Because of the fact that new policies and laws are not decreasing the participation and growth of the sex slave industry, it is up to society to educate themselves on ways to prevent slave trade and signs that it may be occurring near their communities. To prevent human sex trafficking, it is essential to know who is being affected, where it is happening, and how to approach the situation. Roman Shrestha, Pramila Karki, Asha Suwal, Michael Copenhaver state in their article on PLOS, a non-profit science library, “The United Nation Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) reports that the official estimates of the number of people who are trafficked each year vary significantly from tens of thousands to millions” (2). As stated previously, there are …show more content…
Because the victims do not know how to help their situation or how to escape, they do not have many objects to call their own. Lack of possessions, identification, little to no money or financial stability, and rarely speaks for themselves (Polaris). Due to the fact of what the Victims endure, they are often too embarrassed to tell the truth about their experience and the true torture that they had to endure. Because of this, many victims may tell multiple versions of their story, have no sense of time, lack of knowledge of their location or where they have been (Polaris). Victims of sex slavery endure months of torture and are given horrible living conditions. They are not given any advantages and often to not have any hope that they will ever get of the industry. It is crucial that we inform people of the stories and experiences that human sex trafficking victims have lived through. By giving society multiple examples of how disgusting and awful the industry is, the topic will raise awareness and hopefully decrease in …show more content…
In May of 2015 journalist, Gerhard Jörén, published an article stating many of the false tragedies that she had endured and untrue stories. Mam was able to tell the world her story by appearing on television, on many different shows. After her television debut, she decided to write a book to educate society about the truth of human sex trafficking. Many of the victims, that Somaly Mam considered to be her friends, began to expose their stories and experiences to the world. Gerhard Jörén states “In 2009, Nicholas Kristof wrote in The New York Times about a girl named Long Pross, who had finally summoned the strength to tell her stunning story of sexual slavery”. Long Pross, similar to Mam, was featured on famous television shows, such as Oprah. Pross was beaten and tortured for years, until she was saved by Somaly Mam. Many found her story very sorrowful and heartbreaking, until there began to be slight complications in her story. Pross stated that she had endured medical surgeries for abortions and an eye wound caused by her pimp (Gerhard Jörén). Jörén states “Dr. Pok Thorn says he performed surgery on Pross when she was 13, after her parents brought her to a hospital with a nonmalignant tumor covering her right
This study examines the research that initially began on October 28, 2000 and spanned through to October 31, 2009. If a human trafficking case occurred in the US, with the victim being under the age of 18, and at least one arrested, indicted or convicted felon, their case would be filed in the data analysis report. This research resulted in the finding of 115 separate incidents of human trafficking, involving at least 153 victims and 215 felons or perpetrators, 117 (53.4%) of them being convicted of their heinous actions. Each individual case consisted of anywhere between 1 to 9 victims of trafficking. 90% of these victims were females between the ages of 5 to 17 years who were held captive from less than 6 months to 5 years. 25 (16.3%) of these minors were exploited through some type of false promise and 15 (9.8%) were kidnapped. 34 (22.2%) of the victims were abused through com...
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.
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
As soon as they arrive, they are sold into the prostitution industry and sent them to the brothel to do their ‘job’. Many girls, even as young as four are forced to sell their bodies to please men. They are forced to dress revealingly to fulfil the desires of immoral, iniquitous and inhuman men. Their bodies are labelled with a price and treated like a commodity. Every part of them is violated by those men who pay just to own them for 45 minutes and when they refuse, gun would be pointed at their heads. They would be locked up in a room, kicked around vigorously and whipped until they are covered with blood. Therefore, they have no choice but to pull through sexual abuse to pay off their debts bondage to the point where they lose self- worth, the confidence to look in the mirror, and the purpose to live. Shandra Woworuntu, one of the sex trafficking survivor, shared that it was excruciatingly exhausting to last a whole day with only plain rice soup and prickles as their source of energy. The mental and physical struggle that they have to go through is utterly
Human trafficking is not just a problem in developing countries, but also a phenomenon in advanced countries such as The United States which happens to be one of the top three destinations for trafficked victims. A large factor that contributes to the high level of human trafficking is big airports. It provides easy access in and out of cities and countries without attracting unusual attention. According to figure three about human trafficking in the United States, eighty-three percent of trafficked victims are American born citizens and one in seven victims receive an online solicitation. Many of the victims in the United States are actually from what are considered to be “good” families, rather than runaways, just coerced by the traffickers
Human trafficking is a multi-billion dollar illegal commerce that enslaves millions of people. Astonishingly, third world countries are not the only victims to this modern-day slavery, but all countries, including the United States, are home to traffickers and slaves. Few people in the United States know that slavery still exists today and that there are more slaves today than at any other point in history. Consequently, the ignorance countries have on the perilous situation leads to millions of people living in slavery. School children should be aware that slavery still exists, they should know the signs of people being trafficked, and they should know how to avoid being enslaved.
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.
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,
Human Trafficking is a global problem that affects the lives of millions of people in almost every country in the world, and which deprives them of their human dignity. As one of the most infamous crimes in the world, human trafficking is misleading and makes victims in women, men and children from all corners of the world every day and causes them to be exploited. Although the best-known form of human trafficking is sexual exploitation, hundreds of thousands of victims are also trafficked for the purposes of forced labor, forced labor as domestic servants, child begging and organ removal (Shelley, 2010). On the other side, “human trafficking is both a global problem and a domestic problem” (Jones, Engstrom, Hilliard, & Diaz, 2007, p.108-109)
Summary: We see that there are many different aspects and types of human trafficking that everyone should be made aware of. As a whole human trafficking is a lucrative industry raking in $150 BILLION globally. The impact that this industry has on its victims is
The United States has one of the largest percentages of trafficked humans worldwide, however so many individual are unaware of this issue. As many as 17,500 individuals are thought to be trafficked into the United Stated annually, and some have estimated that 100,000 U.S. citizen children are victims of trafficking within the U.S. (Siskin & Wyler, 2010). Since many cases go unreported, these estimates may be fewer than the actual number of victims in the US. There is substantial evidence that supports the ideology that woman and children from low socio-economic status are most likely targeted (Okech, Morreau, & Benson, 2011), of all the people trafficked each year about 70 percent of women and 50 percent are children that are mainly forced into the sex trade (Human Trafficking Statistics). Among socio-economic problems, the trafficking business feeds on conditions of vulnerability, such as family conflicts, natural disasters, youth, ignorance, gender, social exclusion, political instabil...
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
For Somali, a young girl from Southeast Asia sex trafficking has shaped who she is today. She has overcome many obstacles while coping with the struggle of being a victim of sex trafficking. She was taken captive against her will and forced into sex-slavery by a brothel. Somali was promised the support of locating her family members, but the brothel owners mislead her. At the time Somali was unaware of her age and name, assuming that she was only 12 years old, she was forced to have sex with various men daily. If she was ill and refused to have sex with the men, the brothel owner’s would starve and beat her. Unfortunately Somali is not the only young girl to have experienced such a tragedy.
Human trafficking, or the selling and buying of people, is a well-hidden yet prominent issue within today’s society. It is both an immoral and horrific topic that needs brought to attention and dealt with. When human beings are manipulated into work, sexual servitude, or economic hardship, human trafficking is occurring. In the year of 2006, only one individual is convicted of human trafficking per 800 victims (UNGIFT). By looking at straight statistics, reasons human trafficking happens, and the toll it has on people, it is very clear that this is a major issue that is happening in our world.
Trafficking is recognized as a major health problem and tragic transnational crime (Muftic). Most people think the physical abuse from trafficking is the worst part about it. What most people do not know, is the mental abuse can be just as horrifying if not more. The women who are trafficked have poorer health outcomes, and more intense and prolonged psychological reactions to abuse than women who are not trafficked (Muftic). When a woman's sexuality is violently used or abused, it is far more damaging to her than words, fists, or any other abuse that could be heaped on her. It is an invasion of the essence of who they are. Women were reported having suicidal thoughts/attempts, feelings of anger/rage, depression, inability to feel, difficulty sleeping, self-blame/guilt, and loss of appetite (Muftic). These poor women have no idea what the trafficking life can hold for them, not just while being there but also after they have left that life. Casey Roman noticed a coping mechanism for some of the women. They will laugh off information or past memories, telling their brains that what is or was happening to them is not as bad as it really is (Roman 2). Most of these women in the life have actual disorders. In 2008, the United States Department of Health and Human Services identified the serious and complex mental health problems of sex trafficking victims. The disorders included, Post-traumatic Stress Disorder, anxiety and mood disorders, dissociative disorders, and substance related disorder (Muftic). The women might not even realize they have a disorder until they are out of the sex trafficking life and living in the normal world. It is evident that the mental effects take a negative toll on the women in sex