Globalization Sex Trafficking

Globalization creates populations that become vulnerable to sex trafficking around the world. In order to truly understand the causes of sex trafficking, one must look at the lager issues at hand rather than trying to blame an individual or small group of people. One of the larger concepts includes globalization and one of the key features of it is migration (Unit 3 Lecture, 2018). Migration tends to occur when there are several existing push/ pull factors. “Globalization worsens poverty, which leaves more people vulnerable to contemporary form of slavery, such as child labor…” (Davy, 2013). Which leaves several push factors creating motivation to migrate to various countries. Once the migration occurs, women are forced to look for work and are often times left with little to no options because of their lack of

education, experience, and opportunities (Half Sky, 2013). A large percentage of women take jobs as maids, nannies, or even sex workers (Ehrenreich & Hochschild, 2011).

Therefore, they turn to trafficking as it seems to be their only choice to provide for their families. The frequency of this issue has brought a lot of attention to it. The United Nations has recognized this as a global issue since each year, between 600,000 and 800,000 people are trafficked across international borders around the world. Trafficking exists in all fifty states and in over one hundred and fifty countries (Franco, 2015). Unfortunately, this frequency exacerbates in conflict zones. Women and children, an already fragile population, become extremely vulnerable to sexual violence, exploitation, and trafficking. A study in which analyzed these factors within armed conflict zones found that between two to thirty two percent of individuals in conflict zones were victims of sexual slavery (McAlpine & Hossain & Zimmerman, 2016). Whether it be through the creation of push/pull factors to migrate or the conception of conflict in various countries, globalization causes women and children to become vulnerable to sex trafficking all over the

world.
Sex trafficking is primarily an issue faced by females in a male dominated industry based on supply and demand. The male dominated aspect of this industry causes gender inequality, it gives males the position to be in power and control women. This gender inequality can be seen as a form of sexual terrorism in the sense that victim blaming and indiscriminate violence is present (Scheffield, 2007). According to Franco, the lack of knowledge surrounding trafficking makes the victims “hard to detect”. Therefore, they seem to be prostitutes and are punished as if they are (Franco, 2015). The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime reported that seventy six percent of trafficking victims were female, and of the seventy six percent, twenty seven percent were children (Franco, 2015). However, these figures are understandably incorrect because of the unfortunate hidden nature of these crimes. Therefore, theoretically, these figures have the potential to be much higher. Because a large percentage of the victims are females, one can assume that a large percentage of the buyers are male. In turn, making the men the ones demanding these situations and placing them in a position of power. Because males demand these encounters, “pimps” supply them. Therefore, making it a commodity trade in a supply-and-demand market. “If no one demanded the purchase of female bodies for sex, pimps would not supply them” (Hunt, 2013).