By Nathan Hamblen
For the Daily Titan
Danh Thi Anh, 20, sorts plastic bags to sell to recyclers at a garbage dump on the outskirts of Rach Gia City in Vietnam. Anh was one of the seven girls rescued from a sex trafficking scam in December 2008, after she accepted a phony job offer to work in a cafe in Ho Chi Minh City. Photo courtesy MCT.
Cal State Fullerton’s Project PATHE (People Against Trafficking and Human Exploitation) provided students with information on human sex trafficking and slavery Friday night in Titan Theatre.
Project PATHE president Karina Gutierrez co-founded the club a year ago after learning about human trafficking in a women’s studies class.
“Our main goal is to spread awareness about human trafficking in California and the United States, as well as help out the victims who have already been trapped in this situation,” Gutierrez, a 21-year-old senior double majoring in psychology and political science, said.
Slavery is not legal anywhere, but it is thriving everywhere. There are more slaves today, 27 million, than in any other time in history.
A 2004 report to Congress from Attorney General John Ashcroft found that an estimated 14,500 to 17,500 people are trafficked into the U.S. each year.
Children as young as 6 are taken from their homes to be sold in other countries for anything ranging from prostitution, agricultural work to domestic service.
Project PATHE members began the event Friday night with a short play showing one of the many ways children are tricked into leaving their families.
Often, children are persuaded into leaving their homes and families with promises of a good job and a better life, but this is hardly the case.
They are taken captive and sometimes lined up shoulder-to-shoulder and auctioned off to the highest bidder.
The seminar also featured two films, “Children of the Night” and “Dreams Die Hard.” Both films showed how prevalent and widespread human trafficking is today.
One of the reasons human trafficking is able to thrive is that slaves are cheaper today than at any other time in history. According to “Dreams Die Hard,” the average cost of a slave today is $90.
Truong Thi Nhi Linh, 17, collects plastic bags from fresh garbage to sell to recyclers, at a garbage dump on the outskirts of Rach Gia City in Kien Giang Province, Vietnam. She earns the equivalent of $1.75 for a full day’s work. She had accepted a fake job offer to work in Ho Chi Minh City and found herself in a sex trafficking ring which she was rescued from in December 2008. Photo courtesy MCT.
Their captors will threaten them using coercive physical and mental control, breaking them down to the point where they are too petrified to run.
The children are beaten and captors will often threaten to kill their families if they do not do as they are told.
Muzzamil Ayaz, 21, joined Project PATHE because he thought more people needed to be aware of the growing problem.
“Many people actually don’t know that there is a problem, and it is here in the United States and all over the world,” the junior economics major said.
The seminar ended with members from groups who are trying to fight the human trafficking problem answering questions and giving their perspective on the issue.
Jessica Anderson, a 21-year-old history major, came to the seminar to learn more about human trafficking and to see what was being done in the community to combat the problem. When asked if she planned on doing anything to help spread the word she said, “Yes, I am going to try and volunteer for one of the local organizations and do whatever I can help stop this horrible problem.”
Other students who wish to help fight human trafficking in both their local community and the world are encouraged to join Project PATHE. The club meets every Monday from noon to 1 p.m. in the Titan Student Union’s Stearns conference room.
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