Human Trafficking Assembly Response

The assembly was incredibly powerful, and I’m happy that we went. I’d been to other human trafficking assemblies in previous years, though all of them focused on some aspect of female trafficking, without much mention of the LBGTQ+ community, so I was curious as to whether or not there are outstanding differences between the groups. What I found particularly interesting are the varying motivations for partaking in trafficking and then remaining in it- while women generally stay with their pimps for love and a feeling of safety, LGBTQ+ people are usually young adults who either want to belong or feel a need to rebel against the forces that oppress them due to their sexuality (generally their family). I could not believe the story of the man who was forced to turn to survival sex just for a place to stay. I also appreciated that men, though queer, were mentioned in the presentation. Though human trafficking overwhelmingly affects females, I am sure there is a male victim side that is overlooked, like with domestic abuse.