America's Policy Priority Issue

Human trafficking is one of the many faces of organized crime. Human trafficking is a broad term which contains trafficking for the purpose of sex along with the exploitation of labor. Currently, there are 20.9 million victims of sex slavery (Stacy.j.cecchet 2014 482) whom have or are suffering suffer inhumane circumstances and consequences. Sex trafficking is one of the largest criminal activities in the world (Stacy 249). Vulnerable women and children are taken advantage of and thrown into sex slavery, yet there is no explanation available as to how women and children are taken and thrown into the industry within countries such as Canada and the United States of America (482 Stacy j Cecchet 2014), which have human rights protection. Sex slavery leaves everlasting mental and physical effects on the abused women and children being trafficked. Even though sex trafficking is a crime it is also, for a lack of better words, an industry which would cease to exist if it was not for the supply and demand for women and children.

Out of the thousands of people that have been human trafficking victims each year, only an insignificant amount of them is actually reported. Imagine being in 8th grade. Having all sorts of hopes and dreams. Now flash forward to dreams being taken away by a pimp that lures people into human trafficking. In short, this is true for Holly Austin Smith, a survivor of human trafficking. The punishment for the pimps that ruin the lives of these young girls is not severe. Therefore, there is not much help for the girls after they get rescued from this tragedy. A realization Holly had soon on and explains, “...Although I was soon recognized to be a victim, the specialized aftercare needed for a trafficking victim did not yet exist... Twenty years ago, there were no anti-trafficking laws in place. This pimp, who raped and lured a child into prostitution, served only 365 days in jail” (Smith). This young girl had recovered from this horrible incident all by herself. Many other girls in her position have gone through similar experiences and have been hurt by their pimp. In addition, the pimp will not receive much punishment. A sad story repeated across America and is very prominent in other countries. In America, most of the time victims are the ones that usually serve time in jail since in some cases it’s considered prostitution, even if it was forced by the pimp. In most cases, the pimps stay uncovered and if the victims of trafficking come forward as to who their pimp is, they

Sex Trafficking has been a key component in “ degradation of human and women's rights” because they believe that these people are only good for sex (Deshpande Para 1). Often victims who come back, if they ever can, have a hard time adjusting back to normal life. These girls have trust issues towards men, and sometimes even women. They also could have numerous health problems ranging from STD’s to unplanned pregnancy or even worse “ broken bones, concussions, bruises and burns” can all be found on these victims of sexual assault. These girls could also have mental issues, such as anxiety toward older men and women, fear of going outside ever again and social issues. The saddest thing about this is not only are these victims going through a horrible amount of sexual abuse, they also have been ripped away from what they know and may love. Some people believe that women and some men are just objects and they are the ones that are often pimps in the sex trafficking, but this is a completely skewed way of thinking of people.

Human trafficking, commonly known as modern day slavery, is a secretive crime that has generated billions of dollars worldwide and currently enslaves more than twice the total number of people involved in the 350-year African Slave Trade (Bates & Soodalter, 2009 cited in Richards, 2014). Approximately 800,000 people are trafficked across international borders and 14,500 to 17,500 of those individuals are being trafficked within and across the United States border annually (Richards, 2014). Trafficked individuals experience many health issues and nurses are one of the first health professionals to be in contact with trafficked individuals during their captivity and upon their release (Holland, 2014). The researchers are gathering information to educate nurses on evidence based practice for victims of human trafficking and the key health assessment techniques. Providing community resources and patient and family education are topics that will be discussed pertaining to the nurse’s role in intervention. With the assistance of the Colorado Human Trafficking Council, the researchers were in contact with a local registered nurse involved and human trafficking advocate. The findings will be discussed.

Human trafficking is one of the largest growing criminal activities. The commercial sexual exploitation of children, also known as CSEC, is often perceived as a hidden atrocity that occurs in an international setting. However, this manifestation of sexual abuse has increased and has become a recognized health issue in the United States. You may hear this problem to be known as domestic minor sex trafficking (DMST). Domestic minor sex trafficking is defined as the “recruitment, harboring, transportation, provision, or obtaining of a person for the purpose of a commercial sex act” where the person is a citizen younger than the age of 18 years by the Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000. This includes sexual acts like survival sex, prostitution, and stripping, where the child is the victim of criminal exploitation in exchange for remuneration in the form of money, food, shelter, or other valued entity. Approximately twenty-eight percent of US minors living on the streets are reported to exchanging sex for drugs or money. The estimation so far is that 150,000 to 300,000 children are falling at risk of being victimized each year, and the average age at which they are recruited is twelve to fourteen years of age. By raising awareness we are avoiding children suffering from long-term health consequences such as severe sexual, physical, and emotional abuse. By raising awareness a family may not lose their little boy or girl to human trafficking. Consider how many young women have been kidnapped, drugged, tricked or even sold by

27 million people all over the world are currently being forced into human trafficking or modern day slavery, 161 countries including the US will be affected by human trafficking. 1 million children will be exploited by the commercial sex trade each year. Sex trafficking began in the 1700s in the United States. It hasn’t been stopped because it continues to increase over the years. Even though the law enforcement and people around the world could be strong enough to stop human trafficking, I believe this situation needs to be more focused on and stopped as soon as possible. Because Human Trafficking is increasing rapidly and Oklahoma is a cross-way for sex trafficking due to the interstates such as I-35, I-40 and I-44.

Human trafficking has received increasing global attention over the past decade. Trafficking of women and girls for forced sex work and, to a lesser extent, domestic servitude, were the sole focus of advocacy and assistance. There is recognition in today’s society that women, children, and men are trafficked into many different forms of labour, and for sexual exploitation. In her article, “Understanding and Addressing Violence Against Women”, Cathy Zimmerman and Heidi Stockl focus on the commonality of human trafficking and how evident it is in everyday life. They bring in the health effects and possible solutions to human trafficking to help validate their opinion and argument. In the solutions they offer, Zimmerman and Stockl shine a light on policy-makers/decision-makers, health-care providers, and researchers/funders and what each of these groups of people can do to help combat the issue of human trafficking. In a quote from their article, Stockl and Zimmerman say: “Health care providers and organizations involved with trafficked persons should increase their capacity to identify and refer people in trafficking situations and provide sensitive and safe services to people post-trafficking”. This quote shows how Zimmerman and Stockl believe human trafficking should be combated by caring and talking to those affected by the issue but how they also believe awareness should be made about human trafficking so as to allow people surrounding the issue to identify and help victims of this issue. Zimmerman and Stockl’s view on the ways human trafficking should be combatted relate to those of Soroptimist due to the fact that the two groups of people are focused mainly on helping women and girls who have been trafficked and trying to get them to a better life after getting out of the trafficking situation. Both groups focus on helping men as well, providing options to help them such as raising money and awareness, and getting educated on being able to identify victims of human trafficking.

Human trafficking has been known to be a tragic and unfortunate crime of the 21st century. Social workers, policy makers, and other human service providers must understand the various policies and forms of legislative involvement that are working towards combatting this issue. For the purposes of this policy analysis, I will be analyzing The Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000 and the implications that it has for social workers and those who are invested in working towards abolishing this social issue.

Most people throughout the world would think of slavery as an issue of the past, but sex trafficking is today’s form of “modern day slavery” (Countryman-Roswurm, 2014). Sex trafficking has become the fastest growing and most profitable criminal enterprise in the world due to the fact that people can be sold over and over again. Corrupt governments have tried to cover this issue up and have worked alongside traffickers to help them obtain illegal documents to continue operating (Deshpande et al., 2013). The effects of this crime causes victims of trafficking to have many emotional, physical, and mental traumas (Deshpande et al., 2013).

The act of sex trafficking has been around for many years and has always been a problem. This industry has harmed millions of people lives each year and yet there is still little action being done to stop it. Trafficking is defined as the act of forcing a person to do something, and in this case it is forcing people to sell their bodies for sex (Morrison 9). The industry of sex trafficking was originally started in 1994 and makes a preposterous amount of money, which ranges from five to seven billion dollars per year to the owners of the slaves (7). This industry is seen in many countries, including Spain, Russia, India, Germany, Brazil, United States, Mexico, and most of eastern Europe. These are just some of the big countries that

Sex trafficking has been around for centuries, however in this day and age it is “the second fastest growing criminal industry; sex trafficking “accounted for 83% of all reported human trafficking incidents”. Sex trafficking is a global problem; traffickers are utilizing the advances in technology to their advantage. They are taking advantage of the loopholes in technology that can leave their marks untraceable which enables them to conduct business discreetly. What people do not realize is that sex trafficking is a major problem in the states as well. Large numbers of victims come in from areas such as Ukraine, Russia, and various parts of Africa. This wide variety of locations of victims furthers the difficulties faced in trying to stop it due to victim’s unfamiliarity with the system. To start, sex trafficking is illegal in all states, except in Nevada where prostitution is legal in counties with a population of 700,000 or greater, 10 out of 17 counties in Nevada have licensed brothels. Prostitution is legally defined

“Human Trafficking: How A Joint Task Force Between Health Care Providers and Law Enforcement Can Assist With Identifying Victims and Prosecuting Traffickers” by Megan Helton blah blah introduction mention that its chapter two part C. Studies have shown that sex trafficking in the United States is increasing, but a vast number of victims remain unidentified due to the isolation the crime requires. In sex trafficking, there is an obvious hierarchy, with the trafficker at the top. Often, the trafficker will use victims who have been in their control for long periods of time as a sort of assistant. This victim has been so indoctrinated with fear of the trafficker that they will not disobey even if presented with the opportunity. Fear is the trafficker’s

Sex trafficking is the violation of human rights: equality, health, and dignity. Today ninety-six percent of victims of sexual exploitation are women and girls. (Shared Hope International) There is an extensive debate on how women are viewed as an object rather than an actual human being. The portrayal of women today is sickening. Women are shown as a sex object to men rather than a person. In this horrific act of self-destruction, women are exposed to sexual performance in trade off to the “buyer” or much known as a sex trafficker, for money, drugs, and or values of life. Traffickers trap women, child, or even men into guarantee relationships, gifts, and other false promises. This is known as a Commercial Sex Act. Women who are involved in human trafficking have their complete existence taken from them. Most victims that are involved in sex trafficking do not have a peaceful ending. Sex and human trafficking is a prime example of how our society over-sexualizes women. The whole academic of human trafficking shows that women are stigmatized as weak individuals. It is mainly from how they are treated, many are known know as a “Sex Slave” after the “entertainment” from the traffickers has been done. The results of human trafficking are degrading to the women in society. It may be known as “prostitution” but what some people do not understand or care for, it is a Federal Law identified as Sex trafficking. Human trafficking not only happens in the United States of American but all parts of this alarming world. This form of slavery denies the freedom to 20.9 million human beings in the world around us. (Polaris)

“Human trafficking involves the recruitment, transportation, harbouring and/ or exercising control, direction or influence over the movements of a person in order to exploit that person, typically through sexual exploitation or forced labour” (Public Safety Canada, 2015). It is also called a modern form of slavery. According to one estimate about 2.4million people around the globe are trafficked annually (Golbya, Sian Hsiang-Te & Zacharias, 2015). In Canada alone, currently, 56 human trafficking cases, including at least 85 offenders and 136 victims, are present in the courts. Sadly, about 26 victims out of 136 were less than the age of 17 at the time of the alleged offence (Public Safety Canada, 2015). Human trafficking is a serious violation of human rights. During the captivity, these victims experience different kinds of abuses, such as physical, psychological and even sexual, which have negative impacts their physical and mental wellbeing. Therefore, they might use different health services providing an opportunity for a health care provider to support and refer to an appropriate support system. On estimation, 28 % to 50 % of trafficked individuals will get medical consultation during their captivity (Golbya, Sian Hsiang-Te & Zacharias, 2015). As a frontline health, nursing professionals have a duty to identify and to take the right action to assist the victims of trafficking. To increase my awareness about Canada current position about human trafficking, I, a student

Sex Trafficking is a topic many people are familiar with but often misinformed about. Sex trafficking, the illegal business of recruiting, harboring, transporting, obtaining, or providing a person and especially a minor for the purpose of sex. Sex trafficking is an ongoing issue that is difficult to prevent, but not impossible. In order to start attacking these issues, we must first focus on the victims. We should be doing more to help out these victims, we should focus more on the aftercare we provide them. We should do more to prevent them even getting into their situations.