The Virginity Trade

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.

“ She was just seventeen when she got into prostitution- child trafficking- but she didn’t know she was a victim at the time. She had been beaten and raped by her father since she was twelve years old.” (Zhai Yun, 1.) Young victims of youth sex trafficking are not just kidnapped by unknown people into this. It can be by their father, mother, brother, or sister. It can be forced upon them by people who have come into their life claiming they can make it better. When in reality it just makes it worse. They have no idea what they are getting into and what is going to happen to them. They are fed with lies and false pretentions of what is going to happen. They are caught in a trap that is hard to get out of. Often they are to scared to try to run or be rescued. They just do what they are told so that they live or so their loved ones live.

Sex Trafficking has been a key component in “ degradation of human and women's rights” because they believe that these people are only good for sex (Deshpande Para 1). Often victims who come back, if they ever can, have a hard time adjusting back to normal life. These girls have trust issues towards men, and sometimes even women. They also could have numerous health problems ranging from STD’s to unplanned pregnancy or even worse “ broken bones, concussions, bruises and burns” can all be found on these victims of sexual assault. These girls could also have mental issues, such as anxiety toward older men and women, fear of going outside ever again and social issues. The saddest thing about this is not only are these victims going through a horrible amount of sexual abuse, they also have been ripped away from what they know and may love. Some people believe that women and some men are just objects and they are the ones that are often pimps in the sex trafficking, but this is a completely skewed way of thinking of people.

The first type of abuse discussed includes sex trafficking and forced prostitution. Many would believe that these two types of abuses are one in the same, but they are not. Sex trafficking involves the act of taking a human from one country to another country with the intent to use them for prostitution. Forced prostitution is the act of mentally or physically intimidating a human to perform sex for value. In both of Rath and Meena’s stories, they were forced to sell sex for money that they would not receive. Rath’s story is an example of sex trafficking, as she unknowingly was taken into sex trafficking from her home in Cambodia to Malaysia. Rath believed that she would be working in a Thai restaurant with her friends, but sex traffickers forced them in prostitution in Malaysia. As the term “sex trafficking” has been used

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.

Prostitution is a well-known act of offering sexual service to an individual in return for payment. In the documentary “Very Young Girls” it explains a candid perspective of prostitution and sex slavery in New York City. This film allows the viewers to see the works of a former prostitute Rachel Lloyd. Rachel Lloyd started an organization called GEM (Girls Education and Mentoring Services) to meet the needs of victimized young women who escape their handler and find an alternate route of life. It shows teenage girls during different stages of their transition. Although this program would hope for a successful turnout some girls are sp psychologically damaged by their owners that they feel obligated to return. Using the material from the previous class periods, it will further explain the theories of human behavior. The eight perspectives from chapter two and the trauma/ maltreatment effects on brain development.

Governments are aware of trafficking, however there isn’t prevention of it. In Children for Sale, it highlights poverty in Cambodia and how it led to girls being tricked into trafficking with the promise of money (Doc C). These girls are placed into situations, where they’re willing to do anything in order to put food on the

In a review by the New York Times, the author, Stephen Holder, highlights the context surrounding prostitution in each different country. From Thailand having a high end brothel ran by rich Asian men, to Bangladesh full of towering, run down apartments oversaw by madams,

Born in a village deep in the Cambodian forest, Somaly Mam was sold into sexual slavery by her grandfather when she was twelve years old. For the next decade she was shuttled through the brothels that make up the sprawling sex trade of Southeast Asia. She suffered unspeakable acts of brutality and witnessed horrors that would haunt her for the rest of her life – until, in her early twenties, she managed to escape. Unable to forget the girls she left behind, Mam became a tenacious and brave leader in the fight against human trafficking, rescuing sex workers – some as young as five and six – offering them

However if the goal of criminalization is to end prostitution, it is clearly not yielding the desired results. Making the act of selling sex illegal actually causes the sex workers to go further underground, making them more vulnerable to police and poor working conditions. It creates a culture permitting violence against sex workers. In countries such as China, Cambodia and Vietnam where prostitution is also illegal, sex workers are detained in facilities for ‘rehabilitation’ or ‘re-education through labor’. The approach of these facilities is to punish sex workers for engaging in behavior that is regarded as a

In a small village consumed by poverty a man in a business suit shows up. He goes from family to family offering to buy children for a year’s worth of pay. He gets to one family with a young girl whose father sells her to feed his addiction for heroine. Scared and confused the girl is now forced into a brothel, sexually pleasing more than 20 men a day. Nearly five years later she is rescued only to lose her life to AIDS from unprotected sex. The human trafficking industry in Thailand has long been overlooked both internally and externally. Corruption, greed, foreign relations, economic pressure, and overall demand have fueled the trafficking industry in Thailand. Until the world and the Thai government make serious changes to the way they

To begin with, in Cambodia, human trafficking has been a pertinent problem for the past two decades, mainly because of myths, poverty, and traditions. In the country, a tradition often surfaces about men having a great desire to have sexual intercourse with those who are pure and young because it will remove all of their sins. The myth is that when men had sexual relationships with virgins, it would grant them luck and good health. For this reason, an abundance of pedophiles used to visit Cambodia because they knew that the country condoned prostitution (Pesta). Due to the myth and the command of pedophiles for prepubescent girls, brothels are targeting those younger and younger. Children as young as four are being sent into the sex trade, and “prostitution has become a ‘fixture of urban life’ in Cambodia” (“The Face of”). Furthermore, “visiting prostitutes has become a common and accepted male pastime [in the country]” (Sidner). The abundance of people in Cambodia visiting the cities for the sole purpose of sex sullies the reputation of the country, and it puts the

In the film, Born into Brothels (2004), British filmmakers Zana Briski and Ross Kauffman setout to present a perspective from the children of sex workers living in Red Light District of Sonagachi, Calcutta. This film, however incidental, demonstrate single narratives on the basis of morality, sexuality, and preconceived notions about the third world. Their attempt at filming an impartial ethnographic film that spoke of the true nature of life as a child in the Red Light District of Calcutta failed from their Western gaze and lack of insight about the community of Sonagachi to contextualize how the Red Light District and the poverty surrounding are a result of globalization. Acknowledging the “before” that Briski and Kauffman could never understand about the Red Light District because of their limited Western understanding about the third world, would’ve resulted in a more inclusive look into the subjective perspectives of the children. Instead, using footage and still pictures of the dirty allies, children covered in what seems to be oil, naked children chained like animals in a zoo, etc, as an aesthetic (lens) used to reproduce hegemonic narratives about the third world and objectively reflect reality. Additionally, these shots separate the people of the Red Light District from Westerners and establishes and “us” and a “them”, them being objects and not full established subjects.

The small country of Cambodia has become a transit, source, and destination for child trafficking victims. There are many children going through Cambodia from Vietnam and Thailand as a result of child trafficking (“Human Trafficking” 2). In 2006 Cambodia was one of the busiest spots in the world for child trafficking, with many of those victims being delivered into the sex trade in Thailand, Malaysia, Macao and Taiwan (“Global Crime Case: The Modern Slave Trade” 1). Child trafficking is happening all over the country but t one place notorious is Svay Pak, a run-down village on the outskirts of Phnom Penh (“Children for Sale” 4). As tourists in Svay Pak you are bombarded by many young children assuming you are there for sex. Throughout the village there are many girls as young as nine who are for sale. As stated by the reporter Bob Mosier, “You have an 8-year old or 9-year-old little girl you know just looking at you smiling, realizing that you’re going to in just a few