Human trafficking is something we don’t usually like talking about or thinking about.  We know it goes on in this world, but did you know that human trafficking is a majeure problem here in the united states?  When we think of slavery we commonly think of the past, but human slavery is still very common today.  Many kids under 18 are forced to engage in commercial sex. These young girls and boys are taken away from their family and forced to become sex slaves.  Traffickers kidnap their victims and rape, or physically abuse and drug them to control and condition them.

Human trafficking is a worldwide problem, and its hard to believe that this is also happening near us right in Portland Oregon.  Bethany Pavlik claims that, “These sex slaves may be forced to have sex with 10-20 strangers a day.”  According to the U.S. state department, 600,00 to 800,000 are slaved across the international border every year.  More than 70% of them are females and the other half are children.  There are about 20 to 30 billion slaves in our world.  Young woman are most common for human trafficking.  “ When a female is involved in human trafficking she will never receive a paycheck or a chance to talk to her family again,” says Molly Edmonds. 

Dai was a survivor of human trafficking, she was beaten and raped multiple times.  While Dai was apart of this human trafficking she witnessed the beatings, rapes, and murders of innocent woman.  During Dia’s slavery she said, “ How could my own country not be aware of these cruelties?  How could this kind of discrimination and slavery be given the power to blind immigrant and american women of their rights?”

  If you witness  human trafficking please report it.  These young women and children are begging for help, one call could save hundreds of lives.