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Sexual Trafficking Sexual trafficking is a 32 billion dollar industry and one of the fastest growing crimes in the world. Sex trafficking occurs when someone uses force or coercion to cause a human being to commit a sexual act. Girls, women, boys, and men are all victims to sexual trafficking, although women and children are the most common to be victims of this crime. An estimated 800,000 women and children are found out to be victims of sex trafficking every year (Sex Trafficking 1). This essay is going to analyze the causes, effects, preventions, and examples of sexual trafficking in Oklahoma. There are enormous amounts of reasons to why sexual trafficking is occurring in Oklahoma consistently. Pimps are the main reason. What exactly …show more content…
is a pimp? A pimp is a man who controls prostitutes or sex trafficking victims and arranges clients for them, taking part or all of their earnings in return.
They are extremely clever beings and they have a way with words. Pimps are well known for the act they put on to lure naive teenage girls and women into the sex trafficking ring. Something as simple as associating yourself with the wrong crowd can cause you to fall in the hands of a pimp. False promises, including diamonds, money, education, and everything a lady could dream of is the number one reason to why these naive girls are persuaded into doing something so revolting. Several of the girls that pimps try to coax are runaways and are looking for any and every way to survive on the streets. Sometimes, sex trafficking is drug related, meaning that sex trafficking is the only way the prostitute can satisfy her drug addiction. There are many repulsive cases to where the girls and women fall in love with their pimp (Dayspring Villa 1). As stated above, sex trafficking is a 32 billion dollar industry, and the pimps “need” that money. Therefore, there are many cases where the pimps abduct innocent teenage girls wandering the streets just so they can torture the child by having them be apart of a sex trafficking ring so that they can pay bills for their own personal …show more content…
families. Often, there are situations where parents simply cannot afford a child because they have a low income, so they end up putting their kid in a sex trafficking system or they send the innocent children to a relative which then the child is put into a sex trafficking ring by their relative. There was a case in Oklahoma where a man was arrested for offering his girlfriend money in exchange for sex with her teenage daughter. Shamelessly, the girlfriend agreed. Fortunately, the teenage daughter was astute about the situation and right away went to the Oklahoma Police Department to turn the couple in. (6) Other cases of sex trafficking occur when grown women choose to be apart of a prostitution program simply because of the fact that they have extremely low education and feel that they can not afford their family’s needs any other way. Without difficulty, a pimp makes 150,000 to 200,000 dollars per year. On average, they have 4 to 6 sex trafficking victims they sell (Sex Trafficking 2) Trafficking humans in Oklahoma is a felony that carries a minimum of five years in prison if the victim is 18 years or older. However, if the victim is a minor, becoming a licensed sex offender, 15 years to life as well as a 20,000 fine is what a pimps punishment would be for sex trafficking (Human Trafficking Defense 2). Having sex with a minor violates the child trafficking state law which constitutes an obvious felony. (Human Trafficking Wyatt 1). “Within a month of the laws taking effect, we had our first arrest, with someone who was trafficking a 15 year old girl and who had been trafficking her since she was 14, right here in Tulsa” Tulsa Police Sgt. Todd said. This is absolutely appalling to know that somebody right here in Tulsa would have the nerve to slave a young girl with her whole life ahead of her. The heart breaking part is that there are numerous cases just like the one that was just stated. In fact, A 28 year old man from Oklahoma was suspected to be the leader of a sex trafficking ring. He had been taking a minor throughout Oklahoma and Texas to perform sexual acts. Undercover police made an “appointment” with one of his victims and later arrested this disgusting man in June of 2014. There are many bizarre types of human trafficking, for example, forced labor, debt bondage, and sex trafficking. Sex trafficking is spreading all throughout the state of Oklahoma. Any person under the age of 18 who is involved in prostitution, exotic dancing, or porn is automatically considered to be a victim of human/sex trafficking (Human Trafficking Defense 1). Darrell Weaver, confirmed on September 24th, 2014, that human trafficking was more profitable than drug trafficking (Updated: Human 1). The absolute saddest part about sex trafficking is that pimps look for the weakest of weakest girls that have been previously damaged, and turn them out to be even more depressed by making them go through nonconsensual sex. Sex trafficking is often found in massage parlors, adult book stores, modeling studios, and strip clubs (Oklahoma Bureau 3). This is bizarre because one may never know if the place they are getting their nails done at, has a secret sex trafficking ring behind it. “In the 80’s and 90’s, the main problem was street prostitution, with the arrival of the internet, it started going off the streets. The problem is just because they advertise on the internet, they still have to get together some place, so we have started seeing a real rise in prostitution in our hotels and motels in the city” Evans said (Sex Trafficking 3). So, basically, sex trafficking has gotten so normal and modern, it is to the point where the internet is the advertising spot. Motel and hotel owners are well aware of what is going on in their business spots, but they do not care, as long as they are getting their money. Tinder and Backpage.com are both websites pimps use to capture innocent women and children (Sex Trafficking 2). January of 2015, Christina Cook from Tulsa, Oklahoma was sentenced for 5 years in state custody after pleading no contest for using the internet to arrange sex with minor, teenage girls, with grown men. Numerous amounts of people everyday find out about a sex trafficking victim and still do absolutely nothing about it because they think the situation is not that serious, when in reality, it is one of the fastest growing crimes in Oklahoma. It is not looked at as a crime by money, but yes indeed, it IS a crime. Although an abundant amount of people are overlooking this serious situation, there are still multiple people concerned about sex trafficking. Schools and different organizations are simply trying to make students of all ages aware of how sex trafficking affects a human being. The Oklahoma Bureau of Narcotics held a human trafficking awareness seminar at the Southwest Technology Center on October 22nd, 2015, to be able to inform students how to suspect a possible case of human trafficking (Oklahoma Bureau 3). Sex trafficking needs to be a done deal and Kristen Havig from Oklahoma University agrees. “We want to make Oklahoma a very unattractive place for traffickers and sex buyers” (Updated: Human 2).. There is another extremely neat program that brings awareness to students about human and sex trafficking called The Orange Movement. It is led by director Marci Piper and staff member Heather Utzman. “Orange Week” occurs every year during February 11th through the 15th. This program is full of opportunities for students to learn and serve. In addition to raising awareness, praying together is their key step. Marshondria Adams explained that working with the Orange Movement has realized that if your first step is not to pray, your interest in the activity you are helping with will fade, because it will be just another activity. She explains that people do not see prayer as a “do”. The Orange Movement is not just an organization that helps raise awareness about sex trafficking, but they have also raised over 22,000 meals together by students and faculty. This will provide 20 meals each for refugee along the Thailand and Burma border. Next year, the Orange Movement plans to continue their fight against human trafficking with educating other students on taking preventative measures. They will also be partnering with local and global organizations to assist with aftercare for the victims. In other words, the Orange Movement will be combining their power with another organization to be able to help victims of sex/human trafficking which is absolutely amazing. (Sex Trafficking 2). Aside from the Orange Movement, there are multiple hotlines that are available for the victims of sex trafficking.
Abandoning children and handing them off to an unstable relative is never the answer because it is most likely that your child will be sold to a pimp. Taking preventative measures are extremely important, so that one does not end up in a sex trafficking ring. The first step is to associate oneself with the right crowd. Take other precautions like protecting children by not letting them wander the streets. There is nothing an innocent child can do if they are abducted from the corner of the street. Being well educated is extremely important so one does not feel needy enough to feel as if selling their body is the only “good” they can do in this
world. The sex trafficking world is depressing and sickening. The scariest part of it all is that pimps are able to get ahold of innocent children through the internet. A daughter, friend, or somebody you know could be the next victim. Something as simple as associating with the right crowd and staying off bad websites can do so much for a child. It is never a good idea to get involved because, once put in the business, it is most likely you will never be able to get out. The right thing to do is stay in one’s lane and protect one another. Oklahoma is small, it is important all Oklahomans stick together and make sure to put an end to this.
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.
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...
Sex trafficking is a sex act by force where money is involved. Buying or selling someone for sexual acts. Examples are strip clubs, porn, and prostitution. Sex trafficking is todays slavery. Many of those involved in sex trafficking were minors when they first got involved and have been involved for many
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
“Most people thought this is a Third World problem. The United States is the No. 1 destination for sex trafficking in the world. And Oklahoma is right in the middle of the country, the crossroads of all the major interstates.” Peterson said.
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
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
Domestic sex trafficking is the vile new innovative business model used in the sex industry to promote prostitution. The myth about sex trafficking is that it is a foreign not a domestic problem. Sex trafficking is a very lucrative business. The “John’s” create a demand and the “pimps” provide the supply. Child abuse, child neglect, pornography, pedophilia and prostitution are all links in the chains that enslaves America’s children for the pleasure of adults.
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.
Although historically Minot has not had to deal with these problems, it is now seeing massive increases in advertisement of sex for money and human trafficking cases. “By 2 p.m. on a recent Tuesday, Backpage.com in Minot listed 64 escort ads posted that day” stated an August 2014 article in the Minneapolis based Star Tribune. Shockingly this number was only a dozen shy of the total ads posted in Minneapolis/St. Paul area (Louwagie). This has become a huge problem in other, more rural areas with little action being taken to prevent it. Ads soliciting sexual services are being posted online by girls from their teens to their early twenties. Even more devastating is the fact that many girls with ads are as young as 14 and are coerced into this life by pimps. Windie Lazenko, an aid worker in Williston, was only 13 years old when when she was sold into prostitution (Boyce and This is Life: Filthy Rich). Lazenko, now 30, moved to Williston short-term to help work with the growing issue of sex crimes but has ended up staying and working for a cause that hits so close to home. She somberly stated in an interview with CNN, “In the whole entire state of North Dakota, I am the only one, so far, that is providing direct services to victims of sex trafficking” (qtd. in This is Life: Filthy Rich). Prostitution is not going away; moreover, it is alarming to know that it is happening right
Sex trafficking is a form of contemporary slavery that induces and forces people into a commercial sex trade against their will. Many factors contribute to the sex trade and the exploitation occurs mostly to women and children. 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.
Human trafficking is a form of slavery, forcing victims to engage in sexual activities and labors against their will. These activities can be taken place through force, fraud, or constraint. Human trafficking is not just affecting one group of people, it is a worldwide issue, affecting all different ages, genders, ethnicities, and socio-economic backgrounds. Human trafficking is such an immense problem, apprehending the true size, knowing how to help, and how to keep the issue from reoccurring. Human trafficking is and is still becoming such a serious issue that something needs to be done about.
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...
“Stolen people, stolen dream” is the brutality faced by numerous, vulnerable, gullible children in the black market around the world even in the admirable United States. Trafficking of children is the modern day slavery, the act of recruiting, harboring, transporting, providing, or obtaining a person for compelled labor or commercial sex acts through the use of force, fraud, or coercion. More than ever, it has become a lucrative method that is trending in the underground economy. A pimp can profit up to $150,000 per children from age 4-12 every year, as reported by the UNICEF. Also, according to the International Labor Organization statistics, “There are 20.9 million victim of human trafficking globally, with hundreds of thousands in the United
Human trafficking is a worldwide problem. From California to Australia, it happens. “161 countries are reported to be affected by human trafficking by being either a source, transit, or destination count. Out of the 161 countries, 56% of those are in Asia and the Pacific, being the number one place it occurs” (UNGIFT). Trailing far behind with 10% is Latin America and the Caribbean” (UNGIFT). No matter the location or the state of the economy, human trafficking is always in progress. “People are reported to be trafficked from 127 countries to be exploited in 137 countries, affecting every continent and every type of economy” (UNGIFT). “The majority of trafficking victims are between the ages of 18 and 24 years old” (UNGIFT). Just because those are the most common ages, doesn't mean that it only happens to them. Children are also affected by human trafficking. “An estimated 1.2 million children are trafficked each year” (UNGIFT). So many people think that it is just teens and adults that get stuck into the trafficking business, but it is also small children.