For the Cause

Teresa Arrowood
Sep 5, 2018
2 min read

It wasn’t something I thought much about until I sat down and starting writing a couple of years ago on a family vacation. It started from two different videos I had seen on YouTube. My first book was born, a book of fiction on an adult romance that takes views from real life happenings. It is a subject that has effected my family and those around me. As health care professional I have seen it more times than I can count. At some point I would like to have a support group for those that have gone through this, either by a safe house or some type of outreach for those that are looking for a way out.

Along with abuse, which I have seen in my extended family to my career in which I have seen physical, mental and sexual abuse, I found a topic I think also needs to brought into the picture. There is a monster out there that is a predator for our children, both boys and girls along with teenage runaways. It’s called human trafficking and it exists. What is human trafficking? The definition is the trade of humans for sexual slavery, forced labor or sexual exploitation. It can also include child brides.

Human trafficking is estimated to impact between14,500 and 17,500 people are trafficked into the United States annually. This is a terrible injustice. Most think that it effects most often to those that are in low income areas or from low income homes. This is a falsehood. The victims can come from any income bracket and from any home but most are school age and come from complicated or challenging home lives.

The ages vary but the victims can be as young as nine. These victims can be found many ways one of which is through social media. They can also be found on chat-rooms, shopping malls, teen hangouts, clubs and bus depots. Other sources can be acquittances who do the recruiting on school campuses.

They are most often controlled with drugs. They are first made addicted then they are controlled by them. They are blackmailed, threatened through physical and emotional abuse. There are other forms of inticement such as a promise of a job, fame or love interest. They may also have threatened their families. The victim has no control of finances so they have no means of escape, no where to go to.

Abuse victims are often treated the same be they be male or female. Most often theirs is shame or bodily harm and shame that keeps them trapped in a relationship. Not knowing who to go to for help is also an issue. Most of them do not seek help from authorities. At the time I wrote Eye of the storm abuse victims were 1 in 3 females and 1 and 5 males and that has been at least five years ago.

Watch for signs of abuse or a trafficking victim. According to this website