Persuasive Essay On Sex Trafficking

The truth is, there is no way of preventing every boy from being sexually exploited. The sad reality is, that even with preventive measures in place, some boys will still fall through the cracks. This is why awareness is important. Over the past couple of years, awareness on the issue of human trafficking has increased. Many people now know, or have heard at least, the term sex trafficking. What they do not know though, is that males are victims too. This is because when organizations bring awareness to the issue they tend to focus solely on girls and women. If boys do get mentioned, it is usually an add on of “and boys too.” But usually in awareness presentations, the males tend to be talked about only as the traffickers and the buyers.

Many male victims will come into contact with the police. Yet many of them are arrested for reasons other than commercial sexual exploitation and are usually not referred to any services. Boys usually end up in the juvenile justice system on counts of assault or drug possession. The belief tends to be that boys are more responsible for their actions and are therefore seen more as criminals rather than victims. “This tendency for boys to rely on peer rather than on pimps or parent-equivalent adults can be problematic in viewing sexually-solicited boys as victims of CSE. Presumably, when juveniles are pimped by adults they will tend to be seen as victim, and when they take a more active role in soliciting sexual activities, they will tend to be seen as offenders (Figlewski and Brannon,

Instead, the community needs to begin to accept that boys can be victims too. The community should give space for male victims to process their pain without fear of shame, rejection, or humiliation. Instead of teaching young boys that they always need to be strong and self-reliant, parents and media should begin teaching boys that it is okay to cry and be vulnerable. Also, when court cases come about where males are the victims of sex crimes, they need to be taken seriously. The female perpetrator should not be viewed any differently than the older male who raped a young girl. This feeds into victim blaming which is all too common for male victims. If people begin to see boys and men as victims, then true awareness on the issue of sex trafficking can