An article released by the BBC entitled “Horrors of India’s Brothels Documented” brought this shocking global issue to my attention. The article provides information about a young Indian girl who was only 11 when she was sold into sex slavery by her neighbor (who had persuaded her family to let her go with him to Mumbai); she was taken from her impoverished village in West Bangel. Brutally raped the first night she arrived in a brothel, Guddi is only one of 20,000 sex workers in that specific area [Kamathipura] (2013). The article elaborates on the history of sex slavery in India. It points out that laws have recently been put into place against human trafficking. However, the laws are not being strongly enforced due to the sheer number of the cases. Human trafficking is like a plague that is spread throughout the world, and India is one of the hardest hit places. This paper will elaborate on the reasons this condition exists in India, and explain the connections that India has with the rest of the world that stem from this issue.
According to a special article published in the International Journal of Gynecology and Obstetrics:
The largest number of sex trafficking victims originates in Asia, with an estimated 150,000 annually from South Asia alone. India is a major destination country for sex trafficked women and girls, with large numbers of Nepalese, Bangladeshi, and rural Indian females trafficked to Indian cities annually. Mumbai is considered to be the most common sex trafficking destination within India (Silverman, Decker, Gupta, Maheshwari, Patel, Willis & Raj, 2007).
Why are Indian women and children so venerable to this condition? Evidence suggests that colonialism, high population, intents poverty, low educationa...
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...i, A., Patel, V., Willis, B. M., Raj, A. (2007). Experiences of sex trafficking victims in mumbai, india.
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[Print Photo]. Retrieved from http://www.globalslaveryindex.org/
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Briski, Z. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://topdocumentaryfilms.com/born-into-brothels/
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,
Kotrla, K., & Wommack, B. A. (2011). Sex Trafficking of Minors in the U.S.: Implications for Policy, Prevention and Research. Journal of Applied Research on Children: Informing Policy for Children at Risk: Vol. 2 (Iss. 1), article 5.
Some governments still don’t have any laws that ban this evil and it is not good for people who suffer from it as it runs rampant in those countries. The places that need the government's help with this the most, have governments that are failing to protect them. The UN Chronicle says that the only way to end sex trafficking and give these victims the closure they deserve is the “prosecution of traffickers and protection of victims”(UN Chronicles). It is not the girls fault and if these traffickers are punished and made an example of, it could discourage others from following this dark path and this will mitigate and eventually end sex trafficking. Some countries don’t persecute the traffickers, or they do very little to punish them and this needs to change to eliminate sex trafficking. When some countries are “lagging behind with no counter-trafficking laws at all”(Jesionka), this prevents people who are held captive from getting the justice they deserve in some parts of the world. If the world worked together to eliminate this, the countries that are exploited for this trade would keep their people safer. The countries need to take on these traffickers if there is going to be any difference in this modern slavery. Not enough is being done to catch and punish these criminals and this is a giant problem. When others can actually see the problem, their governments
Human rights are by definition rights that every human being has and can not and should not ever be taken away by any one no matter who that person is. Unfortanitly this is not true for every person in the world and even in the United States of America where it is the land of the free. Many women in the United States of America have a very important human rights taken away from them with out them having a choice. Many women in the United States of America are pulled into the sex trafficking underworld with out them having choice and them not wanting to be in such a world. The sex trafficking underworld dark cold world that should not exist but it does exist and is a real part of the United States of America. No body likes to talk about
Kara, Siddharth. Sex Trafficking: Inside the Business of Modern Slavery. New York: Columbia UP, 2009. 5. Print.
Many people are horrified by it others take advantage of it, either way sex trafficking is wrong. Every year more women and even children are forced into prostitution. Human sex trafficking is a $32 billion dollar industry and is growing larger every day. Lakshmi the main character of Patricia McCormiks book Sold give us a look at the like of a sex slave. As most police heads are turned by money in India more girls are being bought and sold every day. Lakshmi is a great example of how awful the brothels are and how much the girls would love to leave them. Patricia McCormick, author of Sold, uses Lakshmis struggle to leave the brothel to show that perseverance is important, and many people in the world do not have the same type of drive as Lakshmi.
Majority of human trafficking are worldwide which involves the transportation of victims from Africa, South and Eastern Asia, Central and South America, Russia and other developing countries to developed countries in Asia, the Middle East, North America and central and southeastern countries of the European continent. It is the Asia-Pacific region where a majority of the world’s forced laborers come from followed by Africa. The Asia-Pacific region contributes 56% or 11.7 million victims, while Africa accounts 18% or 3.7 million victims of human trafficking. The meltdown of the global economy in the recent times has given rise to an increase in contemporary slavery. About 26 percent of modern slaves are children below the age of 18 years, out of which girls are the victims of child prostitution and
An estimated 20.9 million people are currently being trafficked worldwide (The Polaris Project, 2014). According to the Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000 (TVPA, reauthorized in 2013), sex trafficking is defined as, “A commercial sex act induced by force, fraud, or coercion, and/or in which the person induced to...
Awareness of child sexual trafficking can be viewed as a balanced scale, with one side representing the country’s population that is fully informed of the issue, while the other side is either unaware or unattached to the issue. The public needs to have more involvement with this affair based on multiple concerns; first, the act of child sex trafficking itself is a serious crime that violates human rights (Fong & Cardoso, 2010). Second, various negative health repercussion including transmittable sexual diseases, physical damages, mental disturbance, post traumatic stress disorders, and other illnesses plague many victims (Fong & Cardoso, 2010). Third, sexual trafficking is responsible for generating poverty as a result of obstructing economic, and social development (Reid, 2012). Child sex trafficking proves to be a global dilemma affecting numerous countries
Sex trafficking is when women, young girls, and young boys are held in slavery and forced into prostitution for the financial gain of others in brothels in the United States, Europe, and other developing countries such as Thailand and the Philippines (Sexual Slavery). It’s happened to many women and children throughout many years in many of these countries for money and more power. Often purchased or kidnapped off the street, women, girls, and boys are trafficked across international
Over 2 million children are sold into sex trafficking each year (Global). Sold gives the eye-opening narrative of just one of them. I followed Lakshmi through her journey as she learned about life outside her small hometown in Nepal. She loved her mother and baby brother and worked hard to keep up with her repulsive step-father’s gambling habit. When given the opportunity to take a job that could provide for her family, Lakshmi accepted the offer. Unknowingly, she walked into the hands of horrible people who led her blindly on the path of prostitution. Discovering her fate, Lakshmi latched onto hope when all seemed bleak. After months of endless abuse, some Americans gave her the opportunity to escape her situation, and, thankfully, she took
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.
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...
Sex trafficking is a world wide epidemic. It targets unknowing victims such as women and children enslaving them and exploiting their innocence. Human trafficking is becoming one of the biggest money making organized crimes in the world. The sex trade is one of the most profitable of all current slave trades. Through the age, gender, class, and race many are trapped in a never-ending cycle of coercion and abuse in order to survive in the corrupt society around them. In order to stop this monstrosity in the world, we need to start at the root of the problem. We must bridge the barriers between gender, class, and race in order to respect one another and live in harmony
“There is 12.3 million victims of human trafficking and forced labor worldwide at any given time according to Hepburn and Simon, 2010, and the highest number is for sexual exploitation (Hepburn & Simon, 2010). The kidnapping of 200 Nigerian girls by the militant Islamic group called Boko Harem in 2014 is a form of human trafficking. Human trafficking disguises itself in different ways to entrap victims. Human traffickers can operate through various businesses that blend into communities and look legitimate but are actually human trafficking hubs. Some of the frequent places are massage parlors and strip clubs. In society today the brothel owners, pornography producers and pimps know the high profit that women and children generate and place these orders for traffickers to fill (Hodges, 2008). They are transported in similar ways guns and drugs are smuggled into the United States. The majority are trafficked through Russia, Germany, France and Canada and in up in the United States where they are threatened, beaten, and forced drugs to cooperate. Also you have those who are runaways, or families might have sold them for money in their country, and then you have some who come by the way of mail order brides (Potts,