social problems
The 21st century is faced with a lot of social problems. The problems range from crimes, drugs abuse, crime, cyberbullying human sex trafficking among many others. The human sex trafficking is today’s form of slavery. According to Justice for Victims of Trafficking Act of 2015 (JVPA) sex trafficking involves taking individuals and by use of force, fraud or coercion to go and perfume commercial sex. Additionally, if an individual has not yet attained the age of 21 they are considered victims of human trafficking even if there was no use of force, fraud, or coercion (Alvarez, 2012). In the world at the moment, there are more than 20 million slaves from human trafficking. This number is the highest number of slaves it has ever been in the world. From the number, more than 4.5 million are sex slaves that have been held against their will (Butcher, 2018). The sex slaves target the women mostly and they account for more than 91% of the general population of people who are enslaved for purposes of sex (Alvarez, 2012). The dealers who are involved in Human sex trafficking are known to use false promises, force, violence, threats, debt, bondage manipulation lies and any other forms of control that they can get so that the individuals can continue having sex while they benefit in their own.
Occurrence of Sex Slave in the USA
In the United States of America, the country established the Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000 that was amended by the Justice for Victims of Trafficking Act of 2015 (JVPA). According to the act, Human sex trafficking can also be defined as the recruiting, harboring, transporting providing and obtaining patronizing or soliciting of a person by use of fraud, force or coercion for the commercial sex. The definition exempts the underage children who are below the age of majority, 18 years, for this without the absence of force, fraud or coercionist is still termed Human sex trafficking. The act also defines the commercial sex by outlining that is a sexual act that for which the participants get anything of value from either of the participants. It is simple to differentiate the commercial sex of human trafficking sex by simply using the action means purpose mode. That is if an individual is having commercial sex and any of the three either force, fraud or coercion is present then it is not consensual sex and that is considered human trafficking sex (McTavish, 2017).
Since 2007, the number of sex trafficking cases that have been reported in the USA are 32,024. In 2018, the number of sex trafficking cases that have already been reported are 3,718 (Farr, 2018). The number is based on information obtained from the USA substantive sources, US-bases signals like the emails phone calls and the online reports. From the statistic, it is clear that the issue of sex trafficking is affecting the American people at an advanced level (Kempadoo et al., 2015).
Causes of human sex trafficking
The human sex trafficking is just like any other business. In that, it is a market-driven criminal industry that have prices determined on basis of demand and supply. The more the people in the market demand the sex, the more they create profit incentives for the people who traffic people for the sex. Currently, the business is valued at 32 billion dollars’ business worldwide (Butcher, 2018). Buyers of the sex need to realize that they are the biggest enablers of the business and they are equally guilty for purchasing the sex. They are the ones facilitating the business whether they know it or they don’t. According to post by Huffington post., 75% to 80% of the human trafficking and slavery that is happening in the world today is for sex reasons (Alvarez, 2012). Therefore, it is a huge contributor to human tacking. However, apart from the high demand for sex, there are also other contributors to human tracking for the purposes of sex.
Poverty, war, natural, disasters and searching for a better life. The dealers of sex trafficking look for the vulnerable in the world. They know that people with a lot of problems are more likely to buy into the idea of a better life and opportunities thus easy to coerce into doing something that they had not planned on doing. The sex traffickers understand that these are the people who want to run away from home because they are facing economic challenges or there is political instability and staying behind is not safe. Whenever they present them with the opportunity they will gladly take it as they also do not have the knowledge and the face to help themselves even if they are abused (Brown, 2010).
Women and children are prime targets as are far more vulnerable than the men. Women account for over 90% of the number of people trafficked for sex (Walt-Rodriguez, 2011). Some countries have an adverse attitude towards women, some countries, poor practices like early marriages, and poor registrations of women and children expose them as targets to the sex traffickers. Additionally, the demand for women in sex and small girls in the sex market is higher than that of men who account for less than 5% (Macy and Graham, 2013). Lack of women empowerment and gender discrimination also exposes the women to the path of the sex traffickers. Some are not aware of their rights or do not know the options that they have. As a result, they are easily convinced, manipulated and find themselves in sex dens, brothels, and other commercial sex locations (Brown, 2010).
The next cause of human sex trafficking is because it is hard to identify. Victims of sex human trafficking are traumatized after the experiences. The victims that are highly traumatized find it difficult to share the information with the authorities that will help them to identify the perpetrators of the crimes. Sometimes the victims are too scared to face the law and cannot respond fully to the questions that they are asked (Bernat, 2010). Additionally, the traffickers and the consumers are aware of the illegal business that they are doing. They will, therefore, ensure that they carefully cover their tracks and avoid any traces that might lead back to them. Once they do that, the police have a hard time collecting evidence that will result in a conviction.
Most common forms or tactics that are used to lure people into sex trafficking.
One most common approach is the lover boy tactic. When using this approach, a younger man usually seduces someone in most cases a young woman and lure them into prostitution against their will. In most instance, the ladies are tricked by a romantic relationship. They are then tricked by the perfect life together that they can get with their lovers. Once they get the mentality, they can be transported or travel on their own to foreign lands where they are isolated from their families. From there it is only a matter of time before they fall into the hands of the sex traffickers (Bruckmuller et al., 2018). They discover that their boyfriend was only a pimp who had tricked. In most instances, it is usually very late.
Another common approach is the use of a false job advertisement. The enticing job offer with high salaries and enhanced bonuses and commission and lure their unsuspecting victims into the hands of the sex traffickers (Bruckmuller et al., 2018). They will promise them a job a house. The individual will then focus on getting themselves abroad. The most targeted documentaries are those that have low employment rate, facing civil unrest and have economic downturns and increased instability the citizens of this countries will be more focused on getting out of the country. That way they will easily get into the hand of the sex traffickers. The other common approach by the sex traffickers is the use of lies about educational or travel opportunities (Bruckmuller et al., 2018). Under this approach, the sex traffickers use the same design as the one with the false job description.
Some sex traffickers use abduction. However, the, method is not as common as the movies may have falsified. In real life, it is hard to transport and abducted individual as they may try to escape. However, in local national boundaries, they can be transported easily and sold into sex slavery.
In the developing countries, the sex traffickers convince families of young girls to sell them to them (Bruckmuller et al., 2018). However, they do this by deception that she will be able to change their economic status once she settles in the new foreign country. However, the lady is usually sold into sex slavery. All these, start because the family has been promised that once the lady starts working she will be able to send some money back home. The lies have been more prevalent in the sub-Saharan countries where families are economically challenged and informed (Bruckmuller et al., 2018). The problems make them susceptible to lies and manipulations.
Effects of Sex Trafficking
On Victim
The consequences of sex trafficking on the victims are devastating both physically, emotionally and mentally. The major consequences that the victims face are the health consequences. The women are forced into the prostitution or pornography industry where they have sex or perfom sexual act without their consent. In most instances, the women have to be with multiple partners in a single day. According to Farley (2014) regardless of the legal situation, prostitution has a devastating impact on women’s health. The impacts and the consequence are far much worse if the woman is forced to have sex. In addition to that, women are also will also face exhaustion, sexually transmitted diseases, vaginal infections, continuous viral infections headaches and sleeplessness, backaches, stomach aches, and eating disorders. The victims of sex trafficking also have to deal with the post-traumatic disorders as sometimes they are raped which leads the mood disorders and the dissociation and depression. Additionally, according to Farley (2014), the author highlights that prostituted women are at higher risk of getting murdered. According to the US department report, it also adds that it increases the risk of unwanted pregnancies, social ostracism, and malnutrition among the victims.
Some of the women find themselves in drug and alcohol abuse. They end up in drugs to nurse sores of the emotional and physical pains that they are feeling (Alvarez, 2012). The victims also have to live and face the stigma t of being a sex victim’s, the tag of having been prostitute whether, by choice, force or by manipulation will never leave the victims. They have to deal with that and sometimes that is difficult on the victims (Macy and Graham, 2012).
The families of the victims also have to suffer a lot. When all these bad things happen to their loved they only hear about them and also see them. Sometimes they are taken to overseas countries and they have to live without them. When the victims come back home with the PTSD or the STDs the families and the friends are the ones that look after them (Bernat, 2013). Since they are also exposed to high risk of murder and other social harms, the family are the ones that have to live with all the consequences.
National and international measurements to prevent sex trafficking
Sex trafficking is both a global and national issue for most countries. Therefore, there are strategies that countries set up locally and there are also global standards like the UN Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking persons that created definitions and set goals for member countries. Additionally, the United States has set on its own the recommendations and suggestions that countries can comply with to be able to achieve the minimum standards for the elimination of the trafficking (Farr, 2018). However, given the different socioeconomic and cultural background each country has its own set approaches that are aligned to the UN standards.
In the united states, there is the Trafficking Victims Act that was enacted in 2000 and became the first law to address the issue of the sex trafficking victims. The TVPA main focus is to prevent and protect all the sex trafficking survivors and ensure that offenders are also prosecuted. The country also reintroduced the Trafficking Victims and Protection Reauthorization Act which made more advancements. The law also prevents and prosecutes people that facilitate sex tourism it also prevents people from trafficking people from crisis-hit areas. The nation also has some strategies states and local level that address the issues of sex trafficking. While states like Massachusetts have effective laws that even include the Human trafficking task Force, there states like Wyoming still have no law that prosecutes the sex trafficking offenders (Butcher, 2018).
There are however other general methods that can be used to ensure that sex trafficking is not as prevalent as it is currently. On global stages, nations should be urged to participate in the international corporation, agreements enhanced immigration policies, effective policies against sex trafficking and improve infrastructure to determine illegal exit or entry of people from the country (Bernat, 2010).
There are however, methods and approaches that can be enforced to ensure that sex trafficking is limited. The methods work by limiting or eliminating the cause of sex trafficking. In developing countries, the best strategy to reduce sex trafficking is to fight corruption and improve economic freedom among the citizens. According to Farr (2018), there is a strong correlation between the economic freedom between economic freedom and human trafficking. The countries also need to create other sustainable employment opportunities that will get their people to be financially stable. People that are financially stable will not be susceptible to lies, coercion and assume times of manipulation that sex traffickers use to get them to the sex industry. The united states can also step in and help these countries. The US provides a significant market for sex traffickers. Therefore, by dealing the issues from the root cause will work a long way in ultimately preventing sex trafficking (Bernat, 2010). They can do this by providing aid, promoting free markets that will trigger economic c growth.
Examples of initiatives and campaigns
Many non-governmental and self-help groups have joined the fight against sex trafficking. The fight began many years ago, however, the most recent include the formations of the Global Alliance Against traffic of women that was formed in 1994. The main purpose of the alliance was to tackle the issue of women trafficking on any grounds. The organization is a strong organization as it is made up of more than 100 NGOs spread across, Africa, Asia, Europe, Latin America, and the Caribbean (Farr, 2018). In 2009, Demi and Ashton (DNA) foundation started their campaign of real men do not buy girls for sex campaign (Farr, 2018). Their campaign was joined by a number of Technology companies like Twitter, Facebook, Microsoft, and a number of celebrities. The Hollywood actors saw that if they helped out if they spoke against the trafficking it might help out. Another high profile campaign was the A21 campaign that sought to allow a holistic approach in solving the problems relating to the human trafficking for sex. The campaigns also offer free counsel to the victims so that they can be able to prosecute this that took them through that awful ordeal. In the united states, the main campaign that has been used is the not for sale (organization) which is present in Peru, Netherlands, and Romania. The organizations help the victims by helping them secure food and give nutrition care. Most of the victims helped were from the Netherlands. The number of people they help has been increasing every year (Butcher, 2018).
The USA alongside Canada has adopted the end demand campaigns. The campaigns have had the main aim of criminalizing reducing the demand for the voluntary and involuntary commercial sex. The approach will solve the issues from the root causes as they address work by reducing the demand and availability of the commercial sex. The approach has also adopted the approach of the Johns school. Under this approach, if a man is caught in his first offense they are told are given a chance to pay a fee and join a Johns school where they are taught about prostitutes and its dangers. Once they complete the cause their charges are dropped (Butcher, 2018). This campaign among other campaigns has helped significantly in the fight against human sex trafficking.
Conclusion
Sex trafficking is still more prevalent worldwide. The sex trafficking account for the biggest share of human trafficking in the world. In all the cases of sex trafficking, women account for more than 90% of all the people traffickers for sex slaves. The statistics show that women are the main targets for the sex trafficking business in the world. The main causes for sex trafficking are still high due to its profitability and challenges in identifying sex trafficking offenders. The main causes of sex tracking include lack of women empowerment, economic challenges, and demand which makes it profitable for the sex victims traffickers. The whole ordeal has an adverse health impact on the individual as it leaves most of the individual traumatized leading to drug abuse, and they are in constant threat of getting STDs. The governments and international bodies have stepped and established standards and policies that will prevent reduce and prosecute the traffic sex offenders. In America especially, the country has managed to create a JVPA act that prevents protects sex trafficking victims. There is also an ongoing campaign to try and reduce the overall demand for the business to make it unprofitable. However, worldwide general approaches to stopping sex trafficking are overall women empower and economic boosting to prevent people from viewing sex trafficking as an economic activity.
References
Alvarez, M. B., & Alessi, E. J. (2012). Human trafficking is more than sex trafficking and prostitution: Implications for social work. Affilia, 27(2), 142-152.
Bernat, F. P. (2010). Human sex trafficking.
Bernat, F. P. (Ed.). (2013). Human Sex Trafficking. Routledge.
Brown, T. L. (2010). Sex slaves: The trafficking of women in Asia. Virago Press.
Butcher, K. (2018). Confusion between prostitution and sex trafficking. The Lancet, 361(9373), 1983.
Bruckmüller, K., Bullock, B., Bush, M. A., Carranza, M., Chen, Y., Crim, B. E., … & Nguyen, N. Q. (2010). Sex trafficking: A global perspective. Lexington Books.
Farr, K. (2018). Sex trafficking: The global market in women and children. Worth Publishers.
Kempadoo, K., Sanghera, J., & Pattanaik, B. (2015). Trafficking and prostitution reconsidered: New perspectives on migration, sex work, and human rights. Routledge.
Macy, R. J., & Graham, L. M. (2012). Identifying domestic and international sex-trafficking victims during human service provision. Trauma, Violence, & Abuse, 13(2), 59-76.
McTavish, F. J. (2017). Devastating consequences of sex trafficking on women’s health. The Linacre Quarterly, 84(4), 367-379.
Walker-Rodriguez, A., & Hill, R. (2011). Human sex trafficking. FBI L. Enforcement Bull., 80, 1.