bar codes and dollar signs(which will be behind their ear), their names, or the word ‘whore’ or ‘slut’.
By Kimberly Borosko