servitude. This form of treatment “often occurs in Central America where teenagers are taken from Nicaragua, Honduras, and Guatemala to work in brothels in Costa Rica and elsewhere that cater primarily to sex tourists from Canada and the United States” (Nagle, 2008, p.147).
Figure 2 Source: International Labor Organization 2012
Victims are most commonly trafficked into forced labor, forced sex work and domestic servitude. Victims are tricked, forced or coerced into slavery. Victims may be men, women or children from a wide-range of backgrounds, classes, and races. It’s not unusual for victims to be trafficked by someone they know and trust, including friends and seemingly trustworthy recruiters and agents. Traffickers use various techniques
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Push factors describe reasons why individuals feel forced into trafficking to get away from something they perceive as a greater risk with worse outcomes. Pull factors describe reasons why people are drawn into trafficking. Luzestella Nagle describes the difference saying victims are “attracted by pull factors and betrayed by push” (Nagle, 2008, p.145). Push factors include a broad array of economic, social, cultural, and political conditions in the countries where victims are obtained. Examples of push factors in Latin America include poor economic activity and lack of job opportunities, poverty, lack of opportunities to improve an individual’s quality of life, gender discrimination, weak law enforcement and political corruption. Pull factors are the never-ending demand for bodies (to provide labor or for the sex trade industries) and perception of higher wage opportunities (Risley, 2010). “Applying push and pull factors identifies the following crucial elements: growing demand for cheap labor; fundamental desire to achieve a better life; ruthless human trafficking supply/transportation structure; and a high number of consumers benefiting from the exploitation of trafficking victims” (Nagle, 2008,
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,
Criminal penalties for human trafficking include prison sentences up to 15-years-to-life and fines up to $1,500,000. There is a much higher risk than reward. Therefore the average American willing to do this is usually not too bright. The trafficking of women and adolescents is increasingly recognized as one of the world’s fastest growing crimes and a significant violation of human rights. Despite the need for evidence on the physical and psychological health consequences to inform rapidly emerging policies and services for trafficked persons, there is limited evidence about the needs of women who have been trafficked. The health of women and adolescent girls trafficked for sexual exploitation in Mexico have been
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
Psychological aspects generally play a huge role in these cases, and victims are often verbally and emotionally abused.... ... middle of paper ... ... Whether it be a matter of turning a blind eye or simply not knowing, human trafficking takes place every day, in every state in the United States of America, home of the free.
Human trafficking victims can be forced to do different things such as physical labor and prostitution. The things that usually are key to trafficking are that the victims are vulnerable to anything that involves a better life or involving moving into the U.S. The main reason is that they suffer from poverty; the victims want to help their family with money and are open to whatever way there is to get money. In addition, many in Mexico risk their lives to come to the U.S. hoping that they can find work. They go through parts of Mexico that are considered to have the most violence with drugs, cartels and trafficking are then most often caught by the cartels and have no other choice but to be a slave working to pay off their “debt” that they have to the cartels. Also the traffickers use everything because the victims are vulnerable, to control the victims often the victims are being belittled by their traffickers, many people that suffered sometimes tell...
Sex trafficking, Prostitution & Drug Use Laina Marquina The College of Saint Rose. Abstract The trafficking of young women and children for prostitution and sexual exploitation is one of the most significant human rights abuses in contemporary society.
The United States is a major port for human trafficking and, “Due to the covert nature of human trafficking, it is difficult to ascertain which countries are the primary source nations for trafficking into the US” (Hepburn). People of all ages and genders are at risk to human trafficking (Hepburn). Women and girls make up about fifty-six percent of the people trafficked for forced labor, while men and boys make up the other forty-four percent; children make up forty to fifty percent of those numbers (Hepburn). Ninety-eight percent of the people trafficked for sexual explorations are women and girls (Hepburn). Children tend to be targeted more than adults because they are much more vulnerable. Human trafficking has different forms, and “While trafficking for the purposes of commercial sexual exploitation is more publicized in the media, it is not the only form of trafficking that takes place in the US” (Hepburn). Trafficking for the purposes of forced labor is just as likely to occur as trafficking for the purposes of sexual exploitation (Hepburn). Many citizens have never heard of human trafficking for something other than sexual exploitation. Hepburn shows that, “Forty-three percent are trafficked for purposes of...
(Reid & Piquero, 2014). There are some common terminologies regarding the determinants that led many young victims into this path; the first one is “love bombing”, this term is coined by many gang members, which infers promises made to young victims for love or better lives, then requiring them to earn money through sex trafficking (Reid, 2014). The second term is “entrapment”, this general term regards to schemes that a pimp or exploiter can use to influence the victims’ emotions in order to force them into perform sexual trafficking (Reid, 2014). A few familiar examples can be: normalizing sex, isolation, flatter or romance, preying on intellectually disabled youths (Reid, 2014), false agencies advertise for modeling opportunity, but often turns out to be abduction traps leading to sex trafficking (Hodge, 2008). The entrapment examples above vary in repetition, some are used often, while others are special cases (Reid, 2014). Another term is “enmeshment”, this term offers an alternative conception for emotional factors being reasons why a child victim would be linked to sex trafficking situations; for examples, loyalty, a sense of obligation, pimps provide hope to return to family, intimidations, or fear of harming loved ones (Reid, 2014). It is also highly conventional to threaten pregnant female victims, ranging from
Human trafficking is the third largest international crime industry followed behind illegal drugs and arms trafficking (“11 Facts” pg. 2). The International Labour Organization estimates that women and girls represent the largest share of forced labor victims with 11.4 million trafficked victims compared to 9.5 million men ( ). Trafficking comes in many forms, forcing victims into prostitution, subjecting victims to slavery or involuntary servitude, compelling victims to commit sex acts for the purpose of creating pornography, and misleading victims into debt bondage (11 Facts. Pg 2). According to federal reports estimate that 14,500 to 17,500 victims are trafficked into the United States each year (What is Human Trafficking. Pg 2). Traffickers will often make their victims’ new birth certificates, passports, and drivers’ licenses making it almost in possible for them to ...
“Human trafficking coerces and persuades their victims to cross national borders in search of new jobs and better opportunities and after that they are forced into some sort of labor bondage” (At Issue: Human Trafficking 1). Even though trafficking is a problem in almost every country; poorer countries have a bigger problem with it because they are more desperate for work. Just in 2000, the U.S. enacted their first federal anti-trafficking law, called the Victims of Trafficking Protection Act (At Issue: Human Trafficking 1). Trafficking has just begun to receive notice on how big of a problem it actually is. “Proponents of strict anti-trafficking initiatives say that laws and prevention against trafficking are necessary in order to stem the growing tide of large scale organized crime that profits off of smuggling and trafficking” (At Issue: Human Trafficking 1).
Sex trafficking is a term that covers a range of activities. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services defines it as “a modern-day form of slavery in which a commercial sex act is induced by force, fraud or coercion, or in which the person induced to perform such an act is under the age of 18 years” (The Campaign 1). Victims of sex trafficking may be forced to do any number of activities to earn money for their traffickers. These include “prostitution, pornography, stripping, live-sex shows, mail-order brides, military prostitution and sex tourism” (10). Wherever there is demand for the sexual exploitation of a certain type of individual, such as teenage girls, young boys or children, traffickers will find people to meet that demand. Unfortunately, this puts innocent people in situations where they are taken advantage of.
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.
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...
In this paragraph I am going to tell you how human trafficking works. First the people who are trafficked are often those who are in debt or living in poverty. Traffickers exploit these types of situations, and trick these individuals into believing that they will sponsor them to get a good paying job somewhere abroad. Next, upon arrival to the destination, these individuals are often shocked to realize that they are not given the work that they were promised and instead, are forced to work in conditions that they did not agree to. Traffickers also take away passports and any other means of identification of these people so that the police will not be able to help them. Finally, victims are often told that they must now work until they pay back their debt, and can also be sold to va...
One of the main causes of human trafficking is vulnerability. For example, children are more vulnerable to trafficking because of their lack of understanding and experience. Additionally, in certain societies, women are less empowered than men thus resulting in gender inequality both at home and in the workplace. Gender inequality then leads to easy exploitation through the use of force or threats. Human trafficking can be curbed by combating the underlying causes that make people vulnerable.