Sex Trafficking In the United States Listening to the horrifying survival stories of young sex trafficking victims in countries like Bangladesh and Sri Lanka is sure to strike a nerve, but the idea of modern-day slavery happening closer to home is unthinkable. Although traffickers are not the first thing that cross a parent's mind when dropping their daughter off at the mall, they are more prevalent in our first world society than many may assume, and often go unnoticed in the United States. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights established a list of basic rights entitled to all humans, but unfortunately, traffickers disregard these rights when luring vulnerable young girls to work for them (“What is the Universal”). Nonprofit organizations, …show more content…
The Universal Declaration of Human Rights, or the UDHR, is a document that states the "...basic rights and fundamental freedoms to which all human beings are entitled.” (“What is the Universal”). Some of the rights listed that relate specifically to slavery include Article 4, “No one shall be held in slavery or servitude; slavery and the slave trade shall be prohibited in all their forms,” and Article 5 states, “No one shall be subjected to cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment or punishment.”(Universal Declaration). Sex trafficking takes away these freedoms. Victims are held against their will, beaten, raped, harassed, and in some cases, killed (Ford). When most people …show more content…
Pimps seek victims at malls, airports, sports games, or other populated places (Ford). Typically, girls between the ages of 9-19 are targeted (“Teen Girls”). They are at their most vulnerable, and many of them are in need of a friend. Pimps take advantage of this, lure them in, and pretend to be their friend until they turn into monsters, forcing the girls to go out and have sex with as many as 40 men a day (“What is Sex Trafficking?”). If they refuse, or don't come home with enough money, they are beaten, raped, or sometimes even killed (Ford). Debbie, a fifteen-year-old from a small town in Phoenix, was a normal teenager. She was at the top of her class, had a supportive Air force family, and numerous close, loyal friends, or so she thought. One night her friend, Bianca, asked to stop by her house. When she arrived Debbie met her at her car and noticed she was in the car with two other men. Bianca pushed Debbie in the car and tied her up, which was the start of many torturous years of trafficking and abuse. The men told Debbie they would shoot her and pour battery acid on her
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,
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.
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
There is many problems in this world today. One of those problems was unknown to me until I read a report from CNN’s reporter Sarah Sidner who is doing a five-part series on Sex Trafficking called the Freedom Report. In her first installment, she addresses that victims of this heinous crime are getting marked by their traffickers.
Some girls start out performing in a strip club. Then it is ‘suggested’ that they do more, for more money. Lap dances turn into tricks. Tricks turn in to full on prostitution. Some get put straight into brothels. Some are marketed as dates, but the client is only looking for sex. Some survivors report that when the men come into the brothel or look for them online for a ‘date’ they order them in the same fashion they would a cheeseburger. “I would like a young, underage looking blonde with blue eyes. I want her dressed to look like a school girl, carrying her backpack” reports one survivor who overheard a man ordering a girl. (2
According to statistics of the Florida National Organization for Women, there are 60,000 to 80,000 women who are trafficked into this horrid business every year to pimps, making a profit of $9.5 billion annually. In the business of sex trafficking, a pimp or also known as a trafficker, is anyone who receives money or something of value for the sexual exploitation of another person, controlling his victims almost entirely through physical violence and force. These men are often someone close to the victims, most of the time boyfriends with the goal of turning them out to make a profit. Women who
The human trafficking industry with a net worth of approximately a $150 billion dollar revenue. Two thirds of that profit— $100 billion—comes from commercial sex trafficking (ILO). Up to 50% of those that are trafficked are minors and most humans trafficked are women and girls. It is often intertwined with transnational crime organizations that have connections to certain companies (UNDOC). Many Americans are unaware of that this is happening in their town and often deny it is happening. In 2016, over 4,000 cases of human trafficking was reported in the U.S. and many more were not reported (15). However, international organizations such as the United Nations Drug and Crime division provide hope for victims from their outreach
Human trafficking is modern-day slavery and it involves the use of force, fraud, or coercion to obtain some type of labor or commercial sex act. Every year, millions of men, women, and children are trafficked in countries around the world, including the United States. (Blue Campaign Homeland Security, 2017) People in the sex trafficking business tend to make billions of dollars every year along with drug traffickers. With this cybercrime growing what tools are there to stop it? There has said to be many cybercrime tools that have been trying to stop this trend such as INTERPOL but has it been really doing job?
Traffickers use violence, threats, fear, and intimidation to ensure compliance and meet demand. But what are the ages of these girls? Girls that are targeted are ages 12-16 because “their young and too naive to realize the situation.” (2017 Shared Hope International) Are they always stolen? It really depends on what kind of pimp they’re stuck with. There are two different types of pimps. The first one called a Romeo. They pretend that they love the victim and promise them things that they’ll never give them. Then there is the gorilla pimp. The gorilla pimps are violent and use force to take them.
There are a plethora of global issues that concern me, though I have found great interest in the issues of Child Sex Trafficking. Article 4. of the United Nations Declaration of Human Rights states, "No one shall be held in slavery or servitude; slavery and the slave trade shall be prohibited in all their forms." It was quite repulsive to realize that some of the uniformed officials, who are plausible to protecting these young girls, are selling and purchasing them.
Growing up, we are taught at school that slavery has been abolished, but does that mean it is an irrelevant problem today? It is true that slavery is not visible to the general public today; however, modern-day slavery exists, and it is a form of human trafficking, known as sex trafficking. Lack of awareness and ignorance allow sex industries to thrive and be successful around the world. Every year, numerous amount of people are abducted and forced into prostitution against their will, which makes traveling abroad dangerous for everyone. While the issue remains hidden, more and more traffickers are taking advantage to exploit innocent people who are vulnerable regardless of race and age.
Facilitated in organizing and logistical planning of the annual charitable event by contacting suppliers and potential sponsors for donations and equipment.
The incidence of child sex trafficking is high, but there is still no reliable data. The incidence and prevalence data is also still scarce, and there is no consensus on the current estimates. The estimates focus on youth who are at risk for sex trafficking contrary to the actual victims. Some groups have carried out research on the subsets and subpopulations of the victims to provide an understanding of the scale and nature. The arrest records for example in 2009 data from the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Uniform Crime Reporting among other bodies estimates that about 1400 minors were arrested for prostitution and commercial vice in the U.S that year. Other organizations such as Human Trafficking Task Force do not have the exact
Pimp-controlled is when the enslaved is controlled by one single trafficker. Most times refered to as the “pimp’, or “ papa”. The enslaved is usually controlled by their pimp mentally, physically, and psychologically. The pimp keep control over the victims by inflicting violence, emotional tactics or in some cases finicial means. Since the pimp usually works allow they use several different tactics such as threats, kidnapping, or marriage to obtain the victims. Once obtained the victim goes through various forms of physical violence such as gang rape. Also like the gang they first begin the grooming phase, when they find out the victims weakness and use it against them. In other countries such as india, the people that traffick these young girls into the sex business
Human trafficking is defined as the action or practice of illegally transporting people from one country or area to another, typically for the purposes of forced labor or commercial sexual exploitation. It is a 32 billion dollar industry which $15.5 billion comes from industrialized countries. It happens in almost every country around the world but is most common in third-world countries with 600,000 to 800,000 people trafficked each year worldwide. It primarily involves sexual exploitation, forced labor or services, slavery, and even the removal of organs. Africa is one of the many countries with a high level of human trafficking. As researchers, we want to draw conclusions on what happens to victims of human trafficking and how they are affected.