Spring Break
Latin sorority shows human trafficking film
Bridgette Blight
Issue date: 11/6/07 Section: Campus
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11/06/07 - Slavery was abolished in the United States in 1863 with the Emancipation Proclamation. However, according to a 2006 study by the U.S. State Dept., approximately 14,500 to 17,500 slaves come into the U.S. each year. On Monday night, Chi Upsilon Sigma Latin sorority held a workshop to educate the University of Rhode Island community on modern day slavery, also known as human trafficking.
Tenika DaPonte, a clinician knowledgeable on human trafficking, presented information on human trafficking to a small group at the Multicultural Center. DaPonte showed the first part of "Human Trafficking," a Lifetime miniseries. The miniseries followed a single mother tricked by a young man into becoming a prostitute, a 16-year-old girl lured to the U.S. with the promise of a modeling career, a 12-year old American girl abducted while vacationing in the Philippines, and a Filipino girl sold into slavery by her father.
While all kinds of people are victims of human trafficking, most are women and children. These people are tricked into slavery by promises of better-paying jobs in foreign countries. Parents in desperate financial situations might sell a child into slavery for the money and one less mouth to feed, DaPonte said.
Victims of human trafficking are sexually abused. They work in massage parlors, brothels, escort services, and strip clubs. The leaders of the human trafficking rings intimidate their victims through rape, abuse and threats of violence against family members.
According to the Polaris Project, a nonprofit organization that fights human trafficking, human trafficking is the second largest criminal industry in the world. In "Human Trafficking," one of the main characters called modern-day slavery the "business of the future." Organized crime organizations participate in human trafficking because of its profitability. Unlike drugs, which must be smuggled and can only be sold once, a person can be purchased for a small amount and sold over and over again daily.
Tenika DaPonte, a clinician knowledgeable on human trafficking, presented information on human trafficking to a small group at the Multicultural Center. DaPonte showed the first part of "Human Trafficking," a Lifetime miniseries. The miniseries followed a single mother tricked by a young man into becoming a prostitute, a 16-year-old girl lured to the U.S. with the promise of a modeling career, a 12-year old American girl abducted while vacationing in the Philippines, and a Filipino girl sold into slavery by her father.
While all kinds of people are victims of human trafficking, most are women and children. These people are tricked into slavery by promises of better-paying jobs in foreign countries. Parents in desperate financial situations might sell a child into slavery for the money and one less mouth to feed, DaPonte said.
Victims of human trafficking are sexually abused. They work in massage parlors, brothels, escort services, and strip clubs. The leaders of the human trafficking rings intimidate their victims through rape, abuse and threats of violence against family members.
According to the Polaris Project, a nonprofit organization that fights human trafficking, human trafficking is the second largest criminal industry in the world. In "Human Trafficking," one of the main characters called modern-day slavery the "business of the future." Organized crime organizations participate in human trafficking because of its profitability. Unlike drugs, which must be smuggled and can only be sold once, a person can be purchased for a small amount and sold over and over again daily.
