Human Traffic

The trade of human beings in sex trafficking is an American problem too says Bridgette Carr the director of Michigan University’s Human Trafficking Clinic. “‘We did not have a right to choose where we lived … freedom of speech, or freedom of actions. The traffickers had keys to our apartment. They controlled all of our movement and travel,’ says Lena. Lena was an athletic student from Eastern Europe yearning to visit the United States through a study-abroad program at her college. She had visions of learning English and returning home to share her experiences with her family. But the human traffickers who ensnared her had a different vision for Lena, shipping her to America and exploiting her in the sex industry for profit. They met her at the airport with news that her study abroad placement had been changed. She was given new bus tickets and sent off to Detroit, Michigan. Once there they took her passport and her freedom.”