The Spanish Soap Opera Human Trafficking

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‘Sex sells’, this is a common saying that most commercial industries use to promote their product. What about actually selling sex? Human trafficking for sexual exploitation is known to be the third biggest problem internationally next to drug trafficking. Colombia has become the main Latin country for sex trafficking as a destination, transit, and source country, (Protection Project, 2010). Colombia has suffered a great deal due to sex trafficking. The truth might be found in a soap opera based on true events. “La Promesa” or The Promise in English, follows the story of 10 women would were ‘trafficked’ out of Colombia to different parts of the world. Colombia is fluffed as a soap opera world in the NGO reports and it takes a local news network, Caracol: Septimo Dia, to investigate the reality of Colombia’s trafficking problem. The sex trafficking issue is not what it seems, especially in Colombia. Before exploring the issues of human trafficking in Colombia, a definition must be established in order to keep confusion from happening. The issue here is the various forms that the definitions of human trafficking can that shape. Maggie Lee’s Human Trafficking (2007), attempted to categorize the definition into four separate parts: slavery, prostitution, organized crime, and migration (Maggie Lee et al. 2007). Although the every definition has an aspect of sex trafficking in Colombia, the definitions are cohesive enough to fit the problem. After comparing many definitions, one fit Colombia’s version of human trafficking. The U.S. Department of State developed a definition complex enough to fit the human trafficking and sex trafficking. “Trafficking in persons and human trafficking have been used as umbrella terms for the act of re... ... middle of paper ... ...prohibiting prostitution? But “Septimo Dia” raised a great point; Holland legalized and taxed prostitution and according to U.N. Trafficking report Holland has the least trafficked victims, (Caracol: Septimo Dia; United Nations 2012). This is not about being pro or anti prostitution but rather about the culture and stigma of prostitution. Prostitution has always been seen as a deeming, disgusting, and miserable job that there is. Often it is associated with Stripping and other deeming jobs. But prostitution should be left to the person’s choice. If proper taxation is done and harsh laws on trafficking were followed then prostitution could be legal and less people would be trafficked. Colombian prostitutes are stigmatized in a country where there is no clear separation of church and state. (Caracol; Septimo Dia 2013). The road to hell is paved with good intentions

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