Research Paper On Human Trafficking

Are there equal rights for all individuals in America today? No, I believe that victims of human trafficking do not have equal rights to American citizens. My assumptions are that victims of human trafficking are slaves, and so their rights as people are often not respected. They are forced into illegal work and practices, like stealing, commercial sex work, illegal immigration, or other things that break federal law. From my own knowledge on the topic, I know victims are often persuaded with lies or violence to leave their homes, and probably don’t feel they have the freedom to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Additionally, human trafficking falls into the category of slavery and involuntary servitude, which is illegal in the

Searching ‘rights of American citizens’, I found “Citizen Rights and Responsibilities” on U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. It summarized our rights; to have the freedom of religion, to express oneself, the ability to vote, and pursue life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. One responsibility that stood out was to ‘respect and obey federal, state, and local laws. Human traffickers and their victims do not obey federal law, seeing as slavery is illegal. Another responsibility is to ‘respect the rights, beliefs, and opinions of others’; but victims are often not respected in this sense. Furthermore, my opinion is that trafficked slaves often don’t get to pursue life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness in their poor living conditions. From classes I’ve attended on the subject, I have heard that victims often feel unsafe, taken advantage of, and live in fear. They are controlled by individuals that don’t respect peoples’ civil rights or the law. As citizens of the U.S. (or visitors, who are illegal immigrants), I don’t think trafficked victims have the rights that the law

“Trafficking in Persons: Myths, Methods, and Human Rights” showed statistics of people trafficked, which were primarily females from Southeast Asia. It emphasized that traffickers are very clever, and are easily able to hide from the law in secret organizations. They may tell lies to potential victims, offering them secure job opportunities. They will take advantage of, torture, or threaten these victims into obeying them, which is illegal almost everywhere. Traffickers cut off the victims from any outside help they may need, and pay little attention to their medical needs like diseases or injury. Two of the main reasons for a victim to agree to a trafficker’s terms are their need for money or a job; poverty and unemployment are common in many places. It concluded by saying that the UN (the United States included) has passed many treaties and laws prohibiting slavery or prostitution. From the information above, my opinions are that trafficked victims are treated terribly in the ethical and moral sense as well as simply having their rights taken from them. Their ignorance and desperation for money is badly taken advantage of, they are lied to, and taken from their homes without consent and physically harmed or abused. This is immoral as well as it is