Human Trafficking as a National Security Issue

Abstract

Human trafficking is an issue in almost every country across the world and yet it is often overlooked by those in the national security field. Funds from human trafficking are directly used to fund illicit activities like terrorism or organized crime syndicates while trafficking threatens human security by stealing the rights of individuals to their freedom. Furthermore, in the age of social media, the threat of human trafficking has spread online to vulnerable groups who normally would never have been exposed to this danger. Sadly, rather than tackle the threat head on, media companies have avoided taking precautions against human trafficking and opted to take no responsibility for the crimes committed on their sites. This, in combination with the overlooking of human trafficking as an issue of national security by those in power, has led to a network of over 25 million people being trafficked each year. In order to stop the cycle of trafficking, social media companies, government officials, and the general public must work together to raise awareness of the issues and to help rescue people from trafficking networks.