Albania is a major transit country for sex trafficking. The present issue of sex slavery cannot be understood without knowing the background of how this form of slavery has escalated into a major issue in Albania today. Albanian women were once said to be the caretakers of their family and the property of their husbands. Laws once protected a woman’s honor and dignity and the husband was responsible for keeping her sheltered from violence. “Violation of a woman’s honor was punished in early history with the murder of the culprit and in later periods with exile of forgiveness through reconciliation” (Friman 97). Many people view trafficking as the illegal trade of contraband goods, such as drugs, across borders. “Over the past ten years this trade has taken a giant leap forward to include the trafficking of human beings, mainly women and children” (Davies 40). In 1990 the rise of human trafficking started to become apparent in many parts of Albania. Desperate for job opportunities, money, and industrialization, the upsurge of sex slavery was the result of Albania being a very poor country. The outlook of women in Albanian society has drastically changed over the years and is now the start of a new immoral history.
The numbers of women and children trafficked not only in Albania but exported from Albania for sex slavery has increased significantly over the last 10 years. According to Martti Lehti, “over the past ten years approximately 100,000 Albanian women and girls have been sold as prostitutes” (Lehti 23). Women who are targeted for trafficking are usually uneducated, which makes them easier to manipulate. Many families are influenced into selling their wives or daughters into the sex trafficking industry. In poorer parts of t...
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...a needs to enforce these efforts.
Sex slavery is unfortunately a huge issue in Albania today. It is caused and powered by the spread of entrepreneurship, globalization, and the increase of economic discrimination. If government officials and human rights activists continue to educate the public, enforce laws against sex slavery, and offer assistance to victims, Albania can decrease its role in the sexual exploitation and trafficking of women and children. Educating people in poorer parts of the country who are less likely to know about, and more likely to become involved in the sex trade is another important step in decreasing trafficking. Educating women and young girls about sex trafficking can prevent them from becoming victims. If government officials would take action against sex slavery, it would decrease the frequency of inhumane sex trafficking in Albania.
As victim count continues to rise, its difficult to see how such great numbers of men, women and children are bought and sold every year. Trafficking can be found in many forms, including: prostitution, slavery, or forced labor (Harf and Lombardi, 2014). It wasn’t until the 1980’s that international human trafficking became globally noticed. With the lack of government intervention and control in several nations, and the free trade market, slavery once again became a profitable industry (Harf and Lombardi, 2014). As previously mentioned, easier movement across nations borders is one of the outcomes of globalization. It is also what makes human trafficking so easy today. It is estimated that about 20.9 million people are victims across the entire globe (United Nations Publications, 2012); trafficking accounts for 32 billion dollars in generated profit globally (Brewer, n.d). 58 percent of all human trafficking was for the purpose of sexual exploitation, and of this 55-60 percent are women (United Nations Publications,
The significance of this publication is to promote awareness on the issue of sex trafficking.
Many people are victims of sex trafficking and this horror must be stopped for the sake of the innocent girls and women who are being taken advantage of. Trafficking is a form of modern slavery because people’s bodies are sold for the gain of others against their wills. The steps that must be taken to prevent sex trafficking involve raising political and social awareness, people working together and the prosecution of traffickers.
Trafficking of is the new innovative business model used in the profession called prostitution. The myth about sex trafficking is that it is a foreign not a domestic problem. Many American’s think of women and children across the ocean in another country other than their own when they hear the words “sex trafficking”. Sex trafficking is a very lucrative business. The “John’s” create a demand and the “pimps” provide the supply. Child abuse, child neglect, pornography, pedophilia and prostitution are all links in the chains that enslaves America’s children for the pleasure of adults.
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. In the United States alone there is about 14,500-17,500 people trafficked each year. Human trafficking it the third biggest organized crime after drug and arms trafficking (Hodge, 2014). Young men make up about 44% of people being trafficked, while women and girls
In comparison, many other countries have geared towards adopting policies that deal with human sex trafficking. The European Union’s tactic to trafficking begins from a gender and human rights perspective and focuses on prevention, prosecution of criminals and protection of victims. These ideals can be reflected in Directive on trafficking in human beings adopted on March 21, 2011. Much like U.S foreign policies dealing with human trafficking, the Directive focus is committing to the prevention of and fights against trafficking in human beings, and to the protection of the rights of trafficked persons. Within the Asian continent twenty-three out of the twenty-seven countries opt to adopt specific legislative provisions to fight human trafficking
Awareness of child sexual trafficking can be viewed as a balanced scale, with one side representing the country’s population that is fully informed of the issue, while the other side is either unaware or unattached to the issue. The public needs to have more involvement with this affair based on multiple concerns; first, the act of child sex trafficking itself is a serious crime that violates human rights (Fong & Cardoso, 2010). Second, various negative health repercussion including transmittable sexual diseases, physical damages, mental disturbance, post traumatic stress disorders, and other illnesses plague many victims (Fong & Cardoso, 2010). Third, sexual trafficking is responsible for generating poverty as a result of obstructing economic, and social development (Reid, 2012). Child sex trafficking proves to be a global dilemma affecting numerous countries
Leuchtag, Alice. "Human Rights Sex Trafficking And Prostitution." Humanist 63.1 (2003): 10. MasterFILE Premier. Web. 3 Nov. 2015.
In the words of Wayne Dyer “Freedom means you are unobstructed in living your life as you choose. Anything less is a form of slavery” (Brainy Quote). Today there are millions of modern day slaves all around the world of human trafficking. Some countries are more troubled with this problem than others, and it’s often accompanied with other crimes. There have been undertakings done to prevent and stop human trafficking, but 20 million men, women, and children all over the world still suffer from being sex slaves (Joseph 1). Programs do exist to prevent and put an end to human trafficking, but their actions alone are simply not enough. Therefore, anti-trafficking initiatives are failing to identify and help their victims.
In order to understand how sex trafficking affects its victims, one must first know the severity of sex trafficking and what it is. The issue of sex trafficking affects 2.5 million people at any given time (Abas et al., 2013). The form of sex slavery affects many women and children across the world. Even though both males and females are sexually trafficked and exploited, there is a deep emphasis on the sexual exploitation of women and children. This is due to gender discrimination (Miller, 2006). This is because women and children are more vulnerable and appeal to the larger populations of brothels and the so-called “clients” since the majority are men. Ecclestone (2013) stated that children as young as age three are trafficked. Sex trafficking has changed over time; “Today, the business of human sex trafficking is much more organized and violent. These women and young girls are sold to traffickers, locked up in rooms or brothels for weeks or months, drugged, terrorized, and raped repeatedly” (Walker-Rodriguez & Hill, 2011). It is found that many of the victims of sex trafficking are abducted, recruited, transported and forced into involuntary “sex work”. These sexual acts include prostitution, exotic dancing, pornography, and sexual escort services (McClain & Garrity, 2011). What happens to these sex trafficking victims is extremely traumatizing.
When some people hear the expression “child sex trafficking” inevitably unspeakable thoughts come to mind, others are unaware this is even happening. Sex trafficking is a serious criminal issue taking place within the borders of the United States, but on the outside of these boarders this crime stands as a reliable source of income for those who participate. Although child sex trafficking is a local crime it is obvious that multiple nations have different viewpoints on the topic. The problem at hand is meeting in the middle where this situation can exist without creating a riot with residents and eliminating the destruction of young children’s lives. Though this topic is a sensitive one, there are ways to allow it to coexist in everyday life simply by control the supply and demand aspect of it and the source of income.
Sex trafficking is essentially systemic rape for profit. Force, fraud and coercion are used to control the victim’s behavior which may secure the appearance of consent to please the buyer (or john). Behind every transaction is violence or the threat of violence (Axtell par. 4). 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. (Darker Side, par. 4) The words prostitute, pimp, escort, and stripper tend to be way too common in the American everyday vocabulary. People use these words in a joking manner, but sex trafficking is far from a joke. Everyday, from all different countries, people are bought and sold either by force or false promises. Some are kidnapped and others come to America with dreams of a dream life and job. The buyers involved in the trade will do anything to purchase an innocent life just to sell for their own selfish profit. Many people wouldn’t think of a human body to be something you can buy in the back room of a business or even online. But those plus the streets are where people are sold most often. There are many reasons and causes for sex trafficking. The factors behind sex traffic...
... in Journal of International Affaires, networks that are engaged in women trafficking are contemporary slave traders. There are aspects of auctions that are reminiscent of the 18th and 19th century African slave trade. Extreme levels of prostitution and violence are used against women that have been trafficked into prostitution. These women are considered outsiders and do not get any sympathy or assistance from social and public services. Mostly they are treated as criminals and prostitutes, and once discovered, they are arrested with further deportation. The study by Donna Hughes reveals that almost no services of any kind exist to address the needs of victims of sex trafficking who suffer from trauma, poor health, and physical injuries. The lack of assistance to victims can be explained by the fact that harm to forced sex slaves is not recognized by the society.
Sex trafficking is a world wide epidemic. It targets unknowing victims such as women and children enslaving them and exploiting their innocence. Human trafficking is becoming one of the biggest money making organized crimes in the world. The sex trade is one of the most profitable of all current slave trades. 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. In order to stop this monstrosity in the world, we need to start at the root of the problem. We must bridge the barriers between gender, class, and race in order to respect one another and live in harmony
How would you feel if you were essentially owned by someone else, and had no controls over your actions?