Human Trafficking in Northern Virginia-
Human trafficking in Northern Virginia is a constant concern for the community. Two community powers, law enforcement and faith-based organizations, use their power help reach out to everyone in the community regarding human trafficking. Due to the lack of training law enforcement arrests the teens being trafficked rather than the pimps; creating a vicious cycle that the teens being trafficked suffer in. Faith-based organizations focus on using their power to help victims and offer any type of service to them. While both law enforcement and faith-based organizations contrast in many way, they do come together to help educate the community on human trafficking. This gives the community the power to put their voices together and put a stop to human trafficking.
I was drawn to read your paper because it is a topic that I am not familiar with. I support your thought on proper training for law enforcement. I believe there is a lack of knowledge and misconceptions about human trafficking that the organizations you mentioned can help with. You discussed both law enforcement and faith- based organizations. I was curious if part of organizations programs are towards law enforcement education and if there are any goals to change current legal action towards victims. Any thoughts?
I think that it is easy to forget that trafficked sex workers are not always people trafficked from foreign countries and that there are a significant amount of American citizens that are forced into these terrible “jobs” everyday. By focusing your topic on something that is happening in Virginia makes it very real. I think you offered a really good comparison between law enforcement and faith-baed organizations. I wonder what more steps faith-based organizations and law enforcements can take together to increase prevention efforts to stop trafficking and to protect/help those who have been victimized? The way you were able to incorporate an analysis of the power structure between law enforcement and faith-based organizations added to your overall thesis. Your argument went beyond answering why human trafficking is an important issue to be concerned with, but what policies and programs can be implemented to improve this issue in the future.
-Rachael Sturgis
I was very drawn to this project because, like you stated, it is not something that a lot of people are very aware of in terms of frequency and the space in which it occurs. I can honestly say human trafficking was never something that was mentioned in my school. I liked the positive aspect in combining faith-based organizations and law enforcement. We have talked a lot about power in this class and a lot of the time it does not end up being very positive because people in power sometimes abuse of the power. Your combination and suggestions for further work between these two institutions with power coming together and making a positive impact is a helpful ending to the research and statistics you provided. I liked that not only did you cover the issue of human trafficking as well as what steps are taken to deal with it and help its victims but you also provided possible suggestions for the future of the issue.
Really enjoyed your paper!
I was drawn to your project for the fact that it is a topic I have been fairly unaware of. Generally unaware of the fact that it exists under our noses and how much so. I appreciate the way you correlated faith based organizations and law enforcement and the different ways they handle trafficking. I find it interesting that the victims are the ones who end up arrested in these cases and wonder what other training can be offered to law enforcement so that this stops. The faith based organization side seems to have a fair grip on how to help the victims. It seems that with collaborative efforts they’ve been able to take a stance and start to make an impact. This is definitely an interesting look at the collaborative powers with in a community and how they can begin making positive changes to impact the areas they serve.
I really enjoyed reading your paper because I was not aware of how much of a problem this was until now. I never learned much about human trafficking growing up so it was definitely eye opening! I liked how you gave information on how this could be fixed in the future.
I was immediately drawn to your topic because I am from Northern Virginia (Arlington) and was aware of this issue in a specific area near where I live; however, I was not aware that the human trafficking had gotten so bad that a task force and so many additional programs had to be established to confront the progression of this issue. It was also compelling to see how you connected faith-based organizations and their impacts with this matter to that of law enforcement officials. Overall, your essay topic and content were thought-provoking and made me want to read on and discover more. Great work!
I enjoyed reading your research paper. Thinking about the training that should be mandated for law enforcers is very important now that I am more aware. I agree that officers worry more about enforcing the law rather than addressing the bigger issue. The fact that you showed how faith based organizations play a huge role in providing services and giving support to these victims shows how there are so many important organizations in communities that can have power. Great topic!
This was a great analysis of an issue occuring in our backyard. It emphasized how the two organizations of law enforcement and faith organizations used the power that they each had and influence in the community to help address the issue of human trafficking. It also showed how the task force, police, and faith based organizations work in different ways to achieve the same goal at the end: stopping the trafficking! I also liked how you mentioned the training that was received by the organizations indicating they were not going in blind. I think the emphasis on training was important, given that despite maybe good intentions, the police are often arresting the wrong person! The paper was well organized and easy to follow. I like how you broke down what all the organizations were, and explained how they dealt with the issue. I learned a lot!