Creating this game was probably the
most eye-opening experience I’ve had all semester. It was extremely sobering.
The subject that I chose for my Game for Change was human trafficking. The
reason why I chose this subject was because I have heard about increased
prostitution in my home state of North Dakota due to an unprecedented oil boom
and subsequent population growth. As I researched the facts, I was shocked at
how much of an issue it really is. One article states that we went from having
little to no reported cases of prostitution in the last decade to 12 cases in
2011 alone.
As I read about the cases in North
Dakota, I began to research human trafficking in general. I saw how much of a
problem it is, and several articles stated that the average age that girls are
sucked into this live is twelve. It was really sickening to read about all of
this. Fortunately, I found some websites that offer education and resources to
the victims of human trafficking. I learned about how to recognize it, and how
shelters are offered to help men and women gain self-confidence and bravery to
escape from that terrible life.
As I created the story of the game, I
wanted to tell something that was true, and not my own distorted version, like
we saw in the video by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie. I read about several experiences,
and then I formed a composite story. However, it is mainly based on a human
trafficker who was caught in North Dakota and how he treated his victims.
There are two possible endings to the
game. One is more tragic, and results in the victim continuing in the lifestyle
and being convinced by her kidnapper that she will not amount to anything. I
made this ending because it is an unfortunate and terrible reality for many of
the slaves involved in human trafficking. This sad ending hopefully invites the
player to want to reach out and help somebody. The other ending is more
hopeful. It shows the positive potential of human beings and also shows a
particular way that we might reach out to these victims by creating and funding
support centers for them. My goal in creating this game was especially to
create empathy for the victims of human trafficking. Many times we hear about prostitutes
and cast judgment and think that they all enjoy what they’re doing. However,
the sad reality is that many of them want to escape and don’t know how. It’s up
to us to help them.
http://bakken.com/news/id/220460/sex-trade-follows-oil-boom-north-dakota/
http://www.mintpressnews.com/north-dakota-asks-nation-for-help-in-human-trafficking-epidemic-2/190269/
http://bismarcktribune.com/news/local/crime-and-courts/wisconsin-man-held-in-north-dakota-human-trafficking-case/article_8c66e9e4-fb1c-11e3-a71f-001a4bcf887a.html
http://www.polarisproject.org/what-we-do/client-services/how-we-help
http://4hernd.org/
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