Sex Trafficking Research Paper By Theresa Flores

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

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.

Kotrla, K., & Wommack, B. A. (2011). Sex Trafficking of Minors in the U.S.: Implications for Policy, Prevention and Research. Journal of Applied Research on Children: Informing Policy for Children at Risk: Vol. 2 (Iss. 1), article 5.

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.

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

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?

“The terms human trafficking and sex slavery usually conjure up images of young girls beaten and abused in faraway places, like Eastern Europe, Asia, or Africa. Actually, human sex trafficking and sex slavery happen locally in cities and towns, both large and small, throughout the United States, right in citizens’ backyards. Appreciating the magnitude of the problem requires first understanding what the issue is and what it is not. Additionally, people must be able to identify the victim in common trafficking situations” (Walker-Rodriguez & Hill 2011). Otherwise, what you assume to be a dad carrying away a toddler throwing a temper tantrum, could really be a trafficker, kidnapping a new victim. Or that girl you spot down, who looks not much older than 15, following the man in a smart business suit could be silently begging for help, because she desperately doesn’t want to do this again.

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.

This article contends that despite the passing of the Victims of Trafficking and Violence Protection Act and improvement in the provision of services for victims of human trafficking, most research has been directed towards adults rather than children. The authors found that aggregated data gathered from a multitude of international and domestic studies reveal that aid and rehabilitation for child victims of sex trafficking is truly nonexistent and that many victims end up being forced into the juvenile justice system or receiving inadequate treatment mental health treatment. The authors discuss the situation further by examining the publications available covering information about child sexual abuse and child maltreatment. While each of these

Human trafficking is a form of modern day slavery where its perpetrators profit from control, exploitation, coercion and defrauding of others through forced labor, or sexual exploitation and in some cases both. Sexual exploitation is the most prevalent form of human trafficking especially in the United States. Even though accurate statistics are rare in this field, those currently existing approximate that massive numbers of women and girls are sold for sexual exploitation within America’s human trafficking industry, which is worth an estimate of $ 9.5bn (Kelly, p.1). Additionally, the US Department of justice reveals that 300,000 children are at a risk of being sold into this inhumane and highly exploitative industry (Kelly, p.1). In the United States sex trafficking commonly takes place in the streets, residential brothels, brothels disguised as massage parlors and spas, online escorts services, truck stops, strip clubs, motels, hotels and anywhere else that is conducive for the trade to thrive. In addition to the inhumane treatment and extreme hardships that victims of sex trafficking are subjected to, all victims of sexual exploitation share one common experience, which is the loss of their freedom. This paper is a demonstration of how victims of sex trafficking in pursuit of lucrative jobs, education or loving romantic relationships, unknowingly and unwillingly trade off their freedom and freewill to perpetual bondage characterized by drugs, sex

Sunitha Krishnan, a woman who was gang raped by 8 men, is the co-founder of Prajwala (“Eternal Flame”). Prajwala is a non-governmental organization that saves and helps sex trafficked victims rebuild themselves and reintegrate them back into the world. This organization is in the capital of southern India’s Telangana state, where there are multiple schools that help victims prepare for their new fulfilled futures. She devoted herself to rescuing both women and children from “the worst form of human rights violation (Ted talk 0:14),” sex trafficking. Sex trafficking is happening in the deepest corners of the world. It is a multimillion-dollar global market where people can purchase another human being for whatever reason they choose. She states

Sex trafficking is a huge problem within the world today. According to Equality Now, which is an organization that helps to advocate for trafficking, estimates about 20.9 million adults and children are bought and sold worldwide (Global Sex Trafficking). One particular country where this is a problem is Cambodia. Cambodia native Somaly Mam founded Agir Pour les Femmes en Situation Precaire (AFESIP) and cofounded the Somaly Mam Foundation. AFESIP helps sex trafficking victims escape trafficking and emotionally and economically heal while the Somaly Mam Foundation works on a three-step approach: action, advocacy, and awareness (Finley). Together with these two organizations Somaly Mam was able to fight back sex trafficking and help thousands

“When I was 15, a woman who initially helped me sent me to England. On the first day in England, a man came, raped me and beat me. I was terrified, He forced me to have sex with lots of men he brought to his house” (“What is Human Trafficking?”). Over the last decade, thousands of kids from all over the world have been smuggled into Europe to do dirty work, girls are trafficked for the sex industry, boys work as prostitutes or for dirty crime, and chinese children are trafficked to work in Europe sweatshops or on the streets (Almond 28).

While human trafficking is a terrible practice, it also violates several of our human rights. For example article four of the Universal Declaration Of Human Rights states that, “ No one shall be held in slavery or servitude; slavery and the slave trade shall be prohibited in all their forms”.

We can all probably think of a time we watched a movie that depicted the ominous and illustrious circle of human trafficking. Movies like the blockbuster hit Taken dramatized the storyline in order focus on Liam Neeson’s character who is a father and a retired CIA agent that utilizes his skills to get his daughter back from the possession of sex traffickers. Although the movie is an exaggeration, the reality is that many victims fall into the vicious circle of human trafficking, which does not just include sexual exploitation. According to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), human trafficking includes “exploiting the prostitution of others, sexual exploitation, forced labor, slavery or similar practices and the removal of organs.” In an event hosted at the United Nations Headquarters, the president of the General Assembly, Mr. John W. Ashe addressed human trafficking issues in the modern world stating that the,” annual profits as high as $36 billion per year, it ranks as the world’s third most profitable crime after illicit drug and arms trafficking.” The profit made by human trafficking involved not just girl and women but it also involves boys and men as well. Many make generalization that naïve girls are the victims to this organized crime; however, the case is that boys and men make up the population of millions of individuals who are victims to human trafficking.