Criminology Major Spends Semester Studying Human Trafficking

Cynthia Orrey ’15 started out as a nursing major when she came to UT, but after several courses, she wasn’t feeling a connection. So she reached out to Career Services, which led her to try a few criminology courses to learn more about the field.

“I loved it immediately,” said Orrey of Ocala, FL, now a criminology major. “There are real-life experiences you hear about in class. The professors have a lot of experience working with law enforcement, and the subject just makes sense to me. “

She ultimately wants to go to law school and do advocacy work, such as with foster care children. This semester she is interning for the Florida Coalition Against Human Trafficking, a nonprofit whose mission is to provide outreach and services to victims of human trafficking in Florida.

“I’m doing more research than anything else, and I’m learning more than I would in a classroom,” she said.

Orrey spends two days a week at the coalition managing their Twitter account and fielding phone calls and emails regarding trainings, volunteering opportunities and resources for victims and the general public. She researches content for staff presentations and attends trainings where she helps facilitate the events.

Before the internship, Orrey said she knew little about human trafficking. According to the coalition, human trafficking “involves the commercial exchange and exploitation of humans, including forced prostitution and pornography, involuntary labor, servitude and debt bondage,” and Florida is cited as a hub for this activity. What Orrey did know focused on sex trafficking, however, she has learned that labor trafficking can be a bigger issue.

“For every one sex trafficking incident, there are three labor trafficking cases not being reported,” she said, adding that big companies indirectly support labor trafficking by sourcing products from companies that use trafficked workers. “It’s definitely shocking. I had a veil over my eyes.”

Orrey said the internship has definitely impacted her on a personal level because she not only sees the people around her differently but the U.S. as a nation.

“I’ve learned a tremendous amount. Since taking this internship I have learned a lot about not only the subject of human trafficking, but also other issues in the world that you don't hear about, such as child soldiers in Africa and the guest worker visa in the U.S., a program that is highly abused,” she said. “I have also learned about the different conventions and international laws that deal with human trafficking that I never knew existed.”

For more information on the Florida Coalition Against Human Trafficking, visit its website.