2008 Woodie Awards
Practice of human trafficking an epidemic
Josephine Corsaro
Issue date: 2/20/08 Section: College News
A young girl screams in horror as she is repeatedly raped and beaten by a man three times her size. She is trapped in a filthy brothel with 10 other girls, some of whom are her age and others who are just a few years older.
She is in a foreign country and does not know or trust anyone. Having a debt to pay back, she is at the mercy of her "owners," being forced to have sex with multiple men on a daily basis the incessant psychological torture has pushed her to the point of desolation.
This is just one example of what victims of human trafficking are forced to endure on a daily basis. Often seeking out a better life for themselves, they find that instead they have been led into a life of endless abuse and manipulation.
"The best way to describe human trafficking is, work here under these conditions or else," Assistant U.S. Attorney Gayle Helart says.
Exploitation encompasses the following: prostitution, forced labor, slavery and the removal of organs. Forms of child trafficking that have been documented - in addition to those listed above - include international adoption, early marriage, child soldiers, begging, sports and religious cults.
"One of the greatest concerns regarding human trafficking is that woman and girls as young as the age of 10 are being forced into sexual exploitation every day," Helart says.
Another factor that reinforces human trafficking is the lack of statistics available throughout the nation and the need for further global education.
A task force known as IPATH was created in 2005 in which $400,000 was granted to Indiana law enforcement and $500,000 was allocated to victims of human trafficking. Brandon Mills of the IMPD was designated as lead detective on any cases that should arise.
"No country goes untouched by this act of human slavery," Mills says.
He then went on to describe the fight against human trafficking here in the state of Indiana.
"We have only had one case in that time frame, which unfortunately was never prosecuted," he says. "This can be very discouraging for many officials, including myself, in our efforts to fight this global phenomenon, but we will continue to educate our officers on what signs to look for that may indicate or allude to any cases of human trafficking."
She is in a foreign country and does not know or trust anyone. Having a debt to pay back, she is at the mercy of her "owners," being forced to have sex with multiple men on a daily basis the incessant psychological torture has pushed her to the point of desolation.
This is just one example of what victims of human trafficking are forced to endure on a daily basis. Often seeking out a better life for themselves, they find that instead they have been led into a life of endless abuse and manipulation.
"The best way to describe human trafficking is, work here under these conditions or else," Assistant U.S. Attorney Gayle Helart says.
Exploitation encompasses the following: prostitution, forced labor, slavery and the removal of organs. Forms of child trafficking that have been documented - in addition to those listed above - include international adoption, early marriage, child soldiers, begging, sports and religious cults.
"One of the greatest concerns regarding human trafficking is that woman and girls as young as the age of 10 are being forced into sexual exploitation every day," Helart says.
Another factor that reinforces human trafficking is the lack of statistics available throughout the nation and the need for further global education.
A task force known as IPATH was created in 2005 in which $400,000 was granted to Indiana law enforcement and $500,000 was allocated to victims of human trafficking. Brandon Mills of the IMPD was designated as lead detective on any cases that should arise.
"No country goes untouched by this act of human slavery," Mills says.
He then went on to describe the fight against human trafficking here in the state of Indiana.
"We have only had one case in that time frame, which unfortunately was never prosecuted," he says. "This can be very discouraging for many officials, including myself, in our efforts to fight this global phenomenon, but we will continue to educate our officers on what signs to look for that may indicate or allude to any cases of human trafficking."
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