Texas Sex Trafficking

Traffickers are easily able to get aliens across the border without documents, making it one of the biggest points of illegal entry into the United States. There are three main factors contributing to trafficking in Houston: Proximity, demographics, and a large migrant labor force. Houston’s proximity to the border and I-10, along with its port, makes it a popular point of entry for international trafficking (Palmer).

Texans and Americans alike need to be aware of ongoing human slavery that tarnished the I-10 freeway and they need to know how they can stop the plague of Human Trafficking on Houston Texas. This past January, President Barack Obama recognized Human Trafficking Awareness month. In a published statement the President said he wanted to, “recognize the people, organizations and government entities that are working to combat human trafficking,” and “recommit to bringing an end to this inexcusable human rights abuse.”

On decemeber 18, 1865 slavery was abolished by Abraham Lincholn why has it become so easy for women and children to have their rights taken away from them? Many can argue that slavery doesnt exist in our society today, yet women all over suffer from slavery as they are taken and forced into the sex trafficking business. If slavery were truely abolished why is it so easy for women and children to become worthless and traded for a few dollars?

When it comes to bills, every single one proposed does not always come to be an act or law. This is especially the case in the state of Texas where, on average, each year extremely large numbers of bills get proposed. The research reveals, “If 2009 is a guide, lawmakers here are likely to introduce and pass more bills than virtually any other state. A key reason, however, is that Texas is one of only four states whose legislatures do not meet annually”(Galbraith, 2011). Importantly, this statement demonstrates why the state of Texas is able to have so many bills come through each year. Despite the large numbers of bills proposed, some never come to fruition due to the veto power of the governor. Governor Greg Abbott has vetoed his share of

play a role in sex trafficking and the sex industry stem from actions taken on individual, national, and international levels, and therefore occur within and outside the borders of a country. Therefore, the geographical distribution and occurrence of sex trafficking is based on many compounding factors including those of gender inequality, economic stability or lack thereof, and supply and demand. Gender inequality plays a large role in sex trafficking and the sex industry, itself. Women and children are the main victims, but there is a growing number of boys and young men being targeted in areas where sex tourism is high, such as Sri Lanka.

To fully understand the controversies regarding making human trafficking laws tougher in Texas, it is essential to analyze the various views regarding the issue and its history to be able to see how the problem arose. Such views include discussions of laws like Tex. Penal Code §20A.02, where it “Establishes trafficking as a second-degree felony with a sentence of two to 20 years imprisonment. If the persons trafficked or transported are under the age of 14, or if the commission of the offense results in death, the offense is a first-degree felony with a sentence of five to 99 years imprisonment” (“Human Trafficking Laws”). Specifically, these views are centered around three main beliefs. Some professionals advocate for tougher laws, while others want to see more comprehensive laws. Others believe that our attentions are misplaced, and instead, the emphasis should be on helping the victims recover from their traumas.

Trafficking in human beings is now the fastest-growing business of organized crime. Men, women and children are trafficked within their own countries and across international borders. More than one person is smuggled across a border every minute which is the equivalent to ten jumbo jets every single day. And the trade earns twice as much as the Coca Cola brand. (STOP THE TRAFFIK 2014)

For my final research paper, I am going to discuss human trafficking in Houston. Houston is one of the largest hubs for human trafficking in the nation and I don’t know a lot about the subject past that, so it will be a very interesting topic to research. Also, I want to go into medicine and I believe this research will help in the future.

Houston. A beautiful city with high diversity, a thriving economy, many opportunities, and a sprawling landscape. These are all things that make for a desirable place to live, but it also makes it a desirable place for something really terrible: Human trafficking. Houston is one of the major hubs in the U.S. for human trafficking and it’s not very well known around town that this city has a major problem. When I bring it up to friends and family, they are usually very surprised and/or confused because they don’t see it. Because of this prevalent issue, many nonprofit groups have popped up around town to inform people of the issue and to stop human trafficking. By educating Houstonians and creating joint efforts with law enforcement, Houston

Between 14,500 and 17,500 victims are trafficked into the United States annually, and often, the average age of entry is thirteen to fourteen years old (Hodge, 2008). One victim recalls that her pimp, a man who controls sex workers and keeps the earnings, would take her and two other girls from the ninth grade out of school during lunchtime, have them do calls, and bring them back. She explains, “He knew how to read each girl—this one likes to party, that one needs a job, this one wants drugs.” By doing

Child sex trafficking is the profitable sexual act induced by force, fraud, coercion or a person is lured to have sex before they reach 18 years of age. It includes all the activities of recruiting, harboring, patronizing, advertising, transporting or obtaining children for sexual services involuntarily, through servitude, debt bondage, peonage or slavery. Due to advanced technology, it has acquired new course. It has become a complex phenomenon involving multiple stakeholders at commercial as well as institutional level. It is the modern-day form of slavery perpetrated against minors regardless of their race, class, socioeconomic status, education, gender, cultural conditions or citizenship (“Department of Justice," 2015).

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 has the 2nd largest home in Houston. The 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. 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. Also the effects it has on these victims is indescribable and many programs created and people there to help still can sometimes not get close to giving these victims the closure they need. This topic is important because it is a worldwide social issue that destroys not on the people physically taken and put into the trafficking but everyone that is involved in saving that person. When choosing these two articles,“Sex Trafficking: Policies, Programs,

Women Trafficking is another way women are discriminated against. Human trafficking is the trade of humans, most commonly for the sexual slavery, forced labor, or commercial sexual exploitation. It is most common amongst women and is all over the world. These individuals are tricked or forced into going with the person selling or exposing these women. These women are picked up out of airports, train stations, bus stops, and gas stations. They

Next, when observing the numbers that follow, it is important to be aware that the amounts expressed are “minimum figures,” since they are solely based off of what has been reported to the authorities (UNODC, 2014, p. 7). Most victims will “remain invisible to the public and law enforcement” due to coercion, fear, and intimidation that prevents many from ever reporting their condition (Hernandez-Truyol, 2009). Due to the fact that many exploited persons will not report this information, the actual numbers are likely to be far higher than research will show (UNODC, 2014, p. 7). Studies done from 2010-2012 were able to estimate the demographics of exploited peoples. Research shows that 49 of victims are adult women, while 33 percent of victims are children and 18 percent are male. The breakdown between gender for the children demographic is 12 percent boys and 21 percent girls (UNODC, 2014, p. 5). Out of all the forms of trafficking, sexual exploitation and forced labor are the most common forms all over the world. In Africa and the Middle East, 90 percent of their trafficking reports are due to sexual exploitation and forced labor combined. In the Americas, it is a total of 95

Human trafficking, the term just brings to mind images of forced labor,enslavement, and many other terrible things. Human trafficking is the sale and trade of people, typically for the purpose of sexual slavery or forced labor (Shukla). According to Eleanor Goldberg of The Huffington Post, even though they may seem similar, slavery and human trafficking are two different things, human trafficking is when one is recruited, provided, or obtained for the purpose of exploitation, often sold for monetary gain. There are around twenty-seven million victims globally today, the highest recorded number of slaves in history and out of all of them, only 108,000 (.4%) are identified and freed from enslavement. The human trafficking industry is the third largest criminal industry falling only behind drug smuggling and arms dealing. (“10 Facts About Human Trafficking Everyone Should Know”) While the trafficking industry is such a large criminal enterprise, it relies heavily on women and children. Women are the primary targets of human trafficking, making up around sixty-six percent of the victims forced into human trafficking, children make up about twenty-two percent, and men make up around twelve percent (Shukla). Human trafficking is not a new concept or issue, slavery has been around for as long as civilization has been in existence, recorded slavery has been around at least since the 1400’s. This has become more and more of a prevalent and very media-covered epidemic in