Janese Johnson

Human trafficking is an atrocious practice that has been on the rise globally.

Since 2001, The State Department has created a staff of 31 people to monitor and combat the trafficking of persons.

The U.S. government estimates that 800,000 people are trafficked across international borders annually and millions more are trafficked within their own countries.

Thanks to the release of its annual TIP (trafficking in persons) report, some countries around the world are beginning to take action against human trafficking.

Trafficking in persons is considered a modern-day form of slavery. Women and children are taken against their will and sold for labor, fighting, or prostitution. They are expected to prostitute themselves, fight in wars, or work long hours without pay. They are treated inhumanly, and if they ever escape the horrible life that they were forced into, they have a hard time integrating back into society.

Basically, their lives are ruined forever. And without the help and voices of activists from around the world, they could never become free. Fortunately, because of increasing education, awareness, and lack of tolerance for human trafficking around the world, it is becoming increasingly difficult for the traffickers to get away with this crime as they have in the past.

Although the United States is admirable in its fight against human trafficking, the U.S. is not entirely guilt free in this crime. In a documentary called “Daughters and Sisters Betrayed,” Chela Blitt reveals that the increase in the sex trade partly came because of the demand from the U.S. military and other Westerners who came to those parts of the world and wanted to buy sex for their own pleasure.

The demand became so high from Westerners for prostitutes, and the value for women was already so low, that many took it upon themselves to simply sell the young girls for profit. Girls were promised a better life in another country or area, and they innocently went with the profiteer, only to be tricked into a prison life sentence of prostitution.

Human trafficking is not only a problem in other parts of the world that the United States is trying to stop — human trafficking is happening in our own country, too.

There are 14,500-17,500 recent cases of human trafficking in the U.S. These cases include adolescent Mexican girls trafficked to the U.S. for prostitution, Indian men trafficked for forced labor, and African women and children trafficked for domestic servitude, among others.

Human beings should not ever be sold and used for the desires and greed of another. Slavery became illegal because of the many humane voices that spoke out. Unfortunately, slavery became hidden behind the veil of human trafficking, and needs to be addressed anew.

The more people who stand up and speak out against this modern-day slavery, the closer we are to bringing this atrocity to an end. The victims need our voices, they need our compassion, and they need help in getting free from their lifelong imprisonment of suffering.

There are many organizations that are doing something to stop this. Amnesty International is one of them. You can go on their website at www.amnestyusa.org and get involved with their fight against human trafficking.

The local Amnesty International group will be showing the documentary “Daughters and Sisters Betrayed” at 7 p.m. May 13. After the documentary, there will be discussion and a letter-writing action. The gathering will be held at 227 Edgewood Road in North Asheville.
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Janese Johnson has been doing intuitive counseling nationally for more than 20 years. She may be contacted at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .