Engagement To End Enslavement

The world of human trafficking is still considered new or unknown and people don't know the severity of the situation. The United States is considered one of the main countries into which victims are imported into. Many of the victims are seen as everyday people. Here are five steps you can take to get involved with the cause.

Get Informed

a. There’s a lot to learn from organizations. There are movements and organizations like Thorn, Shared Hope and Truckers Against Trafficking that encourage involvement.

b. Know the laws that deal with Human Trafficking both locally and nationally. The government provides a Trafficking In Persons Report that details that year’s current situation with Human Trafficking. This report provides information on laws and actions that are currently in progress.

Get Training

a. Know the signs: Humans often follow the concept of the bystander effect. The bystander effect occurs when the pressure of other individuals causes a person to not get involved in an urgent situation. It's important for us to rise above this instinct and to have a general knowledge of the victim's symptoms.

b. Know how to incorporate it in your life: Most of the victims and traffickers found were because of the involvement of the community. Kids have been found in the trafficking business through calls from their neighbors.

Spread Awareness

a. Again we would like to turn your attention to the sites mentioned in our getting informed section. All three sites have options for viewers to get involved. There are some organizations that may offer job oppurtunites.

b. Awareness can also be spread through small acts such as blog posts and Buzzfeed articles. Spreading information to the cause is important, most people don’t see human trafficking as an issue here in the US. This issue needs to be recognized, and that recognition starts with you!

Take Action

a. Talk about it: Once you’re informed, share what you’ve learned with family, friends, and anyone who will listen. Get the word out there that human trafficking is an issue here.

b. Organize: Organize a local group to fight trafficking in any way you can. That could include fundraising for larger groups that can appropriately put the money to good use, spreading awareness locally, receive and provide training for your neighborhoods, et cetera.

c. Improve legal action against traffickers: There may be legislation being worked on to improve law enforcement’s ability to find and help victims as well as prosecute the traffickers. Write your representatives and let them know what you want to be done. If nothing is in the works, tell your representatives that more needs to be done.

Report It

Call the National Human Trafficking Hotline at 1-888-373-7888 or call any local organizations such as your police department.

We are a group of undergraduate students that are doing a project for our English class. We first created our own site based on the information that we have researched and are now trying to spread awareness.