Domestic Minor Sex Trafficking : Prostitution Or Exploitation?

Human trafficking has been identified as a profitable illicit business. Sexual exploiters have profited off the sexual exploitation of women and minors, while businesses have profited from nonconsensual labor from minors who cannot express their own interest. (Marcus, et.al, 2002, p.47). The regional director of “Not for Sale” makes a valid point about profitable gains of human trafficking. “You can sell a bag of drugs once, but you can sell a person multiple times,” (Marcus, et.al, 2002, p.47). That quote is basically the mindset of traffickers who look forward to making a profit and decide partake in this illicit business. In regards to sexual exploiters and minors, there are only a handful of

Kotrla, K., & Wommack, B. A. (2011). Sex Trafficking of Minors in the U.S.: Implications for Policy, Prevention and Research. Journal of Applied Research on Children: Informing Policy for Children at Risk: Vol. 2 (Iss. 1), article 5.

Human trafficking affects our children and our schools more than most realize. It is estimated that more than 200,000 American children are trafficked each year in America. Victims of trafficking often come from vulnerable populations, including migrants, oppressed or marginalized groups, runaways or displaced persons, and the poor (Talati). The children most likely to be targeted by traffickers are those not living with their parents, who are vulnerable to coerced labor exploitation, domestic servitude, or prostitution. Sex traffickers target children because of their vulnerability and gullibility, as well as the market demand for young victims. Studies have shown that it is not just high school children at risk, demonstrating that pimps prey on victims as young as 12 years old. Victims

“ She was just seventeen when she got into prostitution- child trafficking- but she didn’t know she was a victim at the time. She had been beaten and raped by her father since she was twelve years old.” (Zhai Yun, 1.) Young victims of youth sex trafficking are not just kidnapped by unknown people into this. It can be by their father, mother, brother, or sister. It can be forced upon them by people who have come into their life claiming they can make it better. When in reality it just makes it worse. They have no idea what they are getting into and what is going to happen to them. They are fed with lies and false pretentions of what is going to happen. They are caught in a trap that is hard to get out of. Often they are to scared to try to run or be rescued. They just do what they are told so that they live or so their loved ones live.

However a majority of the girls are abducted or forced while many are attracted in other ways. Fake agencies sometimes posing as massage agencies lure in women into the trafficking industry. These women are offered money, free transportation to these agencies to work, with an agreement that the costs will be paid back through the woman’s earnings for her work (Hodge, D. 2008). Other girls are lured in through brothels, escort services, hostess clubs, and strip clubs (Kotrla, K. 2010) where they are abused, manipulated, and have been forced to participate in sexual acts against their will.

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

Throughout the 21st century, the number of human beings being capture and put into sex trafficking and prostitution has risen. In 2013, about 270,000 young boys, girls, and women were forced into human trafficking in the United States alone and estimated 20.9 million in the world. The UN has also estimated that nearly 4,000,000 are trafficked each year. UNICEF has estimated that as many as 50% of all trafficking victims worldwide are minors and that as many as two thirds of those adolescents are at some point forced into the sex trade. This is a 52 billion dollar industry. Two kids are sold every minute, 120 per hour. In other cases mothers of these children would sell them off for money due to financial reason, which

Sex trafficking, particularly that of children, has become a growing concern in the United States over the past several decades (Kotrla, 2010). By definition, child sex trafficking is “when a child (under 18 years of age) is induced to perform a commercial sex act” (U.S., 2013, para. 4), and includes forms such as prostitution and pornography (Kotrla, 2010). Researchers suggest that children are the most vulnerable to becoming victims of prostitution (Kotrla), and it is estimated that there are at least 100,000 victims in the United States (Estes & Weiner, 2001). Sex traffickers, otherwise known as “pimps,” often lure children with promises of food, clothing, love, and shelter, and then the pimps manipulate the children to keep them in prostitution (U.S. Department of Justice [DOJ], 2015). Awareness of the issue has led to the development of organizations, such as Children of the Night, that seek to help victims escape the sex trafficking industry (Children of the Night [COTN], 2016d).

Officials are bringing awareness to people who are already in the age of involvement of domestic minor sex trafficking. This is good, although, it is not very efficient. Siddharth Kara, is on the board of directors of Free the Slaves, states that the fate of a domestic minor sex trafficking victim only increases after being trafficked once (16). It is very hard to identify a victim who is involved in domestic minor sex trafficking. Gail Hornor, a certified pediatric nurse practitioner, says that a bond is formed between the victim and the pimp that cause a hesitation because of fear (90). They are afraid of what there pimp will do to them and/or their families. Therefore, we need to educate

Between 14,500 and 17,500 victims are trafficked into the United States annually, and often, the average age of entry is thirteen to fourteen years old (Hodge, 2008). One victim recalls that her pimp, a man who controls sex workers and keeps the earnings, would take her and two other girls from the ninth grade out of school during lunchtime, have them do calls, and bring them back. She explains, “He knew how to read each girl—this one likes to party, that one needs a job, this one wants drugs.” By doing

Child sex trafficking is the profitable sexual act induced by force, fraud, coercion or a person is lured to have sex before they reach 18 years of age. It includes all the activities of recruiting, harboring, patronizing, advertising, transporting or obtaining children for sexual services involuntarily, through servitude, debt bondage, peonage or slavery. Due to advanced technology, it has acquired new course. It has become a complex phenomenon involving multiple stakeholders at commercial as well as institutional level. It is the modern-day form of slavery perpetrated against minors regardless of their race, class, socioeconomic status, education, gender, cultural conditions or citizenship (“Department of Justice," 2015).

As time progresses, people are becoming aware of sex trafficking as a global problem and they are willing to step up to help the victims return to a normal lifestyle. It has become obvious to the society that underage sex trafficked victims would be able to live a happy life and enjoy their freedom. Accordingly, “Clawson and Goldblatt Grace suggested that in many other facilities, DMST (Domestic Minor Sex Trafficking) victims often go unrecognized, making both training of staff and establishment of additional organizations dedicated to meeting the unique needs of this population priorities” (Kimberly, 184). Because of how psychologically damaged and unsafe victims are, organizations who protect underage prostitution victims are taught thoroughly about their responsibilities. In addition to programs to help and protect victims, there are also rehabilitation programs for the offenders.

Any person under age 18 who performs a commercial sex act is considered a victim of human trafficking, regardless of whether force, fraud, or coercion was present. The TVPA which allows law enforcement to protect not only US citizens but also foreigners from human trafficking. The United States FBI website states that the most effect way of investigating human trafficking is collaboration with citizen who have suspicions or have witnessed it in action. Fortunately for traffickers, everyday citizens are oblivious to the signs that could be right in their face.One of my resources, sharedhope.org, is a website that not only educates the general public on child trafficking, but also supports the children by finding safe homes for children to cutout the opportunist, and they also train people of all age groups to notice the

One day, her boyfriend claims they need money for food and that is when she is introduced to prostitution and starts working for a Romeo pimp (Trafficked Teen Girls, 2010). Romeo pimps are human traffickers who often attract young girls for the purpose of exploiting them later (Abolish Child Sex Trafficking, 2015). Romeo pimps tend to use psychological manipulation as the central means of control (Abolish Child Sex Trafficking, 2015). To explain, Romeo pimps come into the lives of the adolescents through comfortable locales or social media platforms to get to know the child’s vulnerabilities as well as to become the person the child desires in their life (Abolish Child Sex Trafficking, 2015). Once they gain the trust and love of the individual, the exploitation begins and the child is usually unable to withheld from their partner’s demands since he/she trusts them and feel life without them is unthinkable. Thus, the children are deceived into committing sexual and illegal acts as the pimps are psychologically manipulating them into believing these acts are done for love when in reality they are collecting money from these acts for their own advantages. In conclusion, due to emotional susceptibilities, traffickers are easily able to wield and influence

Many cases suggest that teenagers involve in juvenile prostitution grow up in neglectful and abusive homes. These teenagers were often abuse bay their fathers, step fathers, brothers or sell by their mothers. Most of the time these teenagers run away from their homes and onfortunelly many end on the street without no one to support them and a safe place to stay. They are often victimise true pornography, sexual exploitation and drugs. A fragile self steam and limited resources lead some grills to believe that they have no other choice but to enter the world of prostitution. These youth rarely have the chance to experience the simple joy of being teenagers. They often suffer pain humiliation and degradation in the hands of their pimps and costumers. Pimps target girls who seem naive, lonely, homeless, and rebellious. At first, the attention and feigned affection from the pimp convinces them to “be his woman”. Pimps ultimately keep juvenile prostituted in virtual captivity by verbal abuse- making this grill feel that they are utterly worthless, beating them and threat of torture. Almost 80% to 95% of all juvenile prostitution is pimp-controlled. (Kathleen Barry, 1995). The answer to the question “why do prostitutes stay with their pimps?” is the same as