Sex Trafficking

Sex Trafficking

Sex trafficking is a problem around the world. The United States State Department estimates that roughly 700,000 to 2 million women and girls are smuggled across borders every year. Eastern Europe is where much of the initial selling occurs. This black market’s sales are comparable to the slave trade in United States history, and is equivalent to the sale of cattle. Sex trafficking refers to the movement of women and children for purposes of prostitution or some other form of sexual slavery. According to Interpol, it includes “the recruitment, transportation, harboring or receipt of persons, by means of the threat or use of force or other forms of coercion, abduction, fraud, or deception. [Also used is] the abuse of power or of a position of vulnerability or of the giving or receiving of payments or benefits to achieve the consent of one person having control over another, for the purpose of exploitation.” Women and children are trafficked for sex or sexually related things.

How does this happen? If the women who become victims of this crime knew what their fate would entail, they would be less than willing to pursue such a career. Trickery and manipulation lands them in this position. These girls are promised an abundant and fulfilling life if they leave their families and travel to other countries. These girls are lured by job offers such as that of an au pair, a model, a dancer, a domestic worker, etc. (Miko, 3). These jobs, in conjunction with a potential marriage opportunity, are advertised in local newspapers (4). The girls’ parents are more than willing to allow this because their daughters will help the family survive. Substantial pay is promised and the girls are granted return as soon as they can repay the travel expenses to their sender. They are in his debt until that is accomplished.

Widespread depravation allows this form of labor to exist. The family becomes ecstatic with their daughter’s willingness and ability to help provide for the family’s need. Organized crime thrives on this dependency. These people have run out of options to support and sustain their family’s well being. The United Nations Population Fund performed a recent study, which revealed the precise timing of the criminals. “Traffickers turn up in a rural community during a drought or before a harvest, when food is scarce, and persuade poor couples to sell their daughters for small amounts of money,” (Lives Together, Worlds Apart, Lee, 1). The couples see no better option.

Traffickers make good money in their line of work because the demand for their product is high. “Traffickers are encouraged by large tax-free profits and continuing income from the same victims at very low risk,” (Miko, 2). With willing but unknowing victims, the traffickers have little trouble supplying their customers with the objects of their desires. In a world like today’s, where sex is not only talked about openly in social circles, but also displayed in song lyrics and shown in the media, men crave more. A desperate man will