Sex Trafficking And The Legalization Of Prostitution

Sex trafficking is a global problem that involves the exploitation and abuse of girls as well as women. This paper will discuss the problem, with an emphasis on the views expressed by Paola Monzini in her book Sex Traffic: Prostitution, Crime and Exploitation. The paper will look at the causes, consequences and prevalence rates of sex trafficking and will consider the impact of such factors as globalization and women’s poverty in perpetuating the problem or making it worse. The paper will conclude with a discussion of the ways in which a human rights perspective might translate into positive action to eliminate the trafficking of girls and women.

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

Every year thousands of people of all genders, race, and age become victimized in sex trafficking. These people who become victims are usually vulnerable and are living in poverty structured areas. Many countries around the world are dealing with this serious issue, even in the United States. The United States federal law has defined sex trafficking as an act, “in which the commercial sex act is induced by force, fraud, or coercion, or in which the person induced to perform such an act has not attained 18 years of age” (Polaris Project). Sex trafficking is not only seen as a crime but is also seen as a business of supply and demand to many people. This business makes a profit of about 9.8 billion dollars a year. In recent events it has been shown that sex trafficking increases during big sporting events. As a result, some actions have been taken to combat the issue, but not enough. Therefore, due to the fact that sex trafficking is a worldwide issue and it is increasing over time; I will argue how there needs to be changes to the approach we have on the issue of sex trafficking.

The history of trafficking goes back much further than one would think. Donna Hughes explains in her article Combating Sex trafficking a history that trafficking really started in England as early as 1875. Even though this article suggests that human trafficking started as early as 1875, we have learned in class from the Sugar changed the world: a story of magic, spice, slavery, freedom, and science that it goes way further back than that. This movement in 1875 only affected women at the time. This is where the term prostitute was initially coined. Before World War I, the act of trafficking white slaves saw its first law called the international convention for suppression of the white slave traffic. It wasn’t until after World War II that

Sex trafficking can be assimilated with slavery, which is the view that will be discussed at length in this paper, however sex trafficking can also be assimilated with the idea of smuggling. The difference between sex trafficking and smuggling lies in the fact that sex trafficking is viewed as a process rather than an act of crime. Human trafficking is defined as the “recruitment, transportation, transfer, harboring or receipt of persons, by means of threat or use of force or other forms or 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 labor or services, slavery or practices similar to slavery, servitude or the removal of organs.” Being defined as a process, sex trafficking involves stages: 1) action (recruitment), 2)

This article provided an overview of relevant issues surrounding contemporary sex trafficking, including risk factors. The article estimates that 600,000 to 800,000 men, women, and child are sex trafficked every year. It also explains three main factors that play into sex trafficking: human rights, migration, and security. This article exemplifies women’s lack of agency in relation to their bodies. Although there are male sex workers, there are many more female workers, further exploiting women’s sexuality. This aids in the fear women grow up and live with; the fear of being sold.

When looking for topics to research I wanted to do something that was a prominent problem in my hometown, which was Sex Trafficking (ST). Coming from Houston, Texas, Sex Trafficking is one of the major hubs in the United States. Houston’s main highway I - 10 is the main road used to travel these victims to state lines to get them out of the country. A better definition of sex trafficking is when someone uses force, fraud or coercion to cause a commercial sex act with an adult or cause a minor to commit a commercial sex act. A commercial sex act is a list of things known as prostitution, pornography, and sexual performance done in exchange for any item of value, such as money, drugs, shelter, food, or clothes( United Nations, In the United States alone 14,500 - 17,500 people are trafficked alone in the United States and 46% of it is from Texas. Most cases found on sex trafficking come from Women and Child, but there are a percentage of males that are trafficked, but because the act makes most feel degraded they refuse to report it. The effects it has on victims is indescribable. Many programs were created and people were made available to help victims but still sometimes these victims do not get the closure they need. This topic is important because it is a worldwide social issue that destroys not only the person physically taken into the trafficking but everyone that is involved in saving that person. When choosing these two articles, “Sex Trafficking: Policies, Programs,

Oftentimes when people hear the term human sex trafficking, they think of heinous acts that take place in other countries where adults, children, girls and boys are exploited to perform sexual acts in exchange for money or goods against their will. They think it typically occurs in places that are less developed than the United States. However, the reality of this horrific crime is that it is taking place in the United States, and it occurs more and more each and every day. Young girls are not solely the victim of human sex trafficking, young boys are victims of this monstrous act as well. Individuals residing in the United States need to be made more aware of this issue as it has started to rise through social media, large events, and by those in other countries being promised work here. After researching, it is apparent that there is a great deal of information that is lacking, on sex trafficking in the United States. Not only is sex trafficking an issue, but the lack of awareness about sex trafficking is also an issue. This thesis proposes that human sex trafficking is an unacknowledged epidemic within the United States, and it seeks to discover why it has become so prevalent.

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

The International Labor Organization estimated that there were 4.5 million victims trapped in forced sexual exploitation, or sex trafficking, globally. Most would believe that this is a problem that does not occur in the United States, but they would be wrong. In 2007 alone, 14,588 sex trafficking cases were reported in the United States and the problem is only getting worse. This research paper will discuss multiple topics such as the definition of sex trafficking, recruitment and those at risk, where it occurs, organizations, consequences, a healthcare provider’s role and a study on the attitudes of the public. The objective is to bring light to this problem and educate those who are reading (Polaris Project, 2016).

Though sex trafficking seems to have very direct laws, it is one of hardest to prosecute. Misunderstanding of the law by government officials and resource for survivors forces most cases to not end in convictions. Strides are being made to fix this issues but to survivors one can argue they are not happening fast enough. In this essay, I will take about how things generally go when it comes to the law regarding sex trafficking.

Through time we have misconstrued the difference between prostitution and human trafficking. In which prostitution is a profession which means they have an option to work or not, and human trafficking is not a profession which means they are being forced to do sex work. In the world “at least 20.9 million adults and

Although many believe that slavery was abolished many years ago, it is actually a part of an organized crime that is growing faster than any other. It a deceitful process that tricks many people, mostly women, into believing that they will be safe and secure. It has quite the opposite effects. The form of slavery that is being referred to here is sex trafficking. It is all around the world. Many do not realize that it is happening in their own community. It is happening right here in Saginaw, Michigan. It is categorized with prostitution, but prostitution alone is more of a choice and sex trafficking is forced prostitution. Although the women and men involved are called prostitutes, they are not doing it to make money for themselves. They are forced to do it through their pimps which are the individuals in charge of the prostitution business. Forced sex slavery is in correlation with physical, mental, and emotional abuse. What if prostitution was legal? A woman would be able to be a prostitute if she wanted. She could do whatever she wants with her body without the consequence of being arrested. Although, it would be harder to identify if the woman was doing it because she wanted to or doing it because she was forced by a sex trafficker. Would prostitution legalization affect the amount of sex trafficking that is already occurring? If people are educated on sex trafficking and what the signs of it are, we may be able to help those in need. It can also be

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.

Though being a party of the same society the sex workers are denied the right to vote and dignity. They are criticized and a considered a stigma to the “society”.