Forced Child Prostitution

Children within the United States who are being trafficked are part of what is called, domestic minor sex trafficking. These adolescents are citizens who have been forced, coerced, or misled to become a part of the commercial sex industry. Some of the most common ways to force minors into trafficking is through exotic dancing also known as stripping, brothels, porn, escorting, and massage services just to name a few (Minor Domestic Sex Trafficking). It is disturbing to know that there are children who are going through this. In order to create prevention and intervention programs for trafficking, it is important to understand what a sex trafficker is and the strategies they use to recruit children.

Human trafficking is the exploitation of humans to make money. There are more slaves today than ever in history. Most times victims are trafficked by people they know, trust and love like friends and family.

“Human trafficking is the recruitment, harboring, and the transport of people within countries for sexual exploitation, forced labor, and/or organ donating.” (Gale) “Slavery is the condition in which one or more persons is owned as property by another and is under the owner’s control.” (American Heritage Dictionary) Trafficked people who are often regarded as disposable, are often used for these various reasons. Although, many believe slavery ended with the Thirteenth Amendment, slavery still exists in 2017. In order to understand that human trafficking is a form of slavery, one needs to examine what it is, the effects, and the solutions.

Human trafficking is defined as a recruitment, transportation, transfer, harboring, of receipt of persons, by means of coercion, abduction, fraud, deception, or abuse of power of a position of vulnerability for the purpose of exploitation (Human Trafficking Information). Today human trafficking, also known as modern-day slavery, has been one of the controversial issues in the United States and nationwide. In fact, it is now considered as the fastest growing multi-billion-dollar business form of organized crime. Also, Human trafficking is affecting the lives of millions around the globe and robbing the victims of their pride. As a matter of fact, Traffickers deceive men, women, and young children from around the world to force them into unspeakable

Human Trafficking is the trade of humans mainly for sexual slavery, but also forced labor and commercial sexual exploitation for the trafficker and sometimes others who take part in this act. Human trafficking is also used for organs or tissues, including surrogacy, ova removal, or making these victims spouses for traffickers or their customers. Human trafficking is defined as a sex trafficking in which a commercial sex act induced by force (isolation and confinement to the brothel: transportation to multiple locations for the trafficking network and occasional physical and sexual abuse), fraud (false promises of a better life), or coercion (the practice of persuading someone to do something by using force or threats), or someone performing commercial sex under the age of 18. This is a crime that has newly risen to the public over the last decade and has been labeled as one of the most serious humanitarian crisis. Human trafficking is about profit. In 2004 the total annual income for trafficking in persons was estimated to be between $5 billion to $9 billion.

Human trafficking is as described by Wikipedia as the illegal trade in humans for the use of sexual exploitation or forced labor.

Sex trafficking is a problem that is happening and occurring all over the world. Many families and individuals suffer due to sex trafficking. Many people are not even aware of what it really is. Sex trafficking is when young girls, as young as five or six, get kidnapped and are used for the sexual pleasure of others with a profit, or are sold as sex slaves to other people. The official definition is, “Human sex trafficking is a form of slavery and involuntary servitude resulting in grave human rights violations. Sex trafficking involves individuals profiting from the sexual exploitation of others and has severe physical and psychological consequences for its victims.” (The

Imagine driving down the street at night seeing no one on the corner half dressed trying to get money, or scrolling through a website and have a pop up come up about buying someone. Sex trafficking has become apart of everyday life. Many people are taken everyday and forced into the ring of sex trafficking. One girl spent her whole childhood getting raped by her father and then forced to go out to bars every night and sleep with other men, then go to school the next day (Sher). Sex trafficking is a problem in the United States that can not be ignored no longer.

“According to UNICEF, every two minutes a child is being prepped for sexual exploitation.” Studies have shown that 1.2 million children are being trafficked each year. “This number excluded the millions already being held hostage by trafficking.” (1).

Human Trafficking is “considered a form of modern slavery” involving the recruitment, transportation, transfer and/or harboring the receipt of a person by either the means of force or coercion that is affecting thousands of men, women and children per year both abroad and locally. This is a crime in violation of human rights (“Human Trafficking/What is Human Trafficking”, 2015). Human trafficking is an umbrella term that is not quite defined and/or recognized by law.

Unfortunately in exchange for those things, they would need to give up their bodies as way to bring income in for these gangs or pimps. For children who were brought up in a maltreatment household, these types of children are most likely are found homeless, runaways, which can be a dangerous thing. Some of these children are victims of abuse and their escape is to leave home and find an “easy way out” which eventually can lead up to a gang or a pimp. "In a typical scenario, a parent is already involved in drugs or prostitution in one way or another. Parents prostitute their kids for drugs or money." This unfortunately is an easy access to lure children into prostitution to sell themselves to bring in extra income for drugs and money. Pimps and gangs for a standpoint use children as resources to bring in drugs and is another way to make money off these innocent children. Everyday a child is lured into this type of organization only to find out their lives are in danger. Many child sex trafficking cases, like Anna Hernandez, 14, had her life ended short. This cold case happened in San Diego where this young girl left home to join a gang and have a pimp to help her financial needs. Sadly, her life was ended short resulting her body found wrapped up in a mattress behind her apartment complex. Young girls, like Anna Hernandez, enter child sex trafficking for many different reasons. They find themselves in this type of “work” due unfortunate circumstances, negligence at home, want things they can not afford, etc. They go to these “ pimps” for support which has a price to pay. The term for pimps are older men watching out for the child, from taking care of her or using her for profit. With drugs and weapons becoming riskier business ventures because of more aggressive law enforcement, gangs have moved into prostitution. The money is easy and the Internet and social media have replaced streetwalking. This

Traffickers manipulate adolescents and youth into the sex trafficking through targeting their emotional vulnerabilities. To begin, traffickers use threats, intimidation and violence to enforce or entice adolescents into trafficking. One adolescent, a runaway from Baltimore County, Maryland, is gang raped by a group of men associated with the trafficker, who thereafter executes a “rescue” (Walker-Rodriguez & Hill, 2011) Following the “rescue”, the trafficker imposes she recompense him by working for him as one of his prostitutes (Walker-Rodriguez & Hill, 2011). Unfortunately, in many cases youth are generally beaten up until they yield to the trafficker’s orders (Walker-Rodriguez & Hill, 2011).

Child prostitution is prostitution that involves exploiting children for a sexual act. The word usually refers to prostitution of a minor, or someone who is under the legal age of consent. In most places child prostitution is illegal, but not all. Sex trafficking is usually the first step to child prostitution. Sex trafficking is when a child is kidnapped or tricked into becoming involved in the black market sex trade or “survival sex.” “Survival sex” is when a child forced to engage in sexual acts to obtain basic life essentials.

Human trafficking “shall mean the recruitment, transportation, transfer, harbouring or receipt of persons, by means of the threat or use of force or other forms of coercion, of abduction, of fraud, of deception, of the abuse of power or of a position of vulnerability or of the giving or receiving of payments or benefits to achieve the consent of a person having control over another person, for the purpose of exploitation. Exploitation shall include, at a minimum, the exploitation of the prostitution of others or other forms of sexual exploitation, forced labour or services, slavery or practices similar to slavery, servitude or the removal of organs” (Protocol To Prevent, 2).

According to popular definition: 'Human trafficking is the trade in humans, most commonly for the purpose of sexual slavery, forced labor or for the extraction of organs or tissues. ' (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_Trafficking)