Childhood Victimization And Prostitution

Sex trafficking is a global problem that involves the exploitation and abuse of girls as well as women. This paper will discuss the problem, with an emphasis on the views expressed by Paola Monzini in her book Sex Traffic: Prostitution, Crime and Exploitation. The paper will look at the causes, consequences and prevalence rates of sex trafficking and will consider the impact of such factors as globalization and women’s poverty in perpetuating the problem or making it worse. The paper will conclude with a discussion of the ways in which a human rights perspective might translate into positive action to eliminate the trafficking of girls and women.

A major concern with prostitution and sex trafficking is that a trend is seen in terms of women's’ health that enter or are forced into the sex industry. One area that is is utmost significance is deteriorating emotional wellness of former and current prostitutes involved. Although, even if they are forced or join for willingly, they begin to experience trauma such as death, torture, rape, and abuse, which leads to the deterioration of their mental health. An investigation done by U.S. Branch of Wellbeing and Human Administrations national symposium has analyzed the impacts prostitution has had on a sex worker populace. The outcomes were a finding were a pervasiveness of PTSD, anxiety, and substance, dissociative, and disposition issue in a significant number of the prostitutes(Muftic and Fin 2013:1863). In this study, it can be observed that the trauma some of these women face whether it be from a young age or later on, they have significantly poorer mental health than their general population counterpart. The reason being that this trauma is something many other people do not experience. The sheer measure of injury, self-blame, push and any impediment are broad and are substantially more extreme in light of the fact that these ladies encounter it numerous circumstances, if not day by day.

Abel, Gillian, et al. Taking the crime out of sex work: New Zealand sex workers fight for decriminalisation. Policy Press, 2010. Part two: Implementation and impact of the Prostitution Reform Act (2003): the first five years: Review of the PRA

The research problem in Childhood Victimization and Subsequent Risk for Promiscuity, Prostitution, and Teenage Pregnancy: A Prospective Study, is one in which abused children were examined over a period of time to find to correlation between abuse and or neglect as it relates to the risk for their promiscuity, prostitution, and pregnancy (Spatz & Kuhms, 1996).

It is hard to determine whether a girls is a child prostitute or not. Would a girl like Tami, who was kidnapped and ‘sold’ unwillingly, and then arrested when she asked for help be called a prostitute (Saada Saar, 2014)? Would a girl like Sandra who ran from an abusive father and was captured by a pimp and then arrested be called a prostitute? The article, There is no such thing as a child prostitute by Malika Saada Saar discusses the issue of whether unwilling sale of sex is prostitution. According to the 2011 FBI report on trafficking, about 293,000 United States children, mainly girls between 12 and 14, are at risk of being exploited. In reality, the sex markets in the United States are similar to the ones in Cambodia and India (Saada Saar, 2014).

Majority of youth subjected to sex trafficking have had previously involvement within the Child Welfare System due to living in previous abusive or unstable homes. Williams (2015) found that the teens that are the most vulnerable include runaways, victims of sexual abuse, drug users and addicts, homeless youth, female gang members, and transgender street youth. Walker (2013) found “the average life expectancy of an exploited child is seven years: homicide and HIV/AIDS account for a majority of the deaths” (p. 16). The survivors of childhood sexual exploitation may have lasting physical and emotional traumas associated with the nature of the exploitation. Williams (2015) found “youth are at an increase for depression, suicide, PTSD, drug and alcohol abuse, and dissociative disorders” (p.

Although the history of child sex trafficking in developing nations has been widely documented, recently research has revealed that minor sex trafficking (also known as child prostitution) is a growing problem within U.S. borders as well. “Child prostitution is the sexual exploitation of a minor for profit, which can include money, drugs, or other items of value” (Center for Arizona Policy, 2014). The sexual exploitation of minors is a lucrative business managed by pimps who use methods of seduction, coercion and/or excessive force to exploit children in exchange for profit. Recent studies indicate that the average age for entry into child prostitution is 12-14 years old,

Abuse is associated with other damaging factors in the victim’s life, as studies find 80% of 21 year olds that were abused as children met criteria for at least one psychological disorder (Amy B. Silverman, 2008). In a book by Heiman, he said that abused children are also more likely to engage in sexual risk behaviors, causing them to be 25% more likely to experience teen pregnancy. Also it put those young adults at greater risk for STD’s along with sexual behaviors that put children at risk. Studies also show that children who were abused are more likely to use drugs when they become young adults. While statistic shows an disturbing number of inmates have been abused as children, it is wondered that the actual number might be even higher as

There is without a doubt that we live in a world where child sex trafficking is widespread and well-received. Although sex trafficking is illegal, the reality of children performing sexual acts is in favor and in demand. Children are forced into street prostitution, continuous beatings, and raped to make money for the pimps and johns. These vulnerable children come from impoverishment and hardship where in most cases guardians often sell their children off for money or debt. There are many organizations to help children with the abuse; helping them escape from the imprisonment in the United States but in order to stop the problem there has be firmer laws in place to capture the traffickers. The perceptibility of child sex trafficking is unbearable

As human trafficking expands in the United States, adults are not the only ones being bought and sold. Children are also target of trafficking, online and in person, at a higher rate (Tidball, Zheng, & Creswell, 2016). Child trafficking is the recruitment and movement of people that are younger than 18 for the purposes of sexual exploitation (Ottisova et al., 2018). This type of trafficking occurs online when pimp’s lure unsuspicious minors with false promises (Tidball et al., 2016). Pimps commonly advertise children for sexual exploitation online, and they search social networking sites for young victims for ways to trap them and become sex slaves (Dysart, 2013).

It has been estimated that 199,000 incidents of sexual exploitation of minors occur each year in the United States (Jordan, 2013, p. 362). Children also make up of 50 percent of the sex trafficking victims globally (Jordan, 2013, p. 362). Since the number of children at risk continues to increase, we should be able to identify vulnerability factors, know a few strategies to help prevent this type of victimization from occurring, and also be aware of a few strategies that would be beneficial in helping victims readjust in society; after all, there is no telling when a child may be in need of assistance with escaping their current situation. Vulnerability factors include the young age of children, if they are runaways, and if there is some sort of family dysfunction experienced. Strategies to prevent this type of abuse includes federal and state laws as well as using technology in new ways. Lastly, reintegrating a child sex trafficking victim back into society could be a difficult process; however with the proper assistance from community resources as well as family the victim can be

Widom and Kuhns were able to find significant support for their hypothesis, that there is a direct relationship between early childhood victimization and prostitution. In fact, the case study showed that sexual abuse was a leading predictor of female victims that were found to have been involved in prostitution. Also, physically abused females had the highest rate of participation in prostitution at a rate of 12.8%. In addition to prostitution, there was no significant predictor for those in the control group vs. those in the abuse and/or neglected group for promiscuity. Lastly, teenage pregnancy had no predictor for the overall sample pool and more specifically for the females polled. Moreover, the study concluded that there was no significant

The Swedish government has acknowledged the problems of human trafficking and how prostitution plays a large role. So by continuing this acknowledging of the buyers, many national campaigns have also been created to combat prostitution and human trafficking. In 2002, a campaign was launched at the Solvalla Racetrack in Stockholm. At these events, Racing fans often “celebrate their winnings at a brothel or by paying for sex acts with women in street prostitution. At Solvalla, pimps commonly hustle buyers at the racetracks or give them a ride to sex clubs after the races end” (Raymond 12). After the first race, Swedish Minister for Gender Equality Margareta Winberg spoke to the crowd about the impact prostitution has on women and the problems

In regards to their essay on sex trafficking and child prostitution, Kristof and WuDunn note their successful and failed efforts to help these women. Each time they interviewed a woman, they “bought” her from the brothel owner and aimed to set her up for economic success outside of forced prostitution. However, one girl quickly and willingly returned to the brothel due to her drug dependence (where she obtained the addiction from being forced to take drugs in order oblige her customers). Kristof and WuDunn indicated, that in order to effectively help women, advocates need to focus on prevention, through education, empowerment to give women a voice, and putting brothels out of business. Prajwala’s model is effective for those already in the

This is supposed to be a free country. We the people are supposed to have the right to make decisions in our own individual lives that will benefit our future. But in this country the government puts so much restraint on an individual when they want an abortion, maybe an individual wants to clone for personal reasons, use contraceptive, or die under their own will. Those choices are an individual’s own morality and should not be judged when living in a free country. What about Child Prostitution or Domestic Violence that are not individual choices? Why do those two phenomenon’s seem to be looked over and the court doesn’t have a strong hand in developing a solution in such resilient issues?