Janet Ramirez
ENG 100 Film-Based Argument Draft #2 Three Ways to Eliminate Sex Trade In Slumdog Millionaire, screenwriter Simon Beaufoy shares the story of Latika and the two brothers Jamal and Salim who grew up in the slum neighborhoods of India and they became human trafficking victims. After they are orphaned and left homeless, the children are lured into forced begging. Jamal is determined to find his love Latika when the brothers escape this fate without her. He finds her in a brothel in Mumbai dancing for an older man, only able to save her when his brother Salim kills her exploiter. During the film, Latika is shown as a child forced into prostitution. She is part of a large sex trade operation. This is the first of many ways we see Latika trapped in the sexual and domestic servitude of a sadistic and corrupt man. One of the themes in the film explored the implications of the sex trade. Little girls are forced into prostitution at an early age. They grow up in a sex slavery environment that it is hard to escape. Many girls and women are enslaved in India, very continent, and in the United States. According to The National Human Trafficking Hotline, “7,500 cases of human trafficking were reported in 2016 and up from 5,526 in the previous year. California was the No.1 state with 1,323 cases followed by Texas with 670 and Florida with 550. All three states reported an increase in sex trafficking crimes”(Hotline Statistics). In America, the sex trade is a major problem that not many people are aware of. The American government can prevent the sex trade from expanding in America by raising awareness of the sex trade, training police and others about this problem, and creating strict punishment for criminals. First, by raising awareness of sex trafficking in the United States, the American government can prevent the sex trade from expanding in the country. They can create strong campaigns, websites and education programs. The United States Department of Justice estimates “14,500 people are trafficked into the country every year. These forms of modern day slavery have become one of the most commercial and most horrifying businesses in the world. Sex trafficking is the fastest growing source of income for organized crime and its third most important source after drugs and the arms trade” (Human Trafficking). As we can see, this is a huge epidemic which is growing really fast through the years and nobody has done something really efficient that helps to combat this big problem. I think the American government has to break the silence and taboos that human trafficking and prostitution are completely real in this country and it is getting worse. I believe that the government can combat this problem by raising awareness through campaigns around the country. In that way, people can have more consciousness about sex trafficking. I think that advertisements can run in English and Spanish on digital and traditional billboards and also on bus shelter sign space. In this way people can see them. Ithastostop.com and National Human trafficking Hotline are two organizations that lean to this kind of campaign. Another way to raise awareness is to create websites where people can find good information in order to help identify a potential trafficking victim. At the same time, victims know there is help available for them. As well, the government should create education programs for both young and older people. The education program can encourage healthy behaviors in relationships and reduce the demand for commercial sex. I think the program could educate people about what their human rights are and empowering them to do something about it. Raising awareness everywhere and any possible way about the risks of human trafficking and exploitation will help to combat this major problem in the United States that affects the lives of millions of youth everyday. Another way to prevent the sex trade from expanding in the United States, is for American government to train police and others for this particular problem. I think the police must have better training in order to combat the sex trade because nowadays it seems that we don't have enough skilled people for this problem. I think the primary goal to train police is to provide law enforcement officers and prosecutors around the United States. Law enforcement officers should learn to identify a victim of the sex trade, to assist victims who have been rescued, and to know what to do if they suspect sex trafficking. By training, they can more effectively identify victims, charge traffickers, and successfully prosecute sex trafficking cases. According to the National Association of Attorneys General, “Training is crucial for all government officials who may encounter victims, such as law enforcement, border control, airport officials, consulates where visas are issued, emergency room personnel, social workers, and labor inspectors to recognize the symptoms of trafficking” (NAAG). As we can see, police officers must be trained to recognize the sex trade in airports and on the streets when victims come to them for help. In this case, Human trafficking is a hidden crime; combating it is to identify victims so they can be rescued and helped, and bring the criminals to justice. DHS provides a web-based training course to law enforcement officials to train officers to recognize human trafficking and respond appropriately. Prosecuting traffickers would be the best way to end sex trafficking. In addition to raising awareness and training police to combat sex trafficking, I think the American government should create strong punishment for criminals of sex trafficking. I think the government has really weak punishment for these sadistic people. Because of the weak punishment, sex trafficking is growing and growing every year without anyone being able to stop it. I believe the jail time is really important in this case. According to the National Conference of State Legislature, “The bill defines trafficking as compelling a person into forced sex and labor by causing or threatening bodily harm. The penalty for this crime is a prison sentence varying from up to 10 years to life, depending on the severity of the offense” (NCSL). As we can see, there are stiffer penalties for selling people into involuntary servitude. However, what is not clear is the number of years for imprisonment. It can be from 10 years to possible life imprisonment for such violations resulting in death, involving kidnapping, sexual abuse or an attempt to kill. I think it shouldn't be hard to put a certain number of years for the criminals. I think if they are selling little girls and women for sex or anything else, that should be life in prison without any doubt. I believe if they are sick enough to exploit innocent girls and women, then they shouldn’t get the chance to be free. Otherwise, we are letting criminals operate again whenever they have a chance to act because probably they do not know what honest work is and they prefer to make easy money. I think we have to understand that these poor victims will have to live the rest of their lives in fear and will never be the same. Little girls should never be put in that type of situation. It is a shame that nowadays we still have this type of problem without any stronger punishment to make these criminals not act again. In conclusion, it is clear that sex trafficking is a huge issue that no one really wants to talk about in the United States. Sometimes the media portrays this horrible crime as something that only happens in other countries, but we have to open our eyes. We have to realize that this horrible act is not that far from home. The American government needs to start to work really hard in order to end this crime. Maybe it can’t be solved completely, but the American government has the funds and technology to prevent the sex trade from expanding in America by raising awareness of sex trafficking, giving better training to the police and others, and creating stronger punishment for those perverse sex traffickers in the United States. Works Cited "Hotline Statistics." National Human Trafficking Hotline. N.p., n.d. Web. 31 Dec. 2016. <https://humantraffickinghotline.org/states> "Human Trafficking." The United States Department of Justice. N.p., 26 Apr. 2017. Web. 21 Apr. 2017. <https://www.justice.gov/humantrafficking> NAAG. “Human Trafficking: Enforcement and Training.” National Association of Attorneys General. NAAG, 2011. Web. 22 Nov 2011. <http://www.naag.org/publications/naagazette/volume-5-number-11/human-trafficking-enforcement-and-training4.php> NCSL. “Human Trafficking Enactments 2005-2011.” National Conference of State Legislatures. NCSL 2012. Web. 14 Feb 2012. <http://www.ncsl.org/research/civil-and-criminal-justice/human-trafficking-laws-in-the-states-updated-nov.aspx>
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18) Student Choice:
Today I’m going to talk about the use of straws. Something that I’ve never thought about it until the other day that I saw a campaign on Instagram to make awareness. Since I work in a restaurant we go through boxes and boxes of straws weekly and I feel so bad for using so many. Plastic straws have a shockingly short lifespan, normally used once and then discarded. Like other plastics, they never biodegrade and take hundreds of years to break down. What also makes me feel sad is thinking on all of the straws that are being used and throw away at the same time all over the world. According to the NPS Commercial Services in the United States, "alone 500 million plastic straws are being used each day. To understand just how many straws 500 million really is, this would fill 125 school buses with straws every day." Can you imagine where all these straws are going ended up, it’s a sad reality. They’re so small that you would think they don’t hurt nobody, not like a plastic bag or a plastic bottle, but that amount of waste really adds up. I think it’s time to be more conscious and pay more attention to this small things that are hurting our planet. Sometimes, I feel like telling the costumers to refuse the use of straws or telling my coworkers to don't use so many and not wasting them or putting a sign on the front door so everybody can see it when they come in and they make a choice before they sit on a table. But I’m afraid my boss can get mad at me for telling the costumers what to do. I wish there were more campaigns to educate people about this serious problem, campaigns as big as the ones for plastic bags or plastic bottles. So, how can you help? For starters, like me, it’s as simple as asking for “no straw on my drink, please”. That can make a huge difference. Also concessioners in the food and beverage industry can implement and “offer first” policy, that way you can choose if to use the straw or not instead of making the straw usage the default. But the most simple and effective way to start is that next time you go out to eat and drink say “no straw please” and explain your friends why. 17) Student Choice:
Like a month ago I watched The Crown, a biographical drama television series for Netflix that shows the story about the reign of Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom. This serie is a very eye opener. This is the first season and it covers the period between the Queen’s marriage to Prince Phillip, Duke of Edinburg in 1947 to the disintegration of her sister Princess Margaret’s engagement to Peter Townsend in 1955. I found it fascinating because of the idea of having a little window to the Royal Family lives, despite what people thinks of this life of luxury, cars, palaces, vacations, servants and lots of money. It’s actually not that easy how I thought, especially for the Queen because she has to put particular attention to what she says, what she does or even what she wears. In the second episode, King George VI (Elizabeth’s father) died and she took the throne without even knowing what to do or how to be a Queen, but there’s lots of people on the Buckingham Palace that are there to guide her and help her. The Crown comes with lots of responsibilities. Nowadays, she is the Head of the State and the Head of the Church of England. Because of this, even her immediate family has to request a hearing in advance just to talk to her. Isn’t that crazy? One of the episodes that impressed me the most was the coronation ceremony. Queen Elizabeth’s ceremony was the first one ever seen on TV, before that nobody knew what happened besides the people that attended the ceremony. All of this thanks to her husband Prince Phillip, he was the one that push her to do it, after that and despite many people against the idea of televising the event, Queen Elizabeth insisted that her coronation had to be broadcasted on the BBC in order to make her subjects feel included, regardless of class. I found this series absolutely amazing and I totally recommended to all of you to watch it because this show brings some general knowledge to your life. 16) Student Choice:
For my student choice, I am going to write about how Mexican people celebrate Easter. We have a variety of traditional Easter customs around the country. However, I will write about my original place Mexico City. Each year at Easter in Iztapalapa borough of Mexico City we celebrate Semana Santa (Holy Week) with a grand passion play of the story of Jesus Chris. This is the best thing to do in Mexico. Roman Catholicism is the main religion in Mexico as well we have beliefs on Jesus. The story of Jesus takes a big place in the Catholic religion. During Semana Santa, we focused a lot on the suffering aspect in how Jesus suffered greatly for our sins. This week is a passion play, a reenactment of the week of the trial that Jesus went through at the hands of Jewish people and the Roman persecution. Basically, This week we reenact the entire story of Jesus Christ’s persecution from the beginning to the end. Friday is the day that Jesus has sentenced death and died on a cross. In Iztapalapa, we go through the whole motion. People put Jesus (a character playing Jesus) on trial and he carries an actually real heavy cross up a long, long hill while people hurl insults and throw things at him. Then, the monk crucifies the character who is playing Jesus by which they genuinely hang this person on a cross. They tying him up not nailing things into his body and that's the way we reenact and remember Jesus ’s crucifixion and the love he has for us. 15) Student Choice
On March 24 in my English 100 class my classmates and I had a middle conference with the professor Mr. Mangini who gave us advises how we can revise our work until the end of the semester. The conference began with a dialogue about what great I thought that I deserve on the class. I told professor Mangini that I deserved a C because I know my blog needs more work and effort on it but I would love to have a B. He seem to be agreed with me. During the conference, professor Mangini told me what he thinks about my blog, what is working well in my writings and what areas I have to reconsider revise my work. He also told me specific patterns of my Hiraeth writing how to compose my style and give more attention on it. I did like this conference because it was really helpful to remind me what and how I have to work on my following assignment drafts. 14) Student Choice
Chef's Table: Francis Mallman Question #1: How does this episode fit into the narrative mode? In Chef’s Table episode begins by Francis Mallmann explaining, narrating and remembering experiences and stories of his young life. I think Mallmann was talking about his experiences with the best and most inspiring way in order to show and let the viewers comprehend his stories. I saw and felt his passion about his dream and freedom when Mallmann said, “So my big draw in life since very young was freedom, the freedom of believing only in myself.” This is a narrative way to express his feelings and beliefs back then. Question #2: How does Mallman's story connect to the hiraeth story you are writing in this class? Consider his discussions about home and childhood. There is a Mallmann’s story that connect to my hiraeth story. It is when Mallmann described when he was eight and he was invited with his parents to have a much in a little restaurant under a tree. He talks about how the place was by describing the image which connect to my hiraeth story. In my hiraeth story I also described a scene of my childhood, having a breakfast with my family. Question #3: What major ideas/themes from this episode connect to ideas/themes from our composition course? Consider Mallmann's argument about composing a good dish, examining his life environments, and being productive. In this episode the mayor idea that connect to our composition course , it is Mallmann’s argument. Mallmann says, “You don't grow on a secure path. All of us should conquer something in life. And it needs a lot of work and it needs a lot of risk." He worked hard in order to be successful as a chef. As well, we have to work hard and make some mistakes in order to become a better writers. |
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