Analysis of Human Sex Trafficking

January. 10: 3-30, doi:10.1177/1524838008327262 Polaris Project | Combating Human Trafficking and Modern-day Slavery. (n.d.). Polaris Project | Combating Human Trafficking and Modern-day Slavery. Retrieved March 7, 2014, from http://www.polarisproject.org Walker-Rodriguez, A., Hill, R. “Human Sex Trafficking.” FBI Law Enforcement Bulletin.

The sex trafficking occurs when the unwilling are being forced to perform sexual acts on or with other humans. Labor trafficking, also known as labor servitude, is when people are involuntarily being required to do unimaginable labor jobs (Corbett). I. Getting lured into trafficking. Most people do not grow up wishing to take part in or be a victim of the horrific trafficking of other human beings.

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 $32-billion-per-year business, and that 79% of this activity comprises sexual exploitation. As many as 2 million children a year are victims of commercial sexual exploitation, according the the U.S. State Department.-- Cynthia G. Wagner.

In this paper I am going to compare the crime of sex trafficking between the United State, and South Africa. We don’t think that slavery still really exists in the world today, but sex trafficking is the most modern form of slavery in the world today. According to the FBI Law Enforcement Bulletin, Human sex trafficking has become not just slavery but the fastest growing organized crime business and the third largest criminal enterprise in the world (march 2011.) When first researching this topic I didn’t realize that this was even in the United States I had just thought it was over seas and happened in foreign countries. Women and children are at the highest risk for this crime, especially youths who have run away or been left abandoned because they often become involved in prostitution to support their financial need.

2. Child Trafficking More specifically then human trafficking, there is child trafficking. Child trafficking is today’s version of slavery that involves transferring a child for the purpose of abuse or illegal activities. According to the U.S. Department of State, “Child/Human Trafficking is one of the fastest growing crimes in the world and is the world’s second largest criminal enterprise, after drugs. Child trafficking happens in every single country, including the United States.

The overwhelming majority of children forced to sell their bodies on the street are girls. Young boys face hardship and abuse as well, but they often fend for themselves to survive. The girls, on the other hand, inevitably fall victim to pimps and organized trafficking networks. (Sher, pg. V) Domestic sex trafficking is the vile new innovative business model used in the sex industry to promote prostitution.

They are only considered to be good estimates determined by the data collected. The prostitution industry is the key driver of sex trafficking because of its money making potential. Due to prostitution, sex trafficking is getting more and more out of hand. To address this subject buying sex should be a considered a criminalized act, and selling sex should be decriminalized. Doing this on a worldwide basis could help drive demand in the sex industry down, and could encourage women and girls in captivity to come forward without fear of persecution.

Justification/ Need For Action: According to a report in 2005, it was estimated that between 14,500- 17,500 people are trafficked into the U.S each year with 90% of them being women or children. Due to few arrests and recovery of human trafficking victims, there is actually no true number for how many victims are found and reported to federal government agencies for statistical purposes (Polaris Project). This is astonishing because if the actual number of rescued victims cannot compare to the estimated amount, the response that law enforcement gives is still not enough. The main issue for few numbers of rescued victims is not only the discrete nature of the crime, but also the lack of law enforcement officers that can stop the crime in the U.S as well as international enforcement against it. Currently, the main law enforcement agencies that focus on human trafficking are the U.S Coast Guard, Customs and Border Protection and Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

Sex trafficking is a form of contemporary slavery that induces and forces people into a commercial sex trade against their will. Many factors contribute to the sex trade and the exploitation occurs mostly to women and children. Through the age, gender, class, and race many are trapped in a never-ending cycle of coercion and abuse in order to survive in the corrupt society around them. One of the largest targets for sex traffickers is a child. Since children are considered vulnerable they are easily coerced or kidnapped and made to perform sexual acts for others and live in debt to their owner or pimp.

According to Van Wormer & Bartollas (2014), sex trafficking, “encompasses the organized movement of people, usually women, between countries and within countries for sex work” (p. 289). Sex trafficking is also a very lucrative business, it is estimated to make $31. 6 billion annually. This amount is estimated from the 2.5 million people who a trafficked each year. The exact number of people who are victims of the sex industry cannot be predicted accurately for all over the world.