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Human Trafficking

Mansfield Park (by Austen, Jane)
Narrative of the Life of Frederick Dougl... (by Douglass, Frederick)
Narrative of the Life of Frederick Dougl... (by Douglass, Frederick)
Uncle Tom's Cabin (by Stowe, Harriet Beecher)

Human trafficking has been an ongoing atrocity, which occurs in destinations around the globe. Its victims, which include women, children, and men, are subject to a variety of forms of trafficking. These include sex trafficking, forced labor, and domestic servitude. Restore NYC—a nationally recognized leader in identifying and helping trafficked women, estimates that 18,000 foreign nationals are trafficked into the U.S. each year.

In addition to women and men, girls and boys fall victim to sex trafficking. According to the U.S. Institute Against Human Trafficking, estimates project 10% to 15% of trafficked children in the U.S. are boys and a considerable amount of them are transgender.

Within the work sector, there’s labor trafficking, which is prevalent in factories and farms. A form of modern slavery in which individuals perform labor or services through the use of force, fraud, or coercion, it includes situations of debt bondage (labor worked in an effort to pay off a debt), forced labor, and involuntary child labor, according to information provided by the National Human Trafficking Hotline.

Also joining the crusade is not-for-profit Restavek Freedom, which highlights the situation of child slavery in Haiti. One out of every 15 children fall prey to trafficking. Many are born into poverty and are given away to relatives or strangers before becoming domestic slaves.

In America, slavery can be traced back to 1619 when the first slaves were brought to Jamestown, Virginia. It was their duty to assist in the production of tobacco. Slavery remained prevalent throughout the colonies in both the 17th and 18th centuries.

Britain was among the first to abolish slavery and Brazil was among the last in the Western world to end slavery in 1888.

For more on slavery, explore Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave by Frederick Douglass, or Uncle Tom’s Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe. The abuse and molestation of slaves is also mentioned in Jane Austen’s Mansfield Park.

By Regina Molaro

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