No Slavery

In 1865, the United States abolished slavery with the 13th Amendment. This was to be the start of a new era in America where humankind could be freed from forced servitude. However, over 150 years later, slavery continues to be a significant problem.

How?

Today’s form of modern slavery is human trafficking. Human trafficking is modern-day slavery and involves the use of force, fraud, or coercion to obtain some type of labor or commercial sex act.

It’s a topic that nobody wants to discuss. It’s uncomfortable and painful, and far easier to imagine as something happening in countries other than ours. Unfortunately, that is not the case. It’s happening all over the US and in our very own city.

According to the Human Trafficking Hotline’s 2017 Report, Washington DC ranked #1 in number of calls per capita on human trafficking.

This is unacceptable.

The UN’s Universal Declaration of Human Rights states in Article 4: “No one shall be held in slavery or servitude; slavery and the slave trade shall be prohibited in all their forms.”

So what can you do to help combat human trafficking? How can we help truly abolish all forms of human trafficking in Washington DC? One step is to learn the signs of how to spot human trafficking and then report it! It is a great first step.

Some of indicators of human trafficking are when a person:

• Is not free to leave or come and go as he/she wishes
• Is fearful, anxious, depressed, submissive, tense, or nervous/paranoid
• Exhibits unusually fearful or anxious behavior after bringing up law enforcement
• Avoids eye contact
• Is not allowed or able to speak for themselves (a third party may insist on being present and/or translating)

You can learn more of the signs with this short course from the US State Department and find out how to report Human Trafficking when you think you see it here.

In addition to knowing the signs of Human Trafficking, it is also important that we change the culture around how society perceives human rights abuses.

Human rights are there for your protection against people who might want to harm or hurt you. When human rights are not well known by people, abuses such as discrimination, intolerance, injustice, oppression, and slavery can arise. Help increase your survival and well being by educating yourself on your human rights and that of those in your life for whom you care.

Learn more about what you can do to help improve human rights in the DC area by joining the UNA-NCA Human Rights Committee and help make a difference in your community. Contact us today.

This post was written by Erica Rodgers, UNA-NCA Human Rights Committee Member, as part of an ongoing series focused on the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.