Assignment Overview 

The purpose of this essay is to continue to develop self-awareness and critical thought, engaging with rhetorical strategies as you address your personal experience and analyze one of the communities to which you belong, their needs and how these needs are communicated. In many cases, these needs may be severely ignored, controversial, or censored, making your investigation and ideas all the more important. Using personal testimony and some outside research to guide your discussion, this assignment asks you to analyze, investigate, report, and suggest remedies. While all rhetoric can be considered an argument, this is not an extensively researched critical analysis or term paper. Consideration of multiple sides of issues is beneficial, but the focus is more on your analysis, narration and informing others, than argumentation. As a community member, your personal opinion and emotions are valid and relevant. Writing should be clear, meaningful, and persuade readers of thoughtful consideration of your topic and proposed solution(s), explain the significance and further the conversation on this matter.

My Essay 

Chidera Obi-Eyisi

FIQWS HA21

Social Critique Essay

20 November 2019

Sex Trafficking of Black Women

As I was scrolling through my Instagram account the other day, a poster about a missing female Black student from Clark Atlanta University caught my attention. Apparently, she had been missing for about a week, but I began following the story when her body was uncovered near a park in Georgia. I felt something stir inside me. Quickly, I dug up more information about her story only to discover that she might have lost her life over speaking out against being sexually assaulted. I found this story extremely disturbing not just because she was murdered in cold blood but because there are other young Black women in the United States who frequently go missing without ever being found. African American women are known to be trafficked and forced into sexual exploitation. In America, Black women continue to be a target for sex trafficking.

Sex trafficking is a form of human trafficking which involves illegally transporting people from one country to another for the purpose of sexual exploitation. According to the FBI, “40 percent of victims of sex trafficking are African-Americans” and “the persons most likely to be victimized are vulnerable Black girls and women” (Reese). The above statistic illustrates that African Americans are more targeted in sex trafficking than any other race. This evidence also reveals that Black girls and women are endangered. While some researchers argue that the demand for Black women is higher than the demand for other races, others suggest that because a majority of the suspects are African American men, they tend to focus on low-income African American communities where many of the victims live (Reese). This argument among scholars indicates that Black women living in low-income communities will continue to be at risk because whether in high demand or not, they remain a target. Consequently, in these distressed neighborhoods, there are trends of neglect and child abuse, all of which make Black women marked for sex trafficking because they are already susceptible to danger.

When the media presents information about human trafficking in general, their representation forces the public to misunderstand who is at risk. An article by Oxford University Press, states that “white female victims are overrepresented as victims in the media because they fit the society’s definition of an innocent and pure person” (Austin et al). Often, they present this image of a young white female from a wealthy or middle-class family being the victim when in reality, it is most likely a young black female who has experienced different forms of trauma. In an article published by the American Psychiatric Association, Katara Watkins-Laws, a staff psychologist at the Child Guidance Clinic at the Superior Court of the District of Columbia, states that “the adverse childhood experiences many victims endure such as sexual or physical abuse, parental substance use, exposure to domestic violence, life in a high-crime area, or exposure to gang activity” make them more targetable (D’Arrigo). These living conditions in the Black community allow traffickers to find ways to meet the “unmet needs” of their victims which could range anywhere from food and shelter to love and acceptance (D’Arrigo). By approaching victims with this false kindness, traffickers can gradually lure their targets into trusting them which eventually doesn’t end well because the victims are desperate.

Certainly, there are ways to protect vulnerable Black women in the U.S., but this change can only begin in our communities. I believe by raising awareness that this issue is prevalent in our own neighborhoods and making efforts to say something when we see something, this issue can be combated. In an attempt to raise awareness, Paul Ryan, the former Speaker of the House of Representatives mentioned that to put an end to modern slavery in the United States, we must stop the manipulation and exploitation on the Internet. This would be achieved through the Fight Online Sex Trafficking Act (FOSTA) which “enhances criminal penalties for websites that facilitate illegal prostitution for sex trafficking” (We Must End Sex Trafficking in the United States). But how can one identify a sex trafficking victim in order to say something when they see something? Advice from OB-GYN News to help doctors recognize human trafficking victims mentions that victims “may lack official identification such as a driver’s license or passport, offer inconsistent information… and have someone else with them who controls and pays for their visit” (Ellen). If together as a community we can be aware of the happenings around us and call attention to signs when we see them, undoubtedly, the number of Black women who are trafficked in our communities will decline rapidly.

Every day, I live in fear of being a victim because I know the people whose stories I have read are no different than I am. Each night, walking home from school I am in a state of paranoia not knowing if someone would come behind me and snatch me away. Constantly having to look behind me to make sure I am not being followed has become a safety measure I have adapted. Simply stated, I should not have to live in constant worry in a country like America. As a young, Black, female in the U.S., my safety should not be determinant on my own terms. Sincerely, I hope that one day, I can walk freely on the streets at night without being seen as a “target” or a “vulnerable” Black woman who can easily be trafficked.

 

 

 

Works Cited

Austin, Rachel, and Amy Farrell. “Human Trafficking and the Media in the United States.” Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Criminology.  April 26, 2017. Oxford University Press. Date of access 20 Nov. 2019 <https://oxfordre.com/criminology/view/10.1093/acrefore/9780190264079.001.0001/acrefore-9780190264079-e-290>

D’Arrigo, Terri. “BPA Session Reveals the Brutality of Sex Trafficking in the Black Community.” Psychiatrics News, American Psychiatric Association, 30 May 2019, https://psychnews.psychiatryonline.org/doi/10.1176/appi.pn.2019.6a2.

Ellen, Mary. “Identify human trafficking victims.” OB-GYN News, Sept. 2011, p. 45. Gale  OneFile: Contemporary Women’s Issues, https://link-gale-com.ccny proxy1.libr.ccny.cuny.edu/apps/doc/A269691943/CWIu=cuny_ccny&sid=CWI&xid=3a547f6c. Accessed 20 Nov. 2019.

Reese, Frederick. “Sex Trafficking’s True Victims: Why Are Our Black Girls/Women So Vulnerable?” Atlanta Black Star, Atlanta Black Star, 15 June 2017, https://atlantablackstar.com/2017/06/15/sex-traffickings-true-victims-why-are-our-black-girlswomen-so-vulnerable/

“WE MUST END SEX TRAFFICKING IN THE UNITED STATES.” States News Service, 27. Feb. 2018. Gale OneFile: Contemporary Women’s Issues, https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/A529118889/CWI?u=cuny_ccny&sid=CWI&xid=b1ec2e58. Accessed 19 Nov. 2019.