Human Trafficing and Sexual Abuse in the USA - Essay Example

 Human Trafficing and Sexual Abuse in the USA Jane was 15 when she was rescued from the streets in Portland. Before her rescue she had already been arrested twenty times for participating in prostitution. The streets of Portland had toughened her up and she was angry, initially, at everyone at the Children of the Night, a private residential centre where she was taken to once rescued. She would throw things at people as she was still not accustomed to trusting people after her ordeal. For Jane (not her real name) it all started when she was just 14. She was living in Seattle when a 36 year old man promised Jane that he would make her life better. This was an easy proposal to accept for the innocent girl who had been subject to sexual molestation since the age of 4 by her father’s friends. About her family Jane said ‘My mom was a junkie. I lived with my dad. He was up and down with his moods. He had a marijuana addiction. … I can’t remember much of my childhood. I block it out.’ When she told about the molestation to her family her father turned against her so she decided to live with a family friend. However there she was forced to sell drugs and work as a prostitute. At work she met James who convinced her to come to Portland where her life would be better. She agreed. But when they reached Portland she was told to work as a prostitute and when she disagreed she was treated inhumanely until she agreed (Neubauer). Jane’s story is among those millions of innocent girls who have been victims of sex trafficking. There is no exact or formal definition of sex trafficking. However it can be broadly defined as the recruitment, transportation, purchasing and or selling of people, usually women or young girls, to another country (it can also be between different cities) for the purpose of commercial sex without the consent of the victim or through deception (Lind and Brzuzy 530). Sex trafficking is not a new phenomenon. Although the term sex trafficking may be a recent one however sex trafficking has existed under many forms from ancient times. According to a popular saying prostitution is one of the oldest professions adopted by mankind. As prostitution is closely linked to sex trafficking both these activities can be considered to be ancient. History is littered with examples of Greeks taking away young women, to work as sex slaves, after winning battles. In Rome slaves were brought from foreign lands to work as prostitutes or sex slaves. In the 20th century sexual slavery was termed as white slavery. Under white slavery thousands of women were transported to different parts of the world such as Mexico, as sex slaves. The Japanese, in the Second World War, forced more than 0.25 million women to work as sex slaves, in sex camps, for the Japanese soldiers. These women came from different places such as the Philippines, China, Burma, Indonesia and Korea. Most of them died due to starvation, injuries or illness in the sex camps. Profits in the sex trafficking industry have risen to US$ 36 billion in recent times. Most of the victims of human trafficking are victims of sex trafficking and according to the US State Department 70% of the victims are females and 50% of them are under 18 (McCabe and Manian 1-2). In the contemporary world due to the advent of Internet and increased globalization, making it easier to target potential victims, sex trafficking has gained even more strength in many parts of the world including the United States. The US has emerged for many people all over the world as the land of opportunity and a place where they can have a better life. As a result US acts as an attraction for many people who want to live the American dream. This gives strength to the sex industry in the country as many people, mostly women, are illegally trafficked from all over the world and forced into the prostitution industry without their will. According to an estimate between 50000 to 75000 people, mostly women, are trafficked into the US for the purpose of commercial sex (Sex Trafficking). These victims are usually trafficked from various parts of the world such as Latin America and Southeast Asia among others. Apart from victims being trafficked from other countries sex trafficking is also popular on a domestic level in the US with the victims usually trafficked from one state to another. The sex trafficking process can be broken down into three stages. These three stages are recruitment, transport and destination. The three stages are explained below: 1. Recruitment: this is the first stage of sex trafficking. In this stage the victim is either tricked or forced to move away from their home to some other place. Sometimes, due to financial difficulties, parents are forced to sell their children to traffickers. 2. Transport: this second stage of trafficking involves moving the victim from their home to the destined location. During this phase the trafficker usually hides the victim under cramped spaces so that nobody finds out about the illegal transportation. 3. Destination: this is the third and final stage that begins once the victim and the trafficker reach their destination. In this stage the trafficker abuses, rapes or resorts to physical assault on the victim in order to damage them physically as well as psychologically. The victims are forced to submit to the will of the trafficker or whoever ‘owns’ the victim (it is common for the sex trafficked victims to be sold again and again) and their lives and the lives of their families are often threatened so that the victims do not run away. Although sex trafficking is common among women and young children in US it is surprising to see that there is an increasing trend in young girls, with an average age of 11, who are being trafficked into prostitution. A man from Idaho was found guilty and received a life sentence when he produced and shared a video of a minor being sexually abused on the Internet (Bales and Soodalter 91). Sex trafficking takes place to satisfy the needs of various sex-related industries in the US. Some of the most common are prostitution, escort agencies, live sex shows, pornography and stripping among others. There are 2 components of sex trafficking, i.e., slavery and slave trading. Slavery is associated with the demand side of the sex industry while slave trading pertains to the supply side (Kara 5). The supply side is comprised of the victims of sex trafficking. The victims may either be tricked or forced into sex trafficking by the traffickers. Some of the supply side reasons for sex trafficking include: 1. Promise of a better life: many victims are lured by the traffickers by promising the victims a better job, a better life. Hence the traffickers either transport the victims illegally to US from a foreign country or within the US in its different states (this is known as domestic sex trafficking). For all the victims the promise is of living the American dream and most of the people are tempted by this offer. 2. Sold by family to traffickers: sometimes the parents may be forced to sell their children (especially girls) to traffickers because the family is under a financial crises and selling their child would avert that crises. Sometimes the trafficker might even force the family to sell their child because the family owes the trafficker money and selling their child would compensate for the money owed. 3. Kidnapping: many of the victims of sex trafficking are people who are kidnapped by traffickers. Here the victim is forced by the trafficker to submit to their will by force. On the demand side there are four factors that result in sex trafficking. These include: 1. Men: these people are the buyers of commercial sex. These men purchase the sexual services provided by the victims of sex trafficking. Contrary to popular belief these men are satisfied with partners and are only interested in purchasing commercial sex in their search for more sexual acts, acts their partners will not engage into, or just to have the pleasure of doing whatever they want with a woman they have ‘bought’ for some time. 2. Exploiters: these are the traffickers or the middlemen who make a living by selling sex. They are the people engaged in sex trafficking and luring people into the sex industry. 3. State: if the state legalizes or has relaxed laws regarding prostitution then it is in a way contributing to the spur in demand. The destination country of sex trafficking usually has laws that protect the sex industry rather than the sex victims because the industry generates many million dollars annually in revenue for the state if it’s legal. The exploiting groups in these countries also pressurize the state authorities to make laws that allow them to work without facing any obstacles. 4. Culture: here the media plays a pivotal role in portraying prostitution and the sex industry at large a quick-buck-making way. Instead of telling the people that most women in prostitution are against their will (which is true), media portrays prostitution as a way to empower women (Hughes). As can be seen from both the demand and supply perspective, the rise in sex trafficking is spurred by both the stimulation of both the demand and supply side factors. There are a number of ways to stop sex trafficking. As can be seen from the above points, the increase in sex trafficking is both demand driven as well as supply driven. In order to prevent sex trafficking it is essential that factors from both demand and supply side are controlled. It is easier to reduce the effect of the supply side as it comprises of the victims of sex trafficking. It is the duty of the government to its citizens with a good life; provide them with more opportunities and better jobs. If the state makes it possible then there is no need for people to go the US or in case they are living in US to another US state in search of a better lifestyle. This will make it harder for the traffickers to lure their victims as the potential victims will not be interested in leaving with the traffickers in search of a better life. To prevent kidnapping the government can impose strict laws regarding sex trafficking with harsh punishments being given to the sex traffickers. The government should strictly monitor the transportation process in which victims are transported from their homes to their destinations often illegally. It must also be ensured by the government that the traffickers who are caught must be punished severely for their heinous crimes so that other traffickers are also discouraged from kidnapping people or being involved in sex trafficking. The demand side can also be controlled to reduce sex trafficking. Firstly the prostitution industry must be regulated. The men who demand sex and pay for it are doing nothing legally wrong if prostitution is legal. However it must be realized that it does not mean that they can do whatever they want with the woman they have ‘purchased’ for some time. The basic human rights of the prostitutes must be protected and those men who are found to violate these rights must be punished severely by the government. As mentioned earlier the traffickers who are the exploiters, their activities must be monitored and if they are found to be involved in sex trafficking then they must be punished. The government must also make strict laws whilst regulating the sex industry. Officials who make these laws must be monitored to see if they are being put under pressure from sex traffickers to make laws that favor them. Too often the government protects the sex industry instead of the people who sell their bodies for sex. This is because sex trafficking and largely the sex industry provide hundreds of millions of dollars to the government in revenue. Hence the government must adopt a more humanistic attitude and favor the victims instead of the sex traffickers. The culture is also largely at fault too. Prostitutes are not looked upon as good people and the society largely rejects them. The society does not consider the fact that there may be more people like Jane who were forced to become prostitutes and did not choose the profession by their own choice. The police also usually treat the prostitutes as criminals not thinking that they may be the innocent party. It frequently happens that victims of sex trafficking are too afraid to ask for help because of the way the society views them. They are also afraid for their and their family’s life so they do not run away from their captors or give the police the whereabouts of these criminals because they fear them for all the atrocities the traffickers have committed against them. In 1998, US President Bill Clinton initiated a strategy against trafficking in general. The strategy focused on the prevention, support and protection of victims, and prosecution of the traffickers. The strategy finally led to the passing of Trafficking and Violence Protection Act (TVPA) in 2000 (Miko). In 2002 it was decided in the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops to establish the Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People. This charter was established to protect children from being sexually abused by members of the church and prosecuting the offenders (Davidson 70). Although TVPA was introduced in 2000 it had many flaws. To remove the loopholes in TVPA the government amended it in 2003, then in 2005 and finally in 2008 in order to better regulate sex trafficking and protect the victims. Another US body that works to protect children trafficked for sexual purposes is the Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS). It plays a vital role in making statutes that help solve the problem of sex trafficking (Trafficking and Sex Tourism). From 2006 onwards, UN as well as the US government has made several attempts at defining what amounts to trafficking but ambiguity still remains (DeStefano 11). Other US agencies that are working on anti-trafficking include USAID, HHS, Immigration and Customs Enforcemnt, Department of Justice among others (Rodriguez 564). Apart from government bodies there are many NGO’s and charitable or privately owned organizations that are working to help reduce sex trafficking in US. One such residential facility that is privately owned is the Children of the Night. This residential facility is like a home and rehabilitation centre for victims of sex trafficking. Another organization, Door, provides education, healthcare, counseling and advice in legal matters to potential victims of sex trafficking (Bales and Soodalter 97). There are numerous other government and nonprofit organizations working for the rehabilitation of victims of sex trafficking. The plight of many of the NGOs working for this cause is that they are poorly funded by the government. There is a lot of corruption in the government that does not allow the funds to be distributed to those NGOs that truly work to help the victims of sex trafficking. Despite all the shortcomings, the government and society has made efforts to eradicate the growing problem of sex trafficking. The NGOs are also playing their part in the rehabilitating and educating the victims. Sex trafficking is a global problem. Trafficking in women is extremely profitable and comparatively has lesser risk than other types of illegal trade. According to estimates by UN, it generates an annual profit of approximately $5 billion for criminal organizations (Penttinen 47). Sex trafficking industry is very large. According to Kathryn Farr over a million people are trafficked in the sex industry and the number will keep on increasing (Weitzer 337). Although the US may not be the leading country that is the victim of sex trafficking, it is however true that sex trafficking is rampant in US. The fact that it is the leading economic country and the attraction of many foreigners adds to this problem. There is a need to educate the society at large about the evils of sex trafficking and most importantly the severe violations of human rights that are committed in the sex industry. The society must also be educated to treat the prostitutes and other victims of sex trafficking humanely. Sex trafficking is modern day slavery. The severe atrocities faced by the victims are a clear example of the slave like status given to victims by the sex traffickers and other exploiters. Sex trafficking can only be reduced through collaborative efforts of all the stakeholders: government, society, NGOs, law enforcement agencies and the justice system. References: Bales, K., and Soodalter. R. The slave next door: human trafficking and slavery in America today. University of California Press 2009 Davidson, Wilma. Tears and Fear. Xlibris Corporation 2010 DeStefano, Anthony. M. The war on human trafficking: U.S. policy assessed. Rutgers University Press 2007 Hughes, Donna. M. “The Demand: Where Sex Trafficking Begins.” Speech. A Call to Action: Joining the Fight Against Trafficking in Persons U.S. Embassy and the Holy See Pontifical Gregorian University Rome, June 17, 2004 Kara, Siddharth. Sex trafficking: inside the business of modern slavery. Columbia University Press 2009 Lind, Amy., and Brzuzy, Stephanie. Battleground: M-Z. Greenwood Publishing Group 2008 McCabe, K. A., and Manian, S. Sex trafficking: a global perspective. Lexington Books 2010 Miko, Francis. T. Trafficking in Women and Children: The U.S. and International Response. “CRS Report for Congress” (2003) Neubauer, Chuck. “Sex trafficking in the U.S. called ‘epidemic’.” The Washington Times. 23 April 2011 Penttinen, Elina. Globalization, prostitution and sex-trafficking: corporeal politics. Routledge 2008 Rodriguez, J. P. Slavery in the Modern World: A History of Political, Social, and Economic Oppression. ABC-CLIO 2011 “SEX TRAFFICKING.” istoptraffic. 29 October 2011 < http://istoptraffic.com/> “Trafficking and Sex Tourism.” US Department of Justice. 29 October 2011 Weitzer, R. J. Sex for sale: prostitution, pornography, and the sex industry. Taylor & Francis 2010 Read More