What is the issue or challenge you are addressing? Explain.
The issue that the whole class is confronting is against human trafficking. In the beginning of the unit, we worked in centers and discussed about some important human rights issues in Malaysia. We had to analyze articles, discuss about the topic with the group and fill out a note-taking sheet. Since we were given a chance to understand more about human rights problems, we had a better understanding of some types of human rights challenges. Later, we got to have the right to vote for one major topic using stickers (the process is also called the Focusing Four). The majority of people chose human trafficking as the topic that they feel most comfortable to work with. As a result, human trafficking had the most votes so it was the issue that the class eventually will have to find solutions and suggestions to stop human trafficking from growing in Malaysia.
Why is this important to you and your community and who does it impact? Explain.
I feel like human trafficking is important to me and my community as we can be safe by being aware of this tragedy and make a difference to save the less-fortunate. If I get human trafficked and if I'm aware of it, then I can know what to do instantly. According to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Article 29, it states that everyone has a responsibility to other people to protect their rights and freedoms. By being conscious of modern slavery and this human rights article, many individuals in our society can help and rescue the human trafficking victims. For me, I view that human trafficking is important as many people are suffering from it around the world. The traffickers restrict the victim's rights which is considered a huge crime. This crime impacts lots and lots of poor people who are searching for jobs in the world. Human trafficking changes people's way of life as the victims could be physically, emotionally, or mentally harmed and mistreated. If human trafficking didn't exist in the first place, the targets would've been more successful at earning more money and would'be had a better lifestyle than being human trafficked.
What kinds of surprises have you encountered in your research?
Some of the surprises that I have encountered during my research is that it's mostly women and girls being targeted for sexual exploitation, 2.5 million people are in forced labor, and victims are mostly between 18 and 24 years old. These statistics really shock me and tell me that the world will need to put in lots of effort to stop human trafficking. In one of the stories about human trafficking, a Cambodian girl who was a sex slave was forced to have sex with other men. If she refused, then she would get beaten. This story especially astonished me as I never knew human trafficking was 'that bad'. The girl was forced to have sex with strangers, sleep with strangers, keep on working without any shifts, etc. So the main surprises that I had were not knowing that victims were really mistreated and that lots of young women and girls are the targets.
The facts are from: http://www.unglobalcompact.org/docs/issues_doc/labour/Forced_labour/HUMAN_TRAFFICKING_-_THE_FACTS_-_final.pdf
How does learning about this issue make you feel and why?
Learning about this issue causes me to feel very scared, depressed, etc. I get these mixed feelings of sorrow and pain when I read about true stories from victims who have been harmed. I now view the world as a scary place full of bad people who want to take employers away and turn them into slaves. Human trafficking is a serious crime and learning about me has made me think that individuals need to do something before modern slavery grows. I get scared and depressed when reading facts and articles related to human trafficking because it gives me a sense that we humans have made the Earth an insecure place to live on. True stories about modern slavery really gives me goosebumps as I just can't believe the treatment the victims get. In conclusion, learning about modern day slavery made me feel frightened and sad.
