1. E. Benjamin Skinner:
• Earned Bachelor’s degree at Wesleyan University
• Worked in New York at the Council of Foreign Relations
• Given the Dayton Literary Peace Prize in 2009 for A Crime So Monstrous: Face-to-Face with Modern-Day Slavery
• National Geographic named him one of the Adventurers of the Year in 2008
• Nightline on ABC adapted chapters from A Crime So Monstrous in an Emmy-winning episode title “How to Buy a Child in Ten Hours”
• Some of his articles have appeared in Newsweek International and The Los Angeles Times
• Has appeared on many national networks, including CNN where he was interviewed by Larry King
• The World Economic Forum Named him a Young Global Leader in 2011
• Worked as a senior fellow at Schuster Institute
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Discuss the impact of slave trade in Romania.
In the book, A Crime So Monstrous: Face-to-Face with Modern Day Slavery, E. Benjamin Skinner describes the sex trafficking in Romania as something truly horrendous. It is explained that in Romania prostitution is illegal and seen as a vice. Nevertheless, there are many signs advertising the clubs that you could go to (Skinner 119). This shows that many people in Romania most likely share the same vice, because money was put into these advertisements to appeal to this audience. When people, see these advertisements it’s as if these clubs are being normalized, which takes the fear of illegality out of the question.
It was interesting when Skinner explained his interaction with an officer who claimed to “know about human trafficking” but then brushed the situation of as prostitution. When Skinner talked to Tatiana, she said “You just know” the difference between a sex slave and a prostitute (121). I’m sure Tatiana just knows because she was a slave so she knows what to look for, but the officer was intriguing. Either he didn’t care enough to think the situation at hand was sex trafficking or he wasn’t trained enough or at all. With the appropriate amount of training hopefully an officer would be able to identify a sex slave just as well as Tatiana
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It’s shocking because these police officers are a part of the anti-trafficking units and yet there are rules set up for them to go and support the trafficking. Which hurts Romania because this is another example of the police officers either not trained well enough or just not caring.
It is understandable that because one-third of the population is under the poverty line, people chose to be sex slaves to survive (Skinner 132). But there is a blurred line between who chose to be in this business and who was tricked or kidnapped, mostly because people don’t care. Sex traffickers themselves have to have very large egos to be able to take people away from their families and force them into something they never signed up for all for their
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,
Awareness of sex trafficking is very important because it can lead to the prevention of this modern slavery. Lack of awareness is a major reason for the existence of modern slavery because not many people know what to do about it. In the modern age, “one of the biggest impediments to anti-trafficking efforts is
In many countrys where poverty is huge is where many predators are looking for vurneerable women to take advantage of because of their situation. The poverty in other countries is a contributing factor in the sex trafficking world. As mentioned by Alicja Jac-Kucharski in her article The Determinants of Human Trafficking: A US Case Study many immigrants are brought to the United States of America with the promise a good job waiting for them for when they arrive. To them this is an amazing opportunity to be able to help their family by leaving their country for a few months they believe they can make enough money to help their family because of how poor their country is. These are the factors that make it possible for people in take advantage of people who want to help their families in need. Kucharskii states,” Push factors are those that people experience around them where they live; these include demographic growth, low living standards, lack of economic opportunities, and political repression” Which are the reasons people feel vulnerable to predators who take advantage of them. It is not just pushed factors that play a role in sex trafficking, but also ,”pull factors”. As stated by Kucharskii a pull factor is,” demand for labor, availability of land, good economic opportunities and political freedoms” . People who are trafficked to another country’s are sometimes enticed by what they hear. Such as a opportunity for better lives and jobs, when in reality it is just a lie so that their traffickers can take than away from her family. Sadly as mentioned by Kucharskii most of the people trafficked are women. Which because of all that was promised to them never comes true and in reality they are turning to sell their bodies. Sex trafficking immigrants are growing more because of how
Prostitution has been as issue in many societies around the world for almost all of recorded history. There has been evidence of brothels and prostitution dating far back into human history. Many different societies have different views, ideals, and reservation about the matter. Some cultures around the world view it as a necessary evil for people who need to support themselves and their families. Others view it as morally evil and socially destructive; helping to rot our society from the inside out. Even still there are cultures who don’t view it as evil at all and even a normal part of life. A person’s view on the act is formed largely based on the culture they are living in. Even sub cultures inside of larger one can have different view on the matter, such as religious groups that denounce it, to some groups in the same culture that say it is okay. Even the gauge of how industrialized a country can determine how that culture views prostitution, with many third world countries being more lenient on the matter, and many first world countries being much more strict on the matter, such as the some of the countries in Europe and also the United States.
According to Van Wormer & Bartollas (2014), sex trafficking, “encompasses the organized movement of people, usually women, between countries and within countries for sex work” (p. 289). Sex trafficking is also a very lucrative business, it is estimated to make $31. 6 billion annually. This amount is estimated from the 2.5 million people who a trafficked each year. The exact number of people who are victims of the sex industry cannot be predicted accurately for all over the world. In the United States alone there is about 14,500-17,500 people trafficked each year. Human trafficking it the third biggest organized crime after drug and arms trafficking (Hodge, 2014). Young men make up about 44% of people being trafficked, while women and girls
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 Rijken (2009) any activity that involves the recruitment, transportation, or receipt of a person using coercive or deceptive means with the intent of exploitation is defined as Human Trafficking. If the victim is under 18 the coercive or deceptive means in unnecessary to call such conduct trafficking (p. 212). There are 12.3 million victims of human trafficking worldwide at any given moment (Hepburn & Simon, 2010; Nack, 2009). Statistics show that 43% are forced into the sex trade, 32% are used in forced labor, and the remaining 25% are trafficked for mixed or undetermined reasons (Hepburn & Simon, 2010). In the United States alone, 15-18,000 women, children, and men are trafficked annually. People of all genders, races, and ages are at risk of becoming victims of human trafficking. We can’t simply prosecute our way to social justice. Of course people who exploit people should be punished. But definitions of trafficking often cast a wide net, encompassing all sex workers. While law enforcement has the biggest role to play, the quest to end modern slavery must have other champions. Forced labor and sex trafficking is the second most profitable criminal enterprise, and the fastest growing. Yet the level of awareness within the United States is not commensurate. To truly confront this most egregious of crimes, civil society must be a lead proponent. Organizations already exist that help in a variety of ways, such as providing training to those who could identify victims. (Ergas, Y.; "Online Journal - JIA SIPA.")
When people live below the poverty line, they are typically desperate to earn money in any way possible so that they can have heat in the winter, food in their stomach, a roof over their head, and clothes on their backs. Once someone reaches this level of poverty, they are somewhat willing to become a prostitute, escort, or a stripper because, even though it can be extremely degrading, it is a quick and relatively simple way to make sums of cash quickly. Although they may walk into such jobs voluntarily, they end up wanting to leave the place but find they cannot whether it is because their boss is dangerous or because they would have no other way to make ends meet. This is where the person becomes vulnerable and where the trafficker can begin to be in control of the new victim. If the person who is becoming a victim through the sex industry has children, they are also putting their children’s lives into their trafficker’s hands, creating additional victims. The reason traffickers enjoy recruiting poor people is because they know just how simple it would be to make them dependent on the perpetrator and how easy it would be to not only gain one new slave, but several if the slave is a parent of minor
The United States has one of the largest percentages of trafficked humans worldwide, however so many individual are unaware of this issue. As many as 17,500 individuals are thought to be trafficked into the United Stated annually, and some have estimated that 100,000 U.S. citizen children are victims of trafficking within the U.S. (Siskin & Wyler, 2010). Since many cases go unreported, these estimates may be fewer than the actual number of victims in the US. There is substantial evidence that supports the ideology that woman and children from low socio-economic status are most likely targeted (Okech, Morreau, & Benson, 2011), of all the people trafficked each year about 70 percent of women and 50 percent are children that are mainly forced into the sex trade (Human Trafficking Statistics). Among socio-economic problems, the trafficking business feeds on conditions of vulnerability, such as family conflicts, natural disasters, youth, ignorance, gender, social exclusion, political instabil...
During the twentieth century, repression and toleration continued, but today in urban areas the trend seems to be toward toleration, and prostitution is becoming increasingly...
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...
Sexual traffickers often recruit children because not only are children more unsuspecting and vulnerable than adults, but there is also a high market demand for young victims. Traffickers target victims on the telephone, social media, through friends, at the mall, and in extracurricular programs. Many traffickers train these young women, such as raping them and forcing them to learn sexual acts. A 2003 study in the Netherlands found that, on average, a single sex slave earned her pimp at least $250,000 a year. Svitlana Batsyukova differentiates sex slavery from prostitution (2007) in that prostitutes typically interact in their trade at their own free will and are monetarily compensated.
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...
Prostitution is the occupational service where sexual acts are exchanged for payment. Opinions of prostitution have changed drastically over the course of half a century, and are being debated worldwide. Prostitution is a very controversial topic, however there are claims that legalizing prostitution could create an overall safer environment, not only for the sex workers but the rest of society. There has been many alterations in prostitution laws and enforcement practices in several countries. Many nations have created new laws or intensified existing penalties for prostitution-related offences such as soliciting sex, purchasing sex, or pimping. Some other societies are experimenting with policies that securitize prostitution.The claims proposing these regulations are important because they are directly opposed to both the conventional benefits of prostitution and the specific allegations of anti-prostitution crusaders. In Canada and the UK, the exchange of sex for money is not illegal. However, the activities that go along with prostitution are criminal offences.“In March 2012, the Ontario Court of Appeal upheld a ban on establishments for the purposes of prostitution, which effectively makes street prostitution illegal. In the US, most jurisdictions, prostitution, solicitation, or agreeing to engage in an act of prostitution are classified as illegal. With the exception of licensed brothels in certain areas in Nevada. In the Netherlands,prostitution was legalized in the mid-1800s but it wasn’t until recently, the 1980s sex work became a legal profession. Restrictions on brothels and pimping were lifted in October 2000 and the industry is now securitized by labour law. Prostitutes are registered as legal workers....
Human Trafficking is trading human beings for sex, labor, or any other force trade. It is known as modern day slavery. Many people in the United States believe that slavery was abolished long ago, but the truth is slavery exist more now than it ever has before. People are being trafficked all around us. Victims of human trafficking range in age, gender, ethnicity, and socioeconomic status. Typically victims share one thing in common, they become isolated from either their country of origin or their families in hope of a better life. Nearly 100,000 children in the United States are currently exploited through commercial sex trade. Over 27 million people worldwide are trapped in human trafficking. Many people are negligent of the fact that millions of people are currently living enslaved in the sex industry. The statistic remains that there is a battle going on worldwide. Ending any form of human slavery will never happen, but becoming aware of the problem and creating ways to stop the numbers from rising or even getting the numbers to decrease should be important. People are not property and no one human being should own another human being. Battles are fought all over the world for people who are oppressed, why is there not a bigger battle for the millions of people being bought and sold right now? It is injustice. Although this global crime is a huge problem that seems way too big to begin solving. There is a way to become aware, speak out, and stop sitting on the sidelines. Even though many people picture slavery as a thing of the past, it never ended. Even though many citizens of the United States see slavery in their mind as something in some far off country and brush the notion aside, t...