Men, Women and Children for Sale: The Dichotomy of Human Trafficking in the United States and Abroad

Presenter Information

Elizabeth Kolbe, Minnesota State University, Mankato

Location

CSU 202

Start Date

23-4-2007 10:00 AM

End Date

23-4-2007 12:00 PM

Student's Major

Anthropology

Student's College

Social and Behavioral Sciences

Mentor's Name

Paul Brown

Mentor's Department

Anthropology

Mentor's College

Social and Behavioral Sciences

Description

Living in Thailand in 2005 opened my eyes to the real plight of exploited peoples in the world. I was able to experience first-hand the economic and social issues facing potential victims of human trafficking. There are an estimated 200 million people being held in slavery worldwide. Like most Americans, I believed this is a horrible problem facing only people of developing countries. Last year I heard Chong Kim describe her traumatizing experience of being trafficked within the United States. Over 18,000 people are trafficked into the United States yearly for exploitation. In this paper, I will discuss the issue of human trafficking, explain how trafficking affects different countries, including the United States, and address how a holistic, well-rounded approach is need to stop this global problem on all fronts.