Date : 11-04-2024
Cincinnati(OH): We had the pleasure of speaking to Harold D’Souza at the University of Cincinnati’s Combatting Human Trafficking class on April 04, 2024.
D’Souza shared with us his experience of coming from India to the United States to work a job with great salary benefits and getting duped once he and his family arrived.
Harold D’Souza and his family were victims of human trafficking, specifically labor trafficking and debt bondage.
Being new to the country, D’Souza and his family believed and trusted their trafficker so when the trafficker asked the family to turn over any documents or money for “safety concerns” the family immediately handed it over.
Now the family was in the hands of the trafficker. And when the family tried to ask for their dues, the trafficker told D’Souza that he would get arrested, deported, jailed, or handcuffed if there was any attempt to speak out.
The psychological trauma and compliance the traffickers inflict on their victims is so severe that over time, little force, or use of threat is needed.
Many people today are getting tricked into coming to the United States for a job. On the outside, a hospitality job paying $75k sounds great, but it is not even close to the truth.
Within 30 minutes of landing, D’Souza told our class, the individual or family that moved across the world for a better life, better job would be under the control of their ‘sponsor’ –the trafficker.
The biggest takeaways from the presentation were: Be happy, Think Positive, Never Quit, and Believe in Yourself.
Eyes Open International is an organization that Harold D’Souza founded to empower individuals and communities around the world to combat trafficking.
After going through something this horrific, D’Souza and his family have made it their mission to protect and ensure no one else falls victim to human labor or sex trafficking.
A way we, as students or as US Citizens can help is by using the money, we would for Starbucks to instead use it to sponsor a victim or donate to organizations that make it their purpose to saving potential victims.
As Kim Namjoon once put it “No matter who you are, where you’re from, your skin color, your gender identity, just speak yourself.” that is exactly what Harold D’Souza is doing.
By sharing his story, his journey, and his achievements, he is taking human trafficking by storm and shedding a light on what we all can do to support the cause.
Author: Nikhila Kattamuri, MSCJ
Nikhila is a graduate student studying Public Administration. Previously, she earned her Bachelor of Science in Psychology and Master of Science in Criminal Justice. Nikhila’s goals are to spread the word about human trafficking and cults and how easy it is to fall victim to these without the proper knowledge.
Nikhila has found her passion in social justice advocacy work, aided by books like Crazy Love by Leslie Morgan Steiner, documentaries like The Vow about the NXIVM cult, podcasts like A Little Bit Culty and Inside of You, and various research including child abuse in households where domestic violence is prevalent, and human trafficking and its relation to the sex industry and cryptocurrency.
