Hanging out with a bunch of friends you feel that you are completely safe with nothing to worry about. When in reality that’s when you should be the most scared, you are the most vulnerable at those times. You're not paying attention neither are your friends. Its times like this that someone could be following you. Hopefully, none of us have experienced human trafficking or ever will, but how many individuals have watched the movie Taken? When Liam Neeson’s daughter is kidnapped in that movie, it is an example of a method actual human traffickers use.
Homeland security informs us, a little bit, about human trafficking. It is modern-day slavery! It involves the use of force, fraud, or coercion to obtain some type of labor or commercial sex act. Also, human trafficking is a hidden crime as victims rarely come forward to seek help because of language barriers, fear of the traffickers or fear of law enforcement.

As stated above, traffickers use force, fraud, or coercion to lure their victims. They look for people who are susceptible to a variety of reasons, including psychological or emotional vulnerability, economic hardship, lack of a social safety net, natural disasters or political instability. The trauma caused by the traffickers can be so great that many may not identify themselves as victims or ask for help, even in highly public settings.

Trafficking has become a large business in the united states with California, Texas, Florida, Ohio and New York being the top five according to humanracetohumanrights.com. tells us that each year 17,500 people are brought into the US to be held against their will as victims of human trafficking.“It’s the third-largest and fastest-growing crime worldwide because it combines high profit and low risk,” Bradley Myles, deputy director of the Polaris Project, said on a 2008 panel. Department of State says, in 2011 the U.S. was identified as a Tier 1 country with unspecified federal agencies charging 181 individuals with trafficking other humans while obtaining 141 convictions in 103 human trafficking prosecutions. Of the prosecutions reported 32 were labor trafficking cases, as well as  71, were sex trafficking cases.

In an article on CNN by Rafael Romo called “Human Trafficking survivor: I was raped 43,200 times” shares a young girl's personal experience. Karla Jacinto describes her 4 years in the human trafficking, of being raped at least 30 times a day and beaten many times by different people. Could you imagine that? She was so scared but knew she couldn’t go to authority for help because some of the men that were part of the authority were raping her. Karla was lured from poverty in Mexico by a man who befriended her with a story. From the age of 12 to 16 she spent her life in the human trafficking, she was rescued in a home invasion! While Karla was a part of the human trafficking she gave birth to a little girl at the age of 15. When the little girl turned a month old she was taken from Karla. She wasn’t allowed to see her until she was a year old.

Many of the people around could be victims of human trafficking. Little things that are known for in human trafficking is a barcode tattooed on the victim's skin either forearm inside of biceps or at the base of the neck. Also according to polaris project the victims will appear malnourished, show signs of physical/sexual abuse physical restraint, confinement or torture. They also may be fearful, anxious, depressed, submissive, tense, or nervous/paranoid especially if law enforcement is brought up. They will also avoid eye contact, won’t speak for themselves, but if they do they will have numerous inconsistencies in their story.

The worst part about human trafficking is that you never know if you could be their next victim. Some of the different styles of abducting have been, bribery, befriending people, trapping their victim in a store aisle, or they have another person bait the victim. The most common attempts have been baiting the victim to their vehicle.
According to human trafficking hotline, human trafficking does not exist solely because many people are vulnerable to exploitation. Human trafficking is fueled by a demand for cheap labor, services, and commercial sex.  It is a big but popular crime in the US as well as overseas as it is a daily occurrence. If someone goes missing the authorities are left with limited hours to find them! This is an easy crime to get away with, as people are becoming more gullible and believe everyone can be friends. Again this is a perfect reason this crime is a low risk but high profit!

Human trafficking is the third largest crime and growing worldwide. I hope this doesn't scare you but makes you aware of the things going on around you. Informs you what to look for in your surrounding and in other people! If you ever feel like someone is watching you don't hesitate to get help call the cops, have an employee escort you to your car just remember don't go alone!