Sex Trafficking And The Exploitation Of Women Essay

Nothing drives emotions out the window more than hearing about innocent children being used for sex. In Cambodia, sex trafficking has grown into a troublesome issue. Sex trafficking has become one of the fastest growing crimes occurring internationally. It is the third largest crime-business in the world, after drugs and arms trafficking. Women, girls, and even men and boys are victims of the billion-dollar sex trafficking industry. Sex trafficking occurs everywhere, and it is not culturally specific, but a gender specific issue. There are numerous cases of sex trafficking within Cambodia, however child sex trafficking is extremely captivating and distressing to learn about.

Human trafficking is a form of modern-day slavery in which traffickers use force, fraud, or coercion to control victims for the purpose of engaging in commercial sex acts or labor services against his/her will. (“Human Trafficking.”) Differing definitions of sex trafficking in state laws make it difficult to know if the studies on sex trafficking are including consensual, adult sex workers, who are not victims of trafficking under federal or international law in their numbers. Vulnerable Native American women and youth are targeted by traffickers more than any other ethnic group. The data collected for the “Shattered Hearts” report from 95 Native women and girls suggest that the trafficking of Native girls into prostitution is a significant, though rarely discussed as a problem. Still, the studies do suggest that sex trafficking of Native women and girls, specifically, is present in the United States. (“Shattered Hearts.”)

Human trafficking are the illegal activity of people, usually for the purposes of obligatory workforce or commercial sexual abuse. In other words, it is also defined as a modern-day form of slavery involving the illegal occupation of persons for exploitation or sexual abuse. Human trafficking is a hidden crime as victims rarely try their best to seek help because of language problems, scared of the abuser and lack of law enforcement. Every year, millions of males, females, and youngsters are trafficked in many countries around the world, including the United States. It is estimated that human trafficking produces many for almost a billion dollar profit per year, and second only to drug trafficking as the most market profit form of international crime. Traffickers use force, scam, or intimidation to lure their victims and force them into workforce or commercial sexual abuse. The trafficker look for people who are susceptible for a variety of reasons, including mental or emotional liability, economic poverty, and lack of a social safety net, natural disasters, or political uncertainty. The trauma affected by the traffickers can be so great that many may not identify themselves as targets or ask for help, even in highly community surroundings.

Human Trafficking is the illegal buying and selling of people to either become domestic workers or forced into illegal prostitution. It is also a violation of basic human rights, because the individual has no personal freedom. Women and children are the primary targets for this industry and typically the victims are forced into illegal slave trade. Human trafficking is a violation of human rights and it is among one of the most horrendous crimes against humanity, forced labor and forced prostitution is the common uses for these people that were lured in by traffickers.

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

Rijken, C. (2009). A human rights based approach to trafficking in human beings. Security &

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.

Last semester in my Women Public Health class was revelation for me as a woman, learning about the struggles that other women suffer around the world. The one subject that caught my attention was the missing girls in China and India. Millions of fetus or baby girls in these countries go missing yearly by different methods. The subject of the missing girl's lead me to human trafficking (sex trafficking) into and within China's own boarders, due to the shortage of women. Although there aren't any available history journals for human trafficking and the subject of human trafficking interests me. Human trafficking has different components such as force labor, sex trafficking, and child trafficking, I will be looking at the labor history.

Sex trafficking is a major problem in the world today and the only way to truly combat it is by raising awareness through the media. I say the media because it is the most effective tool to reach out to world’s largest audience. Although one person has the ability to change the world, it is not enough to change the process of sex trafficking. If everyone right now was able to view real, in depth information on sex trafficking, the problem would not go unnoticed. However, the thought would be out of people’s mind within a week because of some other news article, or video. I propose that we use the mass media to its full potential and rame through every aspect of social media and make the people uncomfortable. By doing this, I believe that it would be a more effective way to to keep the thought of sex trafficking linger in one’s brain enough for them to want to help change the problem.

Human trafficking is a complex phenomenon hence difficult to conceptualize (Maclnnis, 2012). Scholars, nations and international organizations have individually or collectively tried to define human trafficking and, not surprisingly, they disagree with one another. United States (US) for instance does not consider organ trade as human trafficking whereas the United Nations (UN) and Canada do (United States Department of State 2010; United Nations 2012). According to Malawi Human Trafficking Act (2015), trafficking in persons means:

Human trafficking brings in billions of dollars into the U.S and all around the world. “The prime motive for such outrageous abuse is simple: money. In this $12 billion global business just one woman trafficked into the industrialized world can net her captors an average $67,000 a year” (Baird 2007). The laws around human trafficking are not strict and vary depending on what country it is happening in. Human trafficking is not something that is strictly foreign, it is happening right in front of our faces, in our neighborhoods, and all around us.

In 2007, the U.S. state Department reported, “600,000 to 800,000 people are trafficked across international borders every year,” “1 million is the number of children exploited by the global commercial sex trade every year,” and “161 countries identified as affected by human trafficking” (Polaris Project, DoSomething.org).

Human trafficking refers to the movement of persons across borders for forced labor, sexual exploitation or other illicit activities. Sex trafficking is the most lucrative sector of human trafficking America, Southeast Asia, East Asia, Eastern Europe, and Russia. The global political economy, political corruption, human rights, gender and ethnic stratification, and migration are all related to human trafficking.

When we hear the word slavery our mind paints a picture of colonial America down in the South with big plantation houses harvesting wheat, with workers being unpaid and unfairly treated. At this time in our county we were struggling with the idea of equality for all. America has come a long way from those days but not with out a fight. Abraham Lincoln, the Civil Rights moment and free and public education has been addressed. Today, we face a new conflicts and a different type of slavery. Slavery and sex trafficking is occurring not just abroad but at home as well. In 2004, “800,000 to 9000,000 men women and children are trafficked across international borders every year, including 18,000 to 20,000 in the US. Worldwide slavery is in the

“Women hold up half the sky.” -Chinese Proverb. To me this quote speaks about how women are just as equal, if not more so, as men in every way. You may not notice how important they are or respect them enough unless you had to live without them in the world. A woman, in my opinion, is precious and special and SO much more than just an item to use for sex. Human trafficking is a very real and frightening problem in our world. It is under reported and looked past due to sexism and misogyny which are deeply entrenched everywhere. This must stop. We must shed light on the terrible problem affecting millions of women and girls and even some boys right this moment. Although human trafficking is nothing new, it is still a big problem. Even though it is very unpleasant to talk about, it is completely necessary to make a positive change. It happens all over the world of course, like