America Recognizing Slavery

We could eradicate slavery. The laws are in place. The multi-nationals, the world trade organizations, the United Nations, they could end slavery, but they're not going to do it until and unless we demand it.
-- Kevin Bales

If you are at all interested in Human Rights then you surely have come across some sort of information to help fight Human Trafficking. The issue seems to be the hot topic for many human rights organizations and apparently for the United States of America. After ten years, United States has finally recognized themselves as a country with a rising number of human trafficking cases. Although, we are placed in the Tier 1 category, which means that our government complies with the Trafficking Victims Protection Act, as citizens of the United States we can recognize that not one country is immune to the tragedies of trafficking. I believe that this news should not be taken lightly because for once an issue that attacks any person, male or female, child or elder, can be found hitting us directly. Let me explain myself. Although, I have only been introduced to the idea of human trafficking for about 4 years, I was certainly aware of the atrocities in Northern Uganda with the child soldiers as well as in Darfur and the thousands of orphans in Mexico I had the great pleasure of working with in the summer of 05 and 06, yet it felt like none of my other friends seemed to care. I would always hear the same old story “why should we care, it is not our country and not our problem” I always begged to differ but with the United States recognizing themselves as a country who faces the exploitation of thousands of people, maybe just maybe those friends of mine will open up their eyes and see that some kind of action needs to be in place because NO ONE should be for sale. United States recognizing itself as a nation with slavery, not only plays an important role in advocating for domestic trafficking but I feel will have a huge impact on awareness of International Trafficking. If the United States shows interest in eliminating trafficking in our own country we can help with the 3P concept in other countries. I believe the biggest issue right now that is stopping our country from lowering the number of human trafficking is the lack of education needed to recognize cases. For example, we need to start looking at the difference between prostitution by choice and forced prostitution, most people would like to believe that all prostitution is a choice because then we can support it and wipe our hands clean from knowing if laws are being broken but the reality is that forced prostitution occurs in nearly every city. Another way to lower the rate of trafficking cases is by looking into companies that we support. The Trafficking in Persons report states that for every one sex-trafficking case there are 9 forced labor cases, which means that my money is probably exploiting more workers then I could ever imagine. So again, we need to become a more proactive community and educate ourselves on what companies exploit workers. I feel like many people believe that all the sweatshops are found in India or Africa but what they forget is the Florida farms that produce tomatoes have many exploited workers. I realize that the issue of Human Trafficking is complex but educating ourselves is simply at our fingertips and is needed if we want to make any difference in this lucrative business called Human Trafficking. By going to websites like Polarisproject.org or facelessinternational.com or even typing in Human Trafficking into a search engine, you can find a ton of information on how you can make a difference in the lives of those trafficked.
I hope that America can step up to the plate and finally put an end to slavery in America and eventually the entire world because no one was purposed on this earth to be tagged with a price!