Theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer once said “The test of the morality of a society is what it does for its children.” If the morality of our society were to be determined based on the risk and danger faced by children around the world today, we would not be praised to be a moral society at all. The lives of children and their innocence have always been of high importance to members of the society. With increasing importance placed on material gains, the priorities of people have shifted. As such, the exploitation of children for material gains is prevalent in various avenues in the world. Innovations in science and advancements in technology are aimed to better the lives of all human beings. They are aimed to be beneficial to all and to eradicate the problems associated with poverty. However, modern day technological advancements have resulted in the evolution of child sex trafficking into a global cyberspace phenomenon that victimizes millions of children worldwide. In this essay, we will assess the issue of online child sex trafficking and impacts globalization has had on it.
The US federal Trafficking Victims Protection Act defines sex trafficking as “The recruitment, harboring, transportation, provision, or obtaining of a person for the purpose of a commercial sex act where such an act is induced by force, fraud, or coercion, or in which the person induced to perform such act has not attained 18 years of age”. The commercial aspect of trafficking is critical to distinguishing between sexual assault and trafficking. There must be an exchange of anything of value such as money, food or shelter for a sex act for it to be established as trafficking. Children are commercially sexually exploited through prostitution, pornography and e...
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Works Cited
Child trafficking statistics. US & International (2013). Retrieved on 11 November, 2013, from http://www.arkofhopeforchildren.org/issues/child-trafficking-statistics#.UoGgxSefVUU.
Child victims of human trafficking (n.d.). Retrieved on 11 November, 2013, from http://www.law.washington.edu/AsianLaw/HumanTrafficking/child_victims.pdf
Criddle.L. Child Trafficking and the Internet (n.d.). Retrieved on 11 November, 2013, from http://ilookbothways.com/2010/06/15/child-trafficking-and-the-internet/. Latonero, M.(2011). The Role of Social Networking Sites and Online Classifieds. Human Trafficking Online, 18-21.
Webcam child sex tourism must stop!(2013). Retrieved on 11 November, 2013, from http://www.tdh.ch/en/news/webcam-child-sex-tourism-must-stop?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+Tdh-News-English+%28Tdh+-+News+in+English%29.
... middle of paper ... ... Underprivileged and depressed children are victims that are usually targeted and because of that, governments and human rights organizations have created laws that protect victims and prosecute traffickers. The act of luring victims into sex trafficking takes a form where the trafficker has to find ways to please the target and get victims to rely on them. Physical and psychological pain are inflicted on victims in order for them to stay in the Life which causes later effects felt by the victims when freed.
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,
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...
Trafficking is the recruitment, harboring, transportation and provision of a person for the purpose of commercial sex. American trafficking victims are estimated to be between 100,000 and 300,000. Most of these are from the million are so children that are thrown out of their home or they have run away usually to escape abuse and/or sexual violence. (Shelley, pg. 230) The law says that a person under the age of 18 has to have been defrauded, forced or coerced into the sex trade against their will. Sex trafficking venues are wide and vast. Victims of sex trafficking can be found in brothels, strip clubs, esc...
Prostitution To understand the relationship between sex trafficking, prostitution and drug use, it must first be understood how sex trafficking and prostitution are related. Although many people are familiar with what prostitution entails, Kubasek and Herrera define it as the engaging, agreeing to engage, or offering to engage in sexual acts or contacts with another person in return for a fee (2015). The authors define sex trafficking as the recruitment, harboring, transportation, provision, or obtaining of a person for the purpose of a commercial sex act (2015). Something that many do not realize is that individuals who may be victims of trafficking are commonly located while they are engaging in prostitution, and are then criminalized instead of offered the protection and support they often desperately need. Our current legal system does not handle trafficking cases as a means of prostitution.
An estimated 20.9 million people are currently being trafficked worldwide (The Polaris Project, 2014). According to the Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000 (TVPA, reauthorized in 2013), sex trafficking is defined as, “A commercial sex act induced by force, fraud, or coercion, and/or in which the person induced to...
Teaching youth at an early age what a healthy and unhealthy relationship looks like and how to be safe on the Internet is key in combating the issue of exploitation and trafficking. As well as training professionals and individuals who may come across victims in any setting to be able to recognize the signs of sexual exploitation and sex trafficking. By an increase in training and awareness, the world may be able to gain a more realistic calculation of how many individuals are affected by either sexual exploitation or sex trafficking.
The United States is a major port for human trafficking and, “Due to the covert nature of human trafficking, it is difficult to ascertain which countries are the primary source nations for trafficking into the US” (Hepburn). People of all ages and genders are at risk to human trafficking (Hepburn). Women and girls make up about fifty-six percent of the people trafficked for forced labor, while men and boys make up the other forty-four percent; children make up forty to fifty percent of those numbers (Hepburn). Ninety-eight percent of the people trafficked for sexual explorations are women and girls (Hepburn). Children tend to be targeted more than adults because they are much more vulnerable. Human trafficking has different forms, and “While trafficking for the purposes of commercial sexual exploitation is more publicized in the media, it is not the only form of trafficking that takes place in the US” (Hepburn). Trafficking for the purposes of forced labor is just as likely to occur as trafficking for the purposes of sexual exploitation (Hepburn). Many citizens have never heard of human trafficking for something other than sexual exploitation. Hepburn shows that, “Forty-three percent are trafficked for purposes of...
Society often overlook crimes that are not as trending, meaning, if a certain crime was not featured often on TV even with high severity, then it would not be viewed as a major issue. One prime example is child sex prostitution. There are not a lot research concerning this particular type of crime, in addition to a small amount of ample evidence supporting the level of severity, and coming up with prevention policy (Reid, 2012). Despite minimal amount of research investment, there is a growing pattern for this type of service, both around the world and United States (Fong & Cardoso, 2010). Although, most sex trafficking cases are often more associated with adults, it is actually the youth and/or child populations that are increasing in the
Sex trafficking is when women, young girls, and young boys are held in slavery and forced into prostitution for the financial gain of others in brothels in the United States, Europe, and other developing countries such as Thailand and the Philippines (Sexual Slavery). It’s happened to many women and children throughout many years in many of these countries for money and more power. Often purchased or kidnapped off the street, women, girls, and boys are trafficked across international
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.
According to Reid, “… child sex trafficking would comprise all activities involved in inducting a minor’s involvement in commercial sexual exploitation, from the initial recruitment of the minor into commercial sex exploitation to buying the sexual services of the minor” (3).
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...
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. “Sex traffickers frequently target vulnerable people with histories of abuse and then use violence, threats, lies, false promises, debt bondage,
One reason why human trafficking is a serious crime that many people are unaware of is because it secretly takes place in the United States. Between 2007 and 2012, there were reports of 9,298 different cases of human trafficking (Polaris Project). An example of how unknown this topic is is that 41% of sex trafficking cases and 20% of labor trafficking cases were proven to have United States citizens as victims (Polaris Project). And this is only what we know so far. There are thousands of cases that we don’t know about. Many people also don’t know that men, women, and even children are also taken hostage by human traffickers. An example of this would be that out of those 9,298 cases that were reported, women were victims of sex trafficking in 85% of those cases. Men were victims of labor trafficking in 40% of those cases (Polaris Project). Approximately 300,000 children are at risk of being prostituted in the United States (U.S. Department of Justice). Children are even more under the radar than we know about. On average, one in three teenagers on the street will be lured toward prostitution within 48 hours of leaving their home (National Runaway Hotline). For example, two female friends who were minors ran away from home and were prom...