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Underneath Our Noses: Slavery Today
Poverty education week increased awareness on human trafficking around the world, our modern slavery.
Poverty Week is an annual opportunity to help students become more informed on global problems concerning foreign or domestic society. During this year’s poverty week at Calvert Hall, we had the chance to become educated about the prevalent issue of human trafficking. It is critical to spread awareness for this little-known topic, as it has become eye-opening for the majority of the individuals at Calvert Hall. Perhaps the most surprising aspect of this issue is that it has become a part of our own society and goes essentially unnoticed by most law enforcement. Through research and education of the faculty and students at Calvert Hall, awareness of this often overlooked issue has been spread through the Calvert Hall community. This stark contrast in awareness before and after Poverty Week has been emphasized by many who have been further educated on the topic.
The awareness of a disconcerting topic such as human trafficking is important in understanding how to prevent it from occurring in the future. According to “A Path Appears,” an educational video shown in most religion classes on the topic of sex trafficking, the law enforcement system in America has a great amount of work to do in preventing this heinous crime. According to Mr. Harris, a senior religion teacher, “it was effective in conveying the horrid reality that this is going on right underneath our noses.” The strategy that the law enforcement uses to “prevent” this crime is to arrest the people being exploited for sexual pleasure. This does not target the real cause of the problem: the pimps. This method also encourages a stronger emotional connection between the pimps and their victims.
When some people think of the crime in Baltimore, it typically includes more common crimes seen in the media, such as murder and theft. Most people do not think of human trafficking, most likely because it often lacks media coverage. When asked about his previous knowledge about human trafficking, junior Ronald Prescott said, “I had no idea it was such a big issue in our society…it really opened my eyes to a lot of crime going on that I had not heard of before.” This year’s poverty week has definitely increased everyone’s awareness here at the Hall of human trafficking. Although this is a strong start for our school community, the issue of human trafficking needs to receive more national attention in order to be solved throughout America. In an effort to combat the national and global problem of human trafficking, Calvert Hall partnered with Catholic Relief Services to exchange emails and spread awareness of the topic. The concern of human trafficking is a huge problem in American society, and action needs to be taken to further our efforts on combating this global issue.
