The Natalee Holloway Story

Natalee Holloway, the movie premiereed Sunday night on lifetime. Beth Holloway spoke tonight on campus. After tonight's readings, my only thoughts on the horrible situation are that Natalee Holloway was trafficked and sold into the slave trade by those local boys, Van Der Sloot and Kalpoe. I had always heard the price for for human trafficking was steep, so the small price of $2,500 alarmed me. These owners are making hundreds of thousands of dollars by exploiting these women and spreading sexually transmitted diseases. 

Natalee may be one of the between 700,000 and 4 million persons trafficked yearly. The problem is, how do we stop it? This problem is much more severe than any involving drug trafficking, however, the increased severity makes the operations even more secretive. So secretive that our best estimate on numbers has a 3.3 million person range. With this secretivity comes gangs, increases in violence, other trafficking, like that of illegal drugs. The desperation for money is extreme and people will go to any lengths to fill whatever voids they have with purchases and temporary highs like sex, drugs, and the adrenaline rush that comes with illegal activities and violence.  

The fact of the matter is, no matter what oridances and agreements trade unions and policymakers enforce, it is still going to happen. These traffickers are not out to cooperate and make the world a better place through global initiatives. I am not one to look at the glass half empty, but I am a realist. Although I think these agreements are important for judicial purposes and to note the global concern, they aren't the way to make a difference. The difference comes from people like Beth Holloway, who experienced a mother's worst nightmare first had, and is making an effort to protect the children of others from whatever horrible experience Natalee went/is going through today.

Beth Holloway spoke about traveling safely and staying out of potentially dangerous situations. I believe this is what we must focus on: informing people of the potential harms there are in the world and avoiding them at all costs. Unfortunately, Natalee is an example of this, but her legacy and story live on to remind and protect other girls, like herself, who travel abroad carefree and eager to explore and experiment with the freedoms of being a young adult.