Sex Trafficking Causes

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 modernized version of slavery that involves force, fraud, and/or a type of labor in a sexual act. The United States government defines it to be “In which a sex act is forced in which the person induced has not yet been attained eighteen years of age” (National Institute of Justice). Human trafficking is a threat to all nations and promotes breakdown of families and can support organized crime. Trafficking can occur everywhere. Human trafficking and human smuggling are related to one another, but different crimes. The difference between smuggling and trafficking is that smuggling is the illegal movement of someone across a border while trafficking is the illegal exploitation of a person.

Sex acts include; prostitution and forced or coerced sex for monetary value like human sex trafficking. The second population group is adults, age 18 or over, induced into commercial sex through force, fraud, or coercion. And lastly, the third population group is children and adults induced to perform labor or services through force, fraud, or coercion. When it comes to the background of sex trafficking victims there is no one certain type of victim. These victims come in all shapes and sizes and come from diverse communities all across this country. All victims have different socioeconomic backgrounds, varied levels of education and could also possibly be documented or undocumented citizens. According to Equalitynow.org, when it comes to different genders that are trapped into the world of sex trafficking ninety-eight percent of victims are women and young girls. Equalitynow.org says “the commercial sex industry preys on women and girls who are particularly vulnerable. Most have experienced significant trauma and many are still children when they enter prostitution” (“What Is… Equality Now). Homeless youth and runaways are the most vulnerable victims to be involved with sex trafficking. The National Human Trafficking Hotline reported on a study in Chicago, in which fifty-six percent of prostituted women were initially runaway youth and similar numbers had also been identified for the male population.

Human Trafficking and Slavery universally happens in the world when individuals are placed or maintained in and exploitive situation for economic gain. Women, men and children are trafficked for a range of different purposes; forced and exploitative labour in factories, farms and private households, sexual exploitation, and forced marriage. Trafficking can happen to all people if the circumstances are right.

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

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.

Human trafficking is modern-day slavery and involves the use of force, fraud, or coercion to obtain some type of labor or commercial sex act (Homeland).

How will it ever come to an end? These are only the beginning of millions of questions asked daily on such a global topic. The definition of human trafficking is the action or practice of illegally transporting people from one country or area to another, usually for the purposes of forced labor or sexual exploitation. Along with forced labor and sexual exploitation, there is another category known as debt bondage. According to the U.S. Department of State, forced labor is the largest form of human trafficking in the world.

Human trafficking has key components and facts, such as the staggering numbers of victims. The official definition of human trafficking is the illegal movement of people, typically for the purposes of forced labor or commercial sexual exploitation (Dictionary.com). Per the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crimes (UNODC), trafficking in persons is defined

Human trafficking is the illegal transfering of people for sexual needs or money, it is closely related to sex trafficking. Sex trafficking usually affects young kids and teenagers and can ruin their lives if not helped from the beginning and or seek a person that can talk with them and help them mentally. Human trafficking is currently not a big deal to people, people think it is not as big of a problem as it is proclaimed, but organizations are working to help and get the word out to spread awareness on signs to look for and to report anything you may see or hear.

Also another factor that contributes to sex trafficking being profitable is supply and demand. Traffickers are supplying more and more victims which are an important element, but the demand is what has risen which makes this industry what it has become today. More people are requesting sex that is the bottom line. In the article, “Deconstructing Demand: The Driving Force of Sex Trafficking” Swanee Hunt says, “Human sex trafficking generates a profit of 32 billion every year globally and some reports states traffickers can make up to 32,000 a week” (227). It’s no wonder how human sex trafficking has become such a lucrative business because of all the money that is brought in.

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.

knows no borders. It is fueled by a global market that dilutes cultural differences and

In recent times, the number of human trafficking cases has skyrocketed through the roof. So, what exactly is human trafficking? Human trafficking is defined as a criminal activity, in which people are recruited, harboured, transported, bought or kidnapped for the purposes of exploitation. These exploitations include forced labour, child soldiery, sexual slavery, forced marriages and so on. Statistics show that the main victims of human trafficking consist of women and young girls while children come in a close third (Appendix A). Over the years, human trafficking has become rampant worldwide as the demand for human labour and sex slaves drastically multiplies due to the Internet.