Human trafficking leads to other problems, too. Where trafficking goes, violent crime follows. Human trafficking draws criminals of the worst kinds. Where one black market exists, others follow, creating even more victims and violence.
Trafficked women are treated like little more than property. This leads to many side effects, including mental distress, shame, grief, fear, distrust, and suicidal thoughts. Victims may turn to drugs and alcohol in order to cope with their pain, and many develop post traumatic stress disorder.
Some of the traps that traffickers use are physical. They keep their victims in squalor, in small, fetid rooms or closets, or even huts. Or worse, in cages outdoors like an animal. Some use traps like drug addictions, beatings, and threats. In some places, other things being illegal exacerbates the problem, allowing a trafficker that much more control over the victim, tricking them into believing that neither family, friends, nor the law, can help them out of their situation. The only way to help those in need is to shine a light into these dark places and help the victims escape.
