Martinez 1

Erika Martinez
Humanities
May 19, 2014
Briefing:Modern Day Slavery


Slavery was abolished in the United States in 1865, but today it continues to happen and
we know it under a different name, Human trafficking. Human trafficking, as it is known, is the
illegal abduction of any human being who is then sold for various purposes. There are three
known types of human trafficking which are forced labor, trafficking for human organs and
sexual exploitation regardless of gender and age. Forced labor trafficking, which is common
among division 3 countries, is where men and women, regardless of their age, are forced to
work against their will (United Nations). Trafficking of organs is exactly what it sounds like,
people are abducted for the sole purpose of selling their internal organs in the black market
(United Nations). Lastly, the most popular form of human trafficking, is sexual exploitation. In
this type of human trafficking, both men and women, regardless of their age, are lured by
different people with fake promises of helping them live and have a better life. People believe
them and leave their hometowns only to realize that whatever they were told was not true and
now will have to be forced into sexual slavery (United Nations).
Every single year thousands of men, women and children fall into the trap of human
trafficking. This is an important issue to learn about because the City of San Diego was ranked
number 3, in the State of California, in where human trafficking is most common. It is believed
that human trafficking is a big business in San Diego because it is located just miles away
from the Mexican border.
According to the U.S. State Department, 600,000 to 800,000 people are trafficked
across international borders every year. More than 70% are female and half are children.
California harbors 3 of the FBIs 13 highest child sex trafficking areas on the nation: Los
Angeles, San Francisco and San Diego.

Martinez 2
The average age a teen enters the sex trade in the U.S. is 12 to 14-year-old. Many
victims are runaway girls who were sexually abused as children.
Approximately 80% of trafficking involves sexual exploitation, and 19% involves labor
exploitation.
I decided to pick this topic because of the book Sold by Patricia McCormick, which
talks about a 13 year old girl named Lakshmi who was unknowingly sold by her stepfather into
sexual slavery. Thanks to her stepfather, Lakshmi ends up in prostitution and the book narrates
her experience as a sex slave in the home. After reading this book, I have realized how
fortunate I am to live with a family that cares and protects me as much as they can. I get to
wake up every single with no worries about being sold by a family member or having to work
against my will for the rest of my life. This book has also made me want to help those people
less fortunate than I am.












Works Cited
FBI. FBI, 17 Mar. 2010. Web. 17 May 2014. <http://www.fbi.gov/about-

Martinez 3
us/investigate/civilrights/human_trafficking>.
"HumanTrafficking.org: A Web Resource for Combating Human Trafficking in the East Asia
Pacific Region." HumanTrafficking.org: A Web Resource for Combating Human
Trafficking in the East Asia Pacific Region. Web. 19 May 2014.
<http://www.humantrafficking.org/>.
"United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime." What Is Human Trafficking? Web. 17 May 2014.
<http://www.unodc.org/unodc/en/human-trafficking/what-is-human-
trafficking.html?ref=menuside>.