Sex Trafficking

1000 Words2 Pages

As of 2012, United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund (UNICEF) reported that there were approximately half a million children working in the sex trade in Brazil (“Alarming Number”). Although children sex trafficking is a worldwide ordeal, a focus has turned to Brazil with the upcoming World Cup in 2014 and the Olympics in Summer 2016. Even though some children and teenagers turn back to sex slavery after being helped to escape the trade, people should still step in and help take a stand to prevent child sex trafficking and the attention of the World Cup and the Olympics are helping to amplify a problem that already exists.
The culture of Brazil has a lot to do with the problem of sex trafficking in children, teenagers and adults, particularly women. Prostitution has been going on for so long that it has been engrained into their culture (“World Cup”). One main reason may be that prostitution is permissible. Prostitution in Brazil is legal for those who are eighteen years and older (“Tackling Child Prostitution”). Women in this society are often treated as property and not as equals to their counterparts. Women in the northeast are treated as second-class citizens, fathers see their daughters as a profit (“World Cup”). Girls come from extreme poverty and a tradition of disrespect for women (“Tackling Child Prostitution”). Children are also subject to being put into the sex trade so parents can receive a profit off of their children. Some parents even put their own children in the trade because they are so desperate and need the money (“Tackling Child Prostitution”). These children will use the $25-50 they earn to buy clothes and food for themselves and their families (“Sex Tourists: Brazil”). Children must provide fo...

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...ore clients?” (“Tackling Child Prostitution”). Prostitutes want to be able to reach out to tourists coming from all over the world to earn more profits. During the Confederation Cup, which was held in Brazil in 2013, underage prostitutes and street children were swept up by police and taken to a shelter out of town, but after the tournament they were all turned loose (“Tackling Child Prostitution”). With nothing being done with the victims after sweeping them up they have nowhere else to return and end back up on the streets.
Overall, child and teenage sex trafficking is becoming a worldwide problem, but with the spotlight highlighting the World Cup and the Olympics maybe a solution can be found. From parents putting their children through sex trafficking to the stimulating economy from sex trafficking and organizations trying to promote prostitution awareness.

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