Modern slavery - Research Paper Example

Slavery in Modern Day America Slavery is a phenomenon that still occurs in the modern day, as depicted by the video “Dreams Die Hard”. The video discusses the story of four former slaves or victims of human trafficking, and an analysis of the video reveals a deep humanitarian crisis that occurs right in our country. The video reveals that the laws in this country are maybe not sufficient to cater for all the people in the country, especially the people who are being trafficked and subjected to slavery.

The video can be analyzed using Bales eight stages of human trafficking, enslavement, and eventual release. Callahan displays the victims as resilient and willing to fight for their right, after being given another chance at life by their benefactors. The first stage in the trafficking process is the presence of some sort of vulnerability in the victim (Bales and Soodalter 141). From the video “Dreams Die Hard”, the first victim, Maria, was a young girl without a job, desperate and ready to trust an individual she had never met before.

Miguel was vulnerable because he needed money to get medical help for his son and help his family. The last two victims, Rose and Christy, needed to get to the United States to get an education. These instances present the vulnerability factors of each victim. The second stage of human trafficking; recruitment, also varies with each individual victim (Bales and Soodalter 142). Maria was recruited through promises of a job in the neighborhood, Miguel was recruited through his own personal effort, and the last two victims were recruited through their families and the hope of a better life.

Each victim was recruited into slavery and human trafficking through hope of a better future.The third step in the trafficking process, removal, is also depicted by all the victims. According to Bales and Soodalter (143), the victim has to place themselves into the hands of the trafficker, and in the video, it is evident that all the victims passed through this crucial step. Maria went to the perpetrator’s house voluntarily, Miguel also moved from his home into the trafficker’s hands, and the two girls were sent to the United States by their parents.

The next two steps, transportation and establishment of control are often synonymous. In the video, Maria went to the residence of her oppressor willingly, and after some time, she was informed that she had been bought and that her family would be killed if she tried to run. Miguel was controlled by being informed that the money he had paid for transport was not enough, and that he had to work to pay off his debt. The two African girls were controlled by confiscation of travel documents. The next step is arrival, and in the case of this video, the arrival process is built into the transportation process.

The victims in the video then realize that they have been duped, but at this point, they have no power or are fearful of the consequences of escape. After the first six steps, the exploitation of the victims then begins (Bales and Soodalter 146). Each victim in the video was exploited in a different manner, for example, Maria was subject to physical abuse (rape), mental abuse, psychological torture, and work. Miguel was subject to farm work without pay, and Rose and Christy were subject to domestic slavery, where they worked without pay.

The final step in the process is resolution, and though Bales and Soodalter (147) states that most cases are resolved through heath, this video depicts the safety of all the slaves. Maria goes through a harrowing process that includes a jail term, and she is finally freed by a help organization. Miguel is also freed through the efforts of an organization, and the two domestic slaves, Rose and Christy, are freed through the efforts of a Good Samaritan. Works CitedBales, Kevin, and Rod Soodalter.

The Slave Next Door: Human Trafficking and Slavery in America Today, 2009. California, CA: University of California Press. Print. Dreams Die Hard. Dir. Peggy Callahan, Freetheslaves, 2012.