Pandora's Box

     Pandora was the first woman on Earth, commissioned by Zeus and created by Hephaestus.  She was blessed by the gods with certain virtues, such as beauty from Aphrodite and speech from Hermes. Zeus gave her to Epimetheus to marry to spite his brother Prometheus for giving mankind fire.  He also gave a beautifully created box with instructions to never open it as a wedding gift to the couple. However one day when Epimetheus was away, Pandora’s curiosity, a gift bestowed upon her from the gods, got the best of her and she opened the box. Out flew all the worlds evil: disease, starvation, war, etc. What was left in the box was hope, and it was the last of the contents in the box to fly out. 

     An evil that I’d like to squelch is human trafficking.  Even in America, with a “just” political system and “aware” citizens, human trafficking exists. In fact I-20 is known as America’s sex trafficking highway. Teenage girls line truck stops, approaching drivers and asking if they would like a good time. The documentary 1-20: The Sex Trafficking Superhighway describes how one victim was brought into the trade by a friend whom she had trusted. Human trafficking is currently the fastest growing criminal business in the world and ranks second only to drug trafficking. While sexual exploitation is more common in Europe, Central Asia, and the Americas, forced labor is more prevalent in Africa, the Middle East, and parts of Asia. These people undergo trauma unlike any other, an experience that nobody ever deserves.