Innocence Trapped Within : Crj 422 Criminal Justice Capstone

Each year in the United States, people are imprisoned for crimes he or she did not commit. Right now 25% of the imprisoned were wrongly convicted. But the Innocence Project works hard to vindicate and exonerate innocent people from prison. Although the person is not guilty they could spend months or even years in jail for a crime they did not commit. This causes many set backs such as a criminal record, no job and possibly no education. Subsequently when these people get out of jail, they are unable to support themselves and society needs to provide them with restitution.

You may be asking yourself, what is the real problem before the solution is stated? Sex trafficking is the selling of children and adults for money with them performing prostitution, pornography and sexual performance in return for drugs, shelter, food, money, or clothes. According to Safe Ventures in 2016, every 3 minutes a minor is sexual abused, 10-15 minors sold as sex slaves a day, 5.4 million reports of child exploitation in the US alone. According to the ILO it estimates human trafficking generates $150.2 billion in illegal profits every single year. What most people fail to notice is that sex trafficking is business that is strictly just profit which makes it that much more dangerous of an issue because there is no supply to buy. Traffickers use several tactics to lure their victims with using fear, intimidation, violence, and threats to make their slaves follow their commands. Sex trafficking is pure evil and we need to do something about so it does not happen to those who are possible victims.

Sex trafficking is essentially systemic rape for profit. Force, fraud and coercion are used to control the victim’s behavior which may secure the appearance of consent to please the buyer (or john). Behind every transaction is violence or the threat of violence (Axtell par. 4). Just a decade ago, only a third of the countries studied by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime had legislation against human trafficking. (Darker Side, par.1) Women, children, and even men are taken from their homes, and off of the streets and are brought into a life that is almost impossible to get out of. This life is not one of choice, it is in most times by force. UNODC estimates that the total international human trafficking is a

At this moment there are roughly twenty-seven million people enslaved globally, over a million of which are sex slaves. Millions more have escaped, or died from assault or sexually transmitted diseases over the past twenty years. If serious action is not taken immediately, millions more will become victims. Human sex trafficking is a form of slavery and involuntary servitude which results in major human rights contraventions. Sex trafficking contains individuals profiting from the sexual extortion of others and has severe physical and psychological consequences for its victims.1 Prostitution is the exchange of sexual acts for human necessities such as money, food, shelter and often times, drugs. Prostitution is a form of sexual exploitation that can include street prostitution, massage parlors, brothels, escort services, strip clubs, phone sex, and pornography.2 Mexico is a major destination of sex trafficking and prostitution which not only affects the Mexican people but countries throughout the globe in Latin America, Europe, North America and Asia. Corrupt officials, powerful drug cartels, and the inadequacy of government laws in place are some of the main reasons that sex trafficking and prostitution are so prevalent in Mexico. A solution to Mexico’s sex crime trouble can be achieved through sex education, stronger government action and an end to corruption.

Imagine knowing that your parents set you up to be raped, just so they can make money. This violence leads to depression and even suicide, making the children feel extremely weak and empty. Weak law enforcement and poverty has driven sex slavery out of hand. A solution to end this violence begins with people who raise awareness. To raise awareness, it is important to meet with the federal and local government to inform them on the issues and convince them to combat sex trafficking. Come up with different fundraisers for battered victims, host awareness events so people become familiar with the issue, and eventually the victims can become educated and well equipped with the proper care they need. Consider working with different organizations that help women who have fallen victims of prostitution, pornography, trafficking and other forms of sexual violence. Work with a religious community that can help raise money for families in poverty. This can decrease the amount of women and children traded for sex. Internationally, we need to become more familiar with, knowledgeable of, and aggressive to end this suffering of dehumanization and advertise what the poor victims have to face on a daily

Prior to the passing of the Violence Against Women Reauthorization Act of 2013, previous bills tried to eliminate various aspects of human trafficking (Polaris Project, 2015). In 1910, Congress signed The Mann Act of 1910 into action. The act made it illegal for anyone to transport a girl or woman across state, or country lines, for the purpose of prostitution. Then, in 1930, The Tariff Act of 1930 made it illegal to import products that were made by forced laborers. However, neither of these acts addressed the full magnitude of human trafficking (Polaris Project, 2015).

Many new laws are being implemented regarding human trafficking. One of which is the Mann Act of 1910. Although the original law was created a long time ago, recent additions make it much stronger. The Mann Act makes it a felony to knowingly persuade, induce, entice, or coerce an individual to travel across state lines to engage in prostitution or attempts to do so. It is an effective tool used to prosecute human traffickers (“Polaris,” 2015). According to Vanderbilt Law Review, the Prosecutorial Remedies and Other Tools to End the Exploitation of Children Today (PROTECT Act) intends to protect children from abuse and sexual exploitation, a common element of child human trafficking. Finally, The Victims of Trafficking and Violence Prevention

In today’s world, people believe that all enslavement or forced labor of any kind has quietly deceased over the years, that all types of enslavement are behind modern societies and totally in the past, yet it has been exactly the opposite. An international office stated, “ Only one out of 100 victims of trafficking is ever rescued. This means around only 24,000 out of the 2.4 million people enduring human trafficking will be spared,” (“Combating Human Trafficking”). Human trafficking is still a very big problem across the world, even in the United States. Human trafficking has only increased over the past two decades. It is also not likely that a person being trafficked is only enduring this for a few months and then is set free; people are victims for multiple years, possibly even decades. Human trafficking is still a serious threat to innocent lives across the planet because rates are increasing, people are stuck in that vicious cycle for years, and it is damaging millions of people everyday.

In 1865, the Thirteenth Amendment abolished slavery in the United States, but even after that the amendment was signed many individuals did not stop and abolish the idea of slavery as a whole. The action of slavery still existed after 1865 because individuals were still selling and degrading other human beings. It can be argued that trafficking human beings is one of the most profitable crimes today. Sex trafficking has been extremely profitable because some say that humans can be used for many different purposes, for more than one time. Unlike slavery in the 1800’s, there has now been a Victims of Trafficking and Violence Protection Act of 2000, which states that sex trafficking and labor trafficking is illegal, which helps prevent violence

Theresa Flores, a girl from Detroit, was 15 years old when a boy she had a crush on from school offered her a ride home. Instead of taking her home he brought her back to his house where he insisted she come in. Red flags went off in Theresa’s head, but he told her he liked her, and that’s all it took to convince her to come inside. He offered her a soda laced with drugs that made her become dizzy, and then he raped her. The next day at school the boy and his friends informed her of the pictures they had taken of her, and threatened her to “earn the pictures back”, or they would share the pictures with everyone at school, her church, and to her family. From that day on, every night Theresa would receive a call around midnight and the boys would pick her up and bring her to random houses where often several men would be waiting for her. This continued for almost two years till her family relocated (Zukowski, 2015). This is one example of a girl being lured into sex trafficking as a teen and is one out of an estimated 800,000 women and children that are trafficked across international borders every year (Facts on human trafficking and sex slavery, 2012). Sex trafficking is a huge issue today and is only continuing to grow as an industry. In order to put an end to this horrifying issue more action must be taken in order for a difference of significance to be made. However, in order to take action people must understand the essence of what it is,

According to UNICEF, as many as two million children are subjected to prostitution in the global commercial sex trade. This issue very personal due to the fact that I currently work with teens who have either been a victim of human trafficking or could one day be a victim. And there is also long term damage that victims have to deal with including long-lasting physical and psychological trauma, disease (including HIV/ AIDS), drug addiction, unwanted pregnancy, malnutrition, social ostracism, and possible death. I believe the first step is to become more aware that this could happen to anyone it doesn't matter the race, gender, or social class.

This exists as a global problem because no county is protected; human trafficking numbers has grown rapidly over the years, in relation to the escalating international sex trade. This type of practice forces an individual to engage in sex acts or labor against their will through coercive threats, intimidation, the elimination of any legal documents and violence under enslaved conditions. (“Global”) Women are often trafficked for the purpose of commercial sexual services, increasing their vulnerability to transmittable HIV/AIDS, sexually transmitted diseases, and brutality. They are held against their will in remote environments, these women have few avenues for assistance while they suffer vast physical and emotional abuse at the hands of their abductors. (“Global”)

imagine that you're ripped away off the street, never to see your family again, no more freedom, no more anything. You're kept under control by your new "owner" by the use of threats and violence and often under the need for drugs. This is something that many women across the world go through every year. they are mostly distributed within the sex trade. The leaders of all nations that are capable of ending this horrendous crime should do so by creating a task force to rescue victims, classes about the signs of human trafficking could be given in schools worldwide, and more work could be put into ending this. We could also come together as a community at help donate to organizations that help end this.

Slavery is a modern, pervasive problem. Human trafficking has been found in every state in America (humantrafficking.org). It seems that most Americans likely live within a comfortable drive of someone who is being exploited through human trafficking. There is a growing trend in human trafficking toward sexual exploitation (Bennetts, 2011). The Information Age has helped to create new opportunities for sex trafficking to flourish.

The modern world today is proud to recognize the equality that has been acknowledged between age, gender, and race. Women are beginning to be treated as equals with men, in new customs, lifestyle, society, and economy. Today, women are freer and are liberated from their traditional roles as housewives, and are pursuing their hopes and dreams. However, this is not the case in many regions of the world. In the developing countries, thousands of females are dehumanized by prostitution and the trafficking of women and children is dehumanizing which serves only to benefit men. It exploits and violates the rights of women in the developing world. Sexual exploitation, which includes sex tourism,