John Diamandis
English
Intro
Assignment #4
"An ounce of cocaine wholesale: $1,200. But you can only
sell it once. A woman or child: $50 to $1,000. But you can sell
them each day, every day, over and over again. The markup is
immeasurable." This quote taken from the movie “Human
Trafficking” helps to explain the horrifying reality of what truly
is going on in the world right under our noses each and every
day. Human trafficking is a broad term used to describe modern
day slavery. It can be the trade of humans for sexual slavery,
forced labor, or for the extraction of organs. Human trafficking
has been around for centuries but it is not just a thing of the
past, but also a growing problem for our present and our future.
With the enormous revenue made by traffickers the market for
human slaves is consistently growing and it almost seems
impossible to stop this illegal activity. Human trafficking not
only affects individual victims but also challenges the security
of a nation and prohibits people from enjoying their natural
rights as a human being. Most people believe that human
trafficking only happens in foreign or poor countries but that is
not the case. Even here in the United States, a land built upon
freedom, slavery is still very much alive.
John Diamandis
Human Trafficking and The Lack of Awareness People Have in
Our Society.
Introduction
I. Attention-getter: Many of you may be familiar with the film
“Taken”, if not, it is about a young girl who is abducted by
human traffickers for sexual slavery while she is in France.

II. Thesis statement: Most of you probably think that Human
Trafficking only occurs in foreign or poor countries but in
reality it is a growing problem here in the United States. Since
this is happening, I want to talk about the public discourse of
Human Trafficking.
III. Essay: In my essay I will explain what human trafficking is,
the discourse from victims and law enforcements, the efforts to
make the public more aware and the Polaris Project.
A. Human Trafficking and A Survivor’s Story.
B. The Efforts made to Spread Awareness.
C. Polaris Project – Stories and what it is
[Transition to Body: First off, Human Trafficking is the illegal
trade of human beings, or a modern-day form of slavery. It
occurs in other ways than just sexual exploitation including
forced labor and human organ trafficking.]
Body
I. First main point: In the United States people are very
fortunate to not have to worry about human trafficking
everyday. However, people should give it a little more thought
than they do.
A. Sub-point#1: According to an article written by an American
survivor on stophumantraffickingny.com. Dai grew up and lived
in America for 21 years and was just one of many who was
forced into sexual slavery. Dai was in a relationship with a
military man who abused her before she was taken into sexual
slavery. Dai escaped her abuser only to be approached by a
female pimp who offered her comfort and food. Unknowingly
Dai accepted and became a female escort where she was later
abused and raped by her “date”. Dai went to the police but the
police wouldn’t help her. She states, “To my astonishment, the
police informed me that I had no rights because I had attained
the status of a “street-walker”.”
B. Sub-point#2: After this, Dai was sold to a man and was taken
to Nevada where she was ultimately submitted into human
trafficking. Her experience as a human sex slave took place in
Las Vegas and New York right underneath popular casinos and

restaurants. Dai along with other women and even children were
drugged and raped repeatedly. Dai stated, “I compare that time
to being held hostage in a timeless existence where my mind
engaged itself in disassociation with my soul. Repeatedly, I
witnessed the beatings, rapes and murders of innocent women.”
C. Sub-point#3: Dai often questioned, “How could my own
country not be aware of these cruelties? How could this kind of
discrimination and slavery be given the power to blind
immigrant and American women of their rights? The frustration
of these and other questions echoed within my catatonic mind.”
After I read this story, I questioned the same thing.
[Transition: America needs to become more aware of this
growing problem, which leads to my next point: Spreading
Awareness.]
II. Second main point: There are many efforts being taken to
help spread awareness of human trafficking.
1. Sub-point #1: One action that was taken to spread awareness
was when Forbes Magazine titled their article, “Super Bowl
XLVIII(48) and Human Trafficking: An Outdoor Campaign
Connects the Two.” Every American knows that the Super Bowl
is widely known for having the best commercials and the fact
that the game was held at MetLife Stadium drew a lot of
attention to advertising in the city. For the duration of the Super
Bowl week, a huge outdoor advertisement was held in the New
York/ New Jersey metropolitan area to spread awareness about
human trafficking in the United States. The message read,
“Human Trafficking was reported in all 50 states last year. Stop
modern slavery.” It also displayed a black and white photograph
of a young girl who was a victim of human trafficking. These
advertisements were displayed for a full two weeks throughout
New York City. This action is supported by the Polaris Project,
which I will explain in my next point.
1. Sub-point#1: But the Polaris Project Organization stated,
“We knew we needed this kind of support if we were going to
continue to make progress,” says Polaris Project CEO Bradley
Myles. “We need to be front and center for there to be a major

leap in awareness that this is problem. As the campaign says,
this in an issue ’365 days a year,’ not just during Super Bowl
week.”
B. Sub-point#2: Another effort being taken was by President
Obama when he declared January as the National Slavery and
Human Trafficking Prevention Month. As of January 11th,
2011, Human Trafficking Awareness Day became official.
President Obama states, “This month, I call on every nation,
every community, and every individual to fight human
trafficking wherever it exists. Let us declare as one that slavery
has no place in our world, and let us finally restore to all people
the most basic rights of freedom, dignity, and justice.”
[Transition: As you can see there are efforts being taken to
spread awareness and now I will talk about the Polaris Project.]
III. Third main point: There are many organizations that are
created in order to help spread awareness and get people
through their traumatic experiences.
A. Sub-point #1: The Polaris Project is an organization that
works to fight and prevent modern day slavery and human
trafficking. The organization helps victims of human trafficking
and people who suffered or have been affected by it. The
Polaris Project is one of the largest anti-trafficking
organizations in the country. They have programs to help local
victims and national ones. The organization offers hotlines
where people can report a tip or to report information they may
have. They provide a 24/7 emergency response to any life-
threatening situations and they offer counseling, support groups,
art therapy, and job training/ placement assistance.
B. Sub-point#2: The Polaris Project has helped thousands of
people. They helped 85,000 hotline callers from every state in
the country as well as connected more than 11,000 victims of
human trafficking to assistance. The Polaris Project website
also has stories of people that suffered from any type of human
trafficking. According to an article on dailymail.com, sixteen
children and 50 women were rescued from sexual slavery in the
New York, New Jersey, Connecticut and Pennsylvania area in

the week leading up to the Super Bowl.My parents voiced their
opinion on this, “We are shocked to learn that this is a very real
problem here but we are glad that the police and organizations
like the Polaris Project are working hard to stop it.”
Conclusion- Restate thesis and examples
Final sentence: Today, Dai is surviving and speaking out about
what happened to her so that people know that it is a problem in
our country. “America needs to have its eyes open to this reality
which is happening twenty-four hours a day.”
Work Cited:
References
Communities.washingtontimes.com. (2014). The worst form of
human trafficking. [online] Retrieved from:
http://communities.washingtontimes.com/neighborhood/rights-
so-divine/2012/jan/17/worst-form-human-trafficking/
[Accessed: 29 Jan 2014].
FBI. (2014). Human trafficking. [online] Retrieved from:
http://www.fbi.gov/about-
us/investigate/civilrights/human_trafficking [Accessed: 29 Jan
2014].
Goodman, J. (2014). Successes | polaris project | combating

human trafficking and modern-day slavery. [online] Retrieved
from: http://www.polarisproject.org/about-us/successes
[Accessed: 29 Jan 2014].
Interpol.int. (2014). Types of human trafficking / trafficking in
human beings / crime areas / internet / home - interpol. [online]
Retrieved from: http://www.interpol.int/Crime-
areas/Trafficking-in-human-beings/Types-of-human-trafficking
[Accessed: 29 Jan 2014].
Robins, J. (2014). Super bowl xlviii and human trafficking: an
outdoor campaign connects the two. [online] Retrieved from:
http://www.forbes.com/sites/maxrobins/2014/01/28/super-bowl-
xlviii-and-human-trafficking-an-outdoor-campaign-connects-
the-two/ [Accessed: 29 Jan 2014].
Stop Human Trafficking NY. (2011). A survivor's story.
[online] Retrieved from:
http://stophumantraffickingny.wordpress.com/a-survivors-story/
[Accessed: 29 Jan 2014].
Unknown. "National Human Trafficking Awareness Day: Help
us Spread the Word." The Salvation Army Chattanooga, 2014.
Web. 11 Feb 2014.
<http://salvationarmychattanooga.wordpress.com/2014/01/11/na
tional-human-trafficking-awareness-day-help-us-spread-the-
word/>.
Unknown. "16 children rescued and 45 people arrested in
crackdown on sex ring." Mail Online, 2014. Web. 13 Feb 2014.
<http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2551759/Sixteen-
children-rescued-45-people-arrested-crackdown-Super-Bowl-
sex-ring.html>.