The sex work industry has been around for the longest time and it has more of a negative influence on our society than positive ones. Like every occupation, some are passionate about their work, but in this industry, most of the sex workers are either forced, abducted, and/or manipulated into this work just for the means of survival. In most third world countries like Vietnam, Cambodia, Thailand, and etc., sex work is just like any other occupation; with the purpose is to sustain oneself and their whole family. This is a global issue that needs to focused on more since many innocent women and minors’ lives are jeopardized and used as a tool to make money.
For this essay, I will address the issue of sex trafficking as a domestic issue more than a global issue. Sex trafficking has a negative impact on humanity and this can be explored through the different types of sex trafficking, the cause of why people choose to perform this work, the racial groups that are mostly affected by this, and steps that can be taken to minimize the rates of sex trafficking. Sex trafficking was built from the core of our nation when it slavery was deemed legal in the colonial days by the thirteen original colonies. The practice of slavery eventually ended after the Civil War; however, the practice of human trafficking was just beginning to prosper with the White Slave Trade and the continuation of sexual exploitation of minorities which includes: Native Americans, African Americans, and foreign women who were abducted.
When it comes to sex trafficking, the most common form that everyone is familiar with would have to be the sex trafficking that are controlled by pimps and commercial sex trafficking of underage children. To our surprise there are multiple types of sex trafficking that we do not know of. What all these types of sex trafficking has in common is the need for survival either directly or indirectly. Survival sex is the type of sex work where the person who committing the act is consenting because they feel the need to have to perform this act so they can obtain their needs, which can include money, basic necessities, and etc. People might think that survival sex is just like any kind of prostitution where the person is consenting the sex, so what is the big deal? The big deal regarding survival sex is that sometimes underage children are committing this act because they are abandoned and have no other choice but have to sell their body for a living; however, underage children who does this work, even if they are consenting, it’s still sex trafficking because they are underage.
The types of sex trafficking that are considered not consensual are familial trafficking, forced marriages, gang trafficking, and of course the two types that everyone is familiar with. These are not consensual because the victims are controlled by either one or multiple people. Familial trafficking happens when a family member is forcing someone in their family to perform sex work in exchange for money, drugs, or other things that they desire. Similarly to that, gang trafficking happens when a gang is in control of one or more victims and these victims are also forced to perform sex work so the gang can get what they want and usually is money. According to Carrie Johnson, a reporter and writer at NPR, she stated that “gang members charge between $30 and $50 a visit, and the [victims] are forced into prostitution 10 to 15 times a day, thousands of dollars in a weekend, with virtually no costs. Except for alcohol and drugs to try to keep the [victims] off-kilter” (Johnson, 2011). This exposes the harsh reality of the lives of those who are forced to commit the act of non-consensual sex. We must note that these victims, most of the time are women and underage children are forced to have sex ten to fifteen times a day. There are many health implications that can result from having too much sex, those implications can include trauma to the women’s reproductive system and contracting sexual transmitted diseases which can further destory their life (McTavish, 2017). According to James McTavish, a National Catholic Reporter, he stated that “drug and alcohol abuse is a common finding among prostituted women.” (McTavish, 2017).
From this statement, it’s safe to assume that drug and alcohol is a coping mechanism that most sex trafficked resort to so they can temporarily escape their cruel reality that they cannot escape from.
In addition, child marriage is not something that you would think would happen in the United States since we would think that there would be laws created to protect underage children from being taken advantage of. Forced marriage happens when one or more party is married without their consent usually for the purpose of money more than for cultural purposes. However, forced marriages do occur when parents want to marry their kid(s) off to those who they think are suitable for them usually due to their religion or for financial stability. Forced marriage is illegal in the United States; however, it’s most common in the southern part of America because there are no laws regarding how old you have to be to get married and for those who are under eighteen, it’s legal for them to get married but not legal for them to get a divorced.
Moreover, it’s important to define what sex trafficking is. According to PhD Natalie N. McClain, sex trafficking is a crime that involves “the recruitment, transporting, supplying, and/or obtaining persons for involuntary labor or repayment of debt by the use of coercion, force, or fraud” (McClain, 2011). Sex trafficking is one type of human trafficking and its considered to be the modern day slavery because more than millions of lives, specifically women and young children that are destroyed every year (McBane, 2014). Sex work can include prostitution, exotic dancing, pornography, and etc. In the same article, “Sex Trafficking and the Exploitation of Adolescents”, McClain also discusses some of the reasons as to why people are involved with sex trafficking in the first place. She explained that perpetrators usually target those who are most vulnerable. In this case, lack of resources, education, poverty, history of abuse within household, criminal behavior, and drug addiction can increase the chances of an individual being forced into sex work or voluntarily, but inevitably do it just for the sake of survival or sometimes to make fast money. Unlike how it is portrayed in movies and the media, sex trafficking occurs most commonly in large communities where it’s easier to “recruit” workers in disguise without a lot of people knowing about it since the bigger the community, the less likely people will care what is going on around them.
With the enormous size of the sex industry , those who are in charge of abducting or recruiting people will never run out of people because there are so many people out there who are susceptible and vulnerable to this resort of survivalry. The fact that poverty is an endless cycle in America, eventually those who are in desperate need of money will have to give up their body, dignity, and endure the entitlement of their clients. Why is sex work or prostitution a big issue, if these people choose and consent to this occupation, why should we care about what happens to them? Even if someone is consenting to this occupation, they cannot help but still experience negative impact along the way like abuse from clients or even not getting paid enough. The main problem here is not those who have voluntarily choose to do this work but young children that are forced into this industry not knowing the terror they will have to endure. According to the Shared Hope National, girls young as the age of thirteen are most susceptible to the tricks of traffickers (Shared Hope National, 2014). Underaged girls are sex trafficked because they are an easier target than adults. With children, the traffickers has no trouble abusing and exploiting them because the chances of them defending themselves is not as likely compared to adults (Humanium, 2011).
Moreover, not to our surprise, women of color makes up the highest percentage of those who are sex trafficked. According to “Human Trafficking: Not All Black or White”, Michelle Lillie, an advocate for sex trafficking survivors, reported that African American women makes up more than half of the sex trafficked victims and that Black children makes up “55% of all prostitution related arrests in the U.S” (Lillie, 2014). What was interesting about this statistic is that only one third of the percentage of African American in America are represented out of the overall population of African Americans that are involved in sex trafficking. In contrary, the percentage of Caucasian that are represented in this country is double the percentage of Caucasian that are involved in the sex trafficking industry. The inequality amongst racial group representation can create the false association that only a small amount of African American are sex trafficked when in reality that is completely false.
What this shows is that there is a racial disparity among racial groups; specifically African Americans and Whites. There are more African American victims than White victims because one has a higher demand than the other. This fact exposes the underlying racism within our country. Despite slavery being abolished decades ago, we are implicitly taught to place more value on one specific racial group than another. In that same article, Lillie also mentioned that the punishment for traffickers who trafficked women of color are not as severe compared to the punishment that traffickers received from trafficking white women. This further more supports the claim that the United States is partially responsible and in a way, continuing this illegal industry without knowing. The idea of worshipping or valuing one racial group more than another allows those who wants to reap financial benefits from those who are at a disadvantage more power. Those people who are reaping benefits from those who are at a disadvantage is gaining more power because they know that the consequences will not be as bad compared to trafficking the “powerful race”. What is more shocking is that in certain states like Washington, white men makes up three fourth of the sex buyers. This reality is teaching young boys and men that they are entitled to a woman’s body if they have money. Like the racial disparity, this idea will continue to dehumanize women and young children as more and more women and young children are forcefully trafficked into this horrendous industry.
Furthermore, nothing is more scary than ingraining one racial group or gender as the most superior in a person’s mind. This association will not only make the sex industry get bigger and people will continue to be used as slave so pimps and those who run the industry can benefit from their victims. One way to potentially reduce the rate of sex trafficking is to raise one’s awareness to sex trafficking.. That sex trafficking is occuring as we breath and that a difference can be made if people can contribute for a change rather than being fixated on the fact that things are so dreadful and are irreversible. Another big one would be putting efforts into reducing the rate of poverty. Poverty has a direct correlation and impact to sex trafficking. As long as poverty exist, sex trafficking will continue to prosper. Some might argue that there is no way for a country to reduce its poverty rate because that rate differentiate the rich from the poor. I understand that social economic class is what going to keep the population in order, however, it should not the standard to measure everyone by.
Besides other factors that are allowing this sex industry to prosper, the trafficker is most responsible for this. According to John, Richmond, a federal prosecutor in the Justice Department’s Human Trafficking Prosecution Unit and an expert on human trafficking for the United Nations and at the European Union, “the root cause of human trafficking is traffickers, [because] the trafficker’s wilful decision to profit by compelling people to work or prostitute” (Richmond, 2017). This shows that the possible solution to this global and domestic issue would have to be strike the traffickers because then the victims that are controlled by that specific trafficker can be freed. Specifically targeting traffickers is more realistic than trying to fix bigger factors like poverty will produce exponential results rather than none because poverty cannot be terminated overnight.
In conclusion, everyone should have a choice of how their life should turn out and not be dictated by someone’s or a group of people’s greed and desire. Being forced to live your life as a tool to make money for someone other than for your own benefit is not the life that we are born into and should never lead a life where you do not have a say in. Sex trafficking victims, despite of entering the sex work industry voluntarily or forcibly, we need to recognize that this is a serious issue and we must work together to reach out to those who are trapped in abyss. Those who are passionate about the sex work industry and does not have to be forced into it should know how much power they have over those who does not have a choice in the beginning. I understand that there are certain things people have to force themselves to do due to their situation; however, it’s never okay to not resist those who are scheming and exploiting you so they can reach the goal of profiting from the things that you do not consent to. One’s greed along with many others’ schemes can destroy millions of lives each day.