Sex Trafficking Speech

Sex trafficking, particularly that of children, has become a growing concern in the United States over the past several decades (Kotrla, 2010). By definition, child sex trafficking is “when a child (under 18 years of age) is induced to perform a commercial sex act” (U.S., 2013, para. 4), and includes forms such as prostitution and pornography (Kotrla, 2010). Researchers suggest that children are the most vulnerable to becoming victims of prostitution (Kotrla), and it is estimated that there are at least 100,000 victims in the United States (Estes & Weiner, 2001). Sex traffickers, otherwise known as “pimps,” often lure children with promises of food, clothing, love, and shelter, and then the pimps manipulate the children to keep them in prostitution (U.S. Department of Justice [DOJ], 2015). Awareness of the issue has led to the development of organizations, such as Children of the Night, that seek to help victims escape the sex trafficking industry (Children of the Night [COTN], 2016d).

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

Sex trafficking is a form of slavery in which a person is forced into prostitution for little or no money. Sex trafficking has existed since ancient times. Children and women have been sold and traded as sex slaves for an

Sex trafficking is a problem that is happening and occurring all over the world. Many families and individuals suffer due to sex trafficking. Many people are not even aware of what it really is. Sex trafficking is when young girls, as young as five or six, get kidnapped and are used for the sexual pleasure of others with a profit, or are sold as sex slaves to other people. The official definition is, “Human sex trafficking is a form of slavery and involuntary servitude resulting in grave human rights violations. Sex trafficking involves individuals profiting from the sexual exploitation of others and has severe physical and psychological consequences for its victims.” (The

Sex Trafficking is the act of forcing someone into performing any sexual act. Anyone under the age of 18 who is selling or being sold to perform a sex act is a victim to sex

Ronald Weitzer states that human sex trafficking is defined as “recruitment, harboring, transportation, provision, or obtaining of a person for a commercial sex act.”

Human trafficking doesn’t happen in third world countries only. It doesn’t just happen to poor people and it certainly doesn’t solely happen to women. It is present here in the USA but it is hidden, and even worse, so are their victims. They are everywhere yet invisible. They are silently crying for our help through their eyes and smiles. According to Polaris, “…the prevalence of sex trafficking in the United States is still unknown, we do know that women, children, and men are being sold for sex against their will in cities and towns in all 50 states”. Human trafficking can happen to anyone even to Theresa Flores, the author of “The slave across the street”(“Sex trafficking” 2015). An average 15 year old American girl, coming from a privileged background and a respected family became a victim of sex trafficking and through her book, she convinces us that human trafficking doesn’t have a specific demographic.

According to the Webster Dictionary, sex trafficking is described as “ organized criminal activity in which human beings are treated as possessions

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,

Women and children are highly sought out by traffickers for sex trafficking, making them a vulnerable population. With 50,000 people trafficked in the United States each year, and with ninety-six percent of them being females, one wonders what leads traffickers to target such individuals (Schauer & Wheaton, 2006). Are we at risk to being trafficked? In an industry with an annual revenue estimated between $14 million and $20 billion, no one is entirely safe (Rand, 2009). Anyone can be at risk of being captured and forced into sex trafficking, though girls are at a higher risk. Any girl regardless of race, geographic location, age or socioeconomic status is at risk of being sexually exploited (Rand, 2009). However, studies have shown common themes between the sexually exploited that increase their vulnerability. There are several risk factors that lead to the vulnerabilities of women and children being sexually exploited. By being able to identify risk factors that increase the vulnerabilities of women and children, it allows for the development of services that focus on preventing, educating, and rescuing

Sex trafficking is a form of human trafficking in which an individual is forced to provide sexual services against their will through the use of intimidation, coercion, manipulation, and violence or in which the person induced to perform such acts has not attained 18 years of age (U.S. Department of State, 2012). Hepburn and Simon (2010) states that the CIA estimates that more than 50,000 women and children are trafficked for commercial sexual exploitation in the form of prostitution, live sex shows, stripping, and pornography.

Sex trafficking is the act of using force, fraud or coercion to cause a commercial sex act. The victims are primarily women and children. Legally the practice of trafficking for sex encompasses the selection of people, transportation, provision, or forced commercial sexual acts, the use of force, fraud or duress, or if the person called upon to participate in this procedure under 18 years of age. Sex trafficking also occurs when traffickers recruit young women with false promises of good treatment and high payment, however, the reality is much harsher and once under control of the traffickers the women are exposed to slave like conditions and find it impossible to escape. The practice of human trafficking for sexual purposes was documented

Sex trafficking is the exploitation of women and children within national or across international borders, for the purposes of forced sex work. Commercial sexual exploitation includes pornography, prostitution, and sex of women and girls and is characterized by the exploitation of a human being in exchange for goods or money. Each year an estimated 800,000 women and children are trafficked across international borders. Some sex trafficking is highly visible, such as street prostitution but many trafficking victims remain unseen, operating out of unmarked brothels in unsuspecting and sometimes suburban neighborhoods. Sex traffickers may also operate out of a variety of public and private locations, such as massage parlors, spas, and strip clubs. Adult women make up the largest group of sex trafficking victims followed by girl children, although a small percentage of men and

“No one shall be held in slavery or servitude”, these are the words from the International Human Bill of Rights that are supposed to protect us. However, that is not exactly the case. All around the world there is illegal practices that involves a modern form of slavery, this form of slavery can not be easily abolished, it often involves the practice of human trafficking. Human trafficking is the illegal practice of transporting a person from one place to another, typically for a form of forced labor, it goes against the words in the International Human Bill of Rights. There is human trafficking all around the world, but the rate is higher in impoverished places such as Bangladesh, Brazil and Haiti. Human trafficking occurs because of unstable political climates, families economically disadvantaged, and being stuck in debt that is ever growing which one can not pay with money.

Sex trafficking is a world epidemic that is slowly diminishing what it means to be a human. Equality Now states that “At least 20.9 million adults and children are bought and sold worldwide into commercial sexual servitude, forced labor and bonded labor.” This world as we live in it today is built with the backbone of the sex trade market. This is a dehumanizing institution based on male misogyny and need for power. It degrades and steals from the natural rights of humans while also causing extreme physical and mental trauma. As a human, we have been stated the list of human rights as said in the Declaration of Human Rights. The Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) consider sex trafficking not only a form of discrimination but a violation of basic human rights. Yet, the estimated $99 billion dollar industry is still responsible for an estimated 2 million children a year. In objectifying women and children this way, are these people even identifying them as humans or just objects for sale?