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).
Mission
According to their official mission statement, Children of the Night is “dedicated to rescuing America’s children from the ravages of prostitution” (COTN, 2016c). Not only does the organization work to help children escape prostitution, they strive to provide these children with a viable alternative to living under the control of pimps (Lissone, 2005).
History and Operations
History
In the 1970s, Lois Lee was researching prostitution arrest records for her doctoral dissertation
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.
Images of foreign lands usually conjure up when the thoughts of human sex trafficking come to one 's mind. The United States of America is not immune to this type of horrific behavior. America is the land of the free and yet something as awful as human sex trafficking occurs in our very own backyard each and everyday. According to the Department of Homeland Security the definition of human trafficking is “modern day slavery that involves the use of force, fraud, or coercion to obtain some type of labor or commercial sex act” (“What Is Human Trafficking?”). In this research paper the reader will experience the savagery that comes with human sex trafficking and how it has expanded in the United States over recent years. Within this research
Aording to so and so there are x number of women exploited from djsdf and fsdlk. there are currently asdfjskdhfskj number of women wokring as prostitues in adkjlsjfkfsdlk
“Others have been forced to perform sexual acts in exchange for drugs or money by parents or relatives, a practice dubbed ‘familial prostitution"(Kotria). Some of the most common trafficking recruitment sites are restaurants, traveling sales companies, online jobs, malls, bus stations, and general public places where lost youth are most likely to be found(“Statistics”). Human traffickers take advantage of the lost youth’s troubled circumstances. We need to be helping them, not letting them get cornered into a lifetime of unwilling servitude. The populace of America needs to be made aware of this growing issue that’s victimizing thousands each year, so that we can begin to fight it effectively.
Sex trafficking is a problem that sweeps across the nation. The number of children and teens on the street makes them more at risk of being taken into human sex trafficking. According to the Covenant House Institute, more than two million kids in America will face a period of homelessness. As many as 20,000 kids are forced into prostitution by the human trafficking networks every year in the United States
Sex traffickers use violence, threats, lies, debt bondage, and other forms of coercion to compel adults and children to engage in commercial sex acts against their will. Under U.S. federal law, any minor under the age of eighteen years induced into commercial sex is a victim of sex trafficking—regardless of whether or not the trafficker used force, fraud, or coercion (polarisproject). That being said many of these women and children are either threaten or given a false promise or a good job, some fall in love with the person forcing them to prostitute themselves or some of these women and children are sold by their families to pay off debt. Sex trafficking is global issue but to attack the problem we need to start within our borders and try to minimize the situation at home. Human trafficking is widely known and practice, but we fail to protect the victims. Our failure to stop this allows the traffickers to continue abusing their victims, which sadly ae the most vulnerable out there, children and
While researching sexual exploitation, I have learned that sexual exploitation occurs all throughout the United States frequently. The more I researched, the more occurrences of child sexual exploitation I found. I discovered that children are often tricked into being sexually exploited by predators. Predators trick children by showing affection, pretending to care about the victim, engaging in false relationships, or threatening the victim. Granted that when children are sexually exploited, they are deceived to produce pornography or engage in sex trafficking. Pimp-street prostitution, escort services, and brothels are all forms of sex trafficking. Sex trafficking transpires in the United States daily even when laws are created to prevent and end the act. Stopping sexual exploitation is a difficult problem to prevent because many crimes go unreported. The effects of sexual exploitation of children are psychologically and emotionally scarring. Likewise, survivors often need help to recover after being traumatically exploited. There are several organizations and laws that help victims of sexual exploitation.
People that were involved with sex trafficking in Europe tell their stories because these people describe vulnerability, trafficker tactics, and violence to prevent other people from being put in these situation. Europe could be considered a strong hold for sex trafficking in the world. The narratives of Kevin Bales book “To Plead Our Own Cause”, speak a lot about the way people (mostly women) are forced or tricked into sex trafficking. Bales also writes about the vulnerability of the people forced into sex trafficking, and the violence associated with sex trafficking. I believe that Kevin Bales focused on these topics in sex trafficking in Europe because there is a lot to be learned from these cases. Studying this region of the world has
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,
A child is the epitome of the word innocent as well as a symbol of purity. Every child deserves to have a painless, happy childhood along with the sincerest form of care. Sadly, this is not the case for many children in the United States. The innocence of children (specifically females) is being exploited to the fullest extent by criminals that participate in human sex trafficking, a tragic occurrence that is on the rise in this country. This crime can be described as modern day slavery, an atrocity that many people are blind to. In order to raise awareness and inform the public of this corruption of innocence, it is necessary to identify the issue, explore methods of fixing it, and create forms of rehabilitation for the victims.
The industry of beating and slavery is the business of sex trafficking. This is not your typical everyday business. The drugging and selling of women for male sexual pleasure are two of many horrific explanations of the industry of sex trafficking. Millions of girls will be forced into this terrible money making trade every year. People around the world must be educated about the disgusting occupation of sex trafficking, and for many appalling reasons, this industry must be controlled and stopped for good.
I wrote my paper about sex trafficking and labor trafficking. It is a big problem in the United States and other countries around the world. This is an issue you have to be aware of in your every day life, and you do not need to be naive about the things that happen in this world. People need to know these facts to keep them aware and safe. Women and children are the biggest victims of this crime, and are lured the easiest. The offenders can be working alone or in groups or “companies”, and scout out people.
Emotionally, discussing rape, sex trafficking, and sexual abuse of children is hard for me because as a woman I am in danger of facing these issues personally and it seems so common and so destructive to the victims. The statistic that one in four females and one in six males will experience complex trauma due to sexual trauma was mind blowing to me (Buehler, 2014). While pornography or the lack of morality can be blamed, with the statistics being that high it is obvious that it is a societal problem that need a societal solution. Social workers can go in and remove children from situations, but a real movement needs to be made to understand why this abuse it occurring and stop it before it ever happens. As a female, the prevalence of rape
Human trafficking is based on many different forms of exploitation such as forced prostitution, forced labor, forced criminality, domestic servitude, forced marriage and forced organ removal. Human trafficking consists of 25-30 million slaves with the numbers only going up every year. 70% are children, 25% are women, and 5% are men. People are captured and taken away, and eventually sold to people to be used for their own personal gain. The average price for a slave is about $95, with low pricings more and more people buy these slaves only making the problem worse. 52 percent of human trafficking recruiters are men, 42 percent are women and 6 percent are couples or groups of people. 20 percent of the slaves are used for labor and the other
Poverty is the root of sex slavery. Families who are severely poor sell their children’s virginity in order to obtain money for survival. Children are the best sources of income for traffickers. Children as young as four are forced to be harmed by sex and violence just so they can live. The authors state “UNICEF estimates that children account for a third of the 40,000-100,000 people in the country 's sex industry” (Hume, Cohen, and Sorvino). I cannot believe families would sell their children to pimps, thinking that money is more essential than their child’s safety and wellbeing. Hume, Cohen, and Sorvino explain an appalling story about a girl, named Kieu, who was sold at the age of twelve. Kieu was sold to a man who was over fifty and had three kids of his own. I am baffled that pimps would have the audacity to take advantage of and dehumanize young children, especially if they have