SEX TRAFFICKING: IT AFFECTS EVERYONE.
Sex trafficking is a human rights violation, an estimated 4.8 million people, mainly
women and children, were trafficked in the commercial sex trade in 2016. More than 1 million
children are victims of commercial sexual exploitation each year. I’m here to educate you on
what sex trafficking is, who is effects and what you can do. Human trafficking is modern-day
slavery and involves the use of force, fraud, or coercion to gain some type of labor or
commercial sex act. Traffickers once obtaining their victims, force them into labor or sexual
exploitation. No one is safe, young children, and adults, both boys and girls are exploited by sex
traffickers everyday.( Polaris, 2018) We the people need to take a stand, the first step is to
educate ourselves. A victim of sex trafficking will have their basic human rights stripped away,
they are often told they will gain a reward if they perform the act requested to avoid struggle
from the victim, this is often a lie. How might one become a victim you may ask, this is a
example of one scenario out of many, It is a common to persuade a young woman to leave home
and to move to a wealthier neighboring country where she can work in domestic service, child
or as a waitress in a restaurant. Then her passport, visa, and return tickets are taken from her and,
effectively, she is imprisoned, either physically, financially or mentally. She is made to work as a
domestic slave, as an sex worker or factory worker, under slave-like conditions. She sees none of
the money that she earns, and eventually she will be sold.( City Vision, 2017) This slavery takes
place on a global scale in multiple different ways. I asked myself why? Why would any
individual with a conscious mind commit such a disgusting crime? The answer is simple, there is
a demand for it. Men around the world profit in pleasure and in price from the exploitation of
women and children. In poorer regions of the world where education and employment
opportunities are limited the most vulnerable in society such as runaways, refugees, etc. are the
most common victims of human trafficking. People who are seeking opportunity and entry to
other countries may be picked up by traffickers and misled into thinking that they will be free
after being smuggled across the border. In other cases, such as armed conflict, and some
trafficked humans are captured through slave raiding. Trafficking of children often involves
exploitation of the parents extreme poverty. These give more insight on the process the trafficker
takes when trying to obtain more victims. ( City Vision, 2017) Trafficking women and children
for sexual exploitation is the fastest growing criminal enterprise in the world, so what is being
done about it? The Number of Prosecutions of Human Traffickers is Alarmingly Low. According
to the 2017 State Department Trafficking in Persons report, there were only 14,894 prosecutions
and 9,071 convictions for trafficking globally in 2016. There are 1,251 prosecutions, 1,119
convictions and the identification of 18,296 victims which occurred in Africa, 2,137
prosecutions, 1,953 convictions and the identification of 9,989 victims which occurred in East
Asia & the Pacific, 2,703 prosecutions, 1,673 convictions, and the identification of 11,416
victims in Europe, 996 prosecutions, 1,187 convictions, and the identification of 3,292 victims in
the Near East , 6,297 prosecutions, 2,193 convictions, and the identification of 14,706 victims in
South & Central Asia, 1,513 prosecutions, 946 convictions, and the identification of 8,821
victims occurred in the Western Hemisphere. Overall out of the estimated 16 million forced
labor victims worldwide, only 1,038 cases of forced labor were prosecuted globally in 2016,
according to the US Department of State. ( Human Rights First, 2016) We as a society need to do
better and liberate those living in unimaginable conditions. I want to live in a world without fear
of sex exploitation, kidnapping, losing my own identity and human rights. I want to live in a
world in which I can bring children into without concern for their own well-being. The time to
stand is well overdue. Let the revolution for the people be now, educate yourself, spread that
knowledge, take action!
Bibliography
Definition, Prevalence, and Causes. (n.d.). Retrieved from
http://www.cityvision.edu/wiki/human-trafficking-definition-prevalence-and-causesSex
Human Trafficking by the Numbers. (n.d.). Retrieved from
https://www.humanrightsfirst.org/resource/human-trafficking-numbersHuman Trafficking:
The Facts. (2018, April 18). Retrieved from https://polarisproject.org/human-trafficking/facts
Trafficking Fact Sheet. (2017, August 14). Retrieved from
https://www.equalitynow.org/sex-trafficking-fact-sheetThe Facts. (2018, April 18). Retrieved
from https://polarisproject.org/human-trafficking/facts
