Maggie Price
ENG 100 Assignment #3: Film-Based Argument Final Draft Stopping Sex Trafficking In Slumdog Millionaire, Screen Writer Simon Beaufoy shares the story of Jamal, a boy who grew up in the slum neighborhoods of India and managed to gain a spot on the gameshow, Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? Throughout the film, Jamal is shown as a person who must overcome many obstacles to survive, including an experience of torture when he provides the correct answers to too many gameshow questions. Jamal wins the gameshow money but one could argue he gains the most joy at winning the heart of his longtime love, Latika. At an early age, Latika is forced into sex trafficking where she and Jamal got separated. Many young girls in the United States are forced into sex trafficking at a very early age. These girls are getting kidnapped off the streets, from family members for money and even just in their neighborhood where they grew up. Sex trafficking is a very major issue going on every day but not a topic being brought up a lot. We don’t hear about this very often in the news like we hear about other key issues. The American government can prevent the sex trade from expanding in the country by requiring hospitals to train their staff to recognize a victim and having stricter law enforcement. Before I develop my argument about ways to reduce sex trafficking, I want to first provide information about this phenomenon. According to unitar.org, human trafficking is a form of modern-day slavery, and is the second largest criminal industry in the world, after drug trading and it can be best described as “recruiting, transporting and harboring of people especially women and children by use of threat, force or deception for exploitation.” Traffickers take advantage of vulnerable persons with false promises or physical abduction, forcing them into slavery, forced labor and sexual trafficking. How often do we hear about these women and children being taken and forced into this? Not quite often. I believe the American Government needs to raise more awareness about this huge epidemic going on in the United States. Why? According to ABC News there are about 1.5 million victims alone In the United States and about 20.9 million worldwide. We as people need to start talking about this more but the American government needs to help Many victims end up at the hospital but are too scared to come forward, because either they come in with their pimp who they claim are their boyfriends or they are brainwashed to think no one wants to help them. In Hospitals Train Staff to Spot Victims of Human Trafficking, Maureen McKinney writes that experts who studied human trafficking say a victims most promising lifeline could be a healthcare provider if they know what they are looking for. She writes that nearly eighty eight percent of trafficking survivors reported having contact with a health care provider when they were trafficked. According to McKinney the red flags are there if the health care staffers know what the signs are. Some red flags, can include submissive demeanor or have tattoos bearing someone's name. McKinney also states that a victim may be accompanied by a controlling companion who insists on answering providers' questions. There may be signs of physical abuse and trauma. And for labor-trafficking victims, red flags can also include hearing, vision, cardiovascular or respiratory problems from working in unsafe conditions. McKinney writes that not only determining red flags but also training for interventions and how to speak to the victims. If this was required for all health care providers to learn or teach I believe more victims would come forward and ask for the help they need and get in contact with services. Our law enforcement has a huge role in this. The way they are convicting these men and women involved in the sex trade industry needs to change. Sentencing all varies on many reasons but in many cases these people involved in sex trafficking get very short years in prison. For example, In ABC news Why did these Sex Traffickers only get a Slap on the Wrist? Three different incidents were mentioned. One of the stories featured was about three men running a prostitution ring in Northern California. Many of these women were sold for sex to as many as 20 clients in a day. Each man only received three years for involvement in this ring. So why aren’t traffickers facing longer sentences? According to Dorchen A. Leidholdt the Director of the Center for Battered Women's Legal Services at Sanctuary for Families in New York City, states in Why did the Sex Traffickers only get a Slap on the Wrist? that the Federal law requires that prosecutors be able to provide proof of force, fraud or coercion by these pimps. I believe this makes It very important for the victims of these crimes to testify in court, but a lot of these women are often too scared to come forward or believe these pimps are their only source of protection due to a concept called “traumatic bonding.” Which can be described as a strong emotional attachment between and abused person and his or her abuser. According to PsychCenter.com some signs of this bond may be substance abuse, poor mental health, homelessness and lack of identity. Leidholdt states in Why did the Sex Traffickers only get a Slap on the Wrist? that traffickers often brain wash their victims and use very sophisticated ways to do so. They get physically abused but these pimps make them believe that their safety depends on them, and manage to win their loyalty. According to Leidholdt short sentencing for human traffickers also means that victims are more scared to come forward, many pimps retain their power of prostitutes in jail behind bars, and prostitution rings are more likely to resume when the pimps are released from prison. The federal agency needs to be stricter on these sentences. Less than five years for a crime like this isn’t a strict enough punishment to get sex traffickers from continuing their illegal rings of human beings who are being forced into having sex with strangers. They need to start giving these criminals a minimum of at least ten years and allow the prosecutors to use other evidence including wire taps regardless of the victim’s testimony. Leinholdt says "Legislators and prosecutors need to beat traffickers at their own game, which means changing the law, we have to find a way to be as sophisticated as traffickers are themselves.” Longer prison sentencing means more victims will come forward because they know their abusers are behind bars for a long time. This is a major issue going on in this country and in this world. The government needs to start doing more so this issue stops spreading in the country and even around the world. A lot of these women and children are afraid to come forward because they don’t feel safe and protected. If we required our hospitals and staff to learn more about the warning signs and how to talk to these victims I believe it could make an enormous difference. Many of the sex traffickers get a slap on the wrist when it comes to sentencing and jail time. If they knew the government was helping with this issue I believe more of these victims would come forward and possibly speak about their stories and we could stop this huge epidemic going on. Works cited Costantini, Cristina. "Why Did These Sex Traffickers Only Get A Slap on the Wrist?" ABC News. ABC News Network, 28 June 2013. Web. 25 Apr. 2017. "Human Trafficking and the Role of Local Governments." N.p., n.d. Web. 25 Apr. 2017. IMDb. IMDb.com, n.d. Web. 25 Apr. 2017. "Hospitals train staff to spot victims of human trafficking." Modern Healthcare. N.p., n.d. Web. 25 Apr. 2017. "9 Signs of Traumatic Bonding: “Bonded to the abuser”." Psych Central.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 02 May 2017.
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