She Is Sold | Freedom Feathers: She Is Sold

She Is Sold

She Is Sold
By Jessica Harvey 
January 14, 2015

       



     She’s the girl who’s running away from her abusive past, the one who is impoverished and looking for a way to make ends meet, or perhaps, she’s the girl who naively fell in love with the wrong man.  Regardless of the reasons, there are nearly 30 million victims of human trafficking globally.  There are more slaves now than ever before.  I was in junior high when I first learned about sex trafficking.  At the time, I had the privilege of hearing Christine Caine—an activist for the A21 campaign—speak about the subject at a conference.  Initially, I was horrified and shocked that girls as young as four were being sold for sex.  Ever since that day, I have been passionately fighting against the injustice of sexual exploitation.  Trafficking of persons is not a subject that should be ignored or taken lightly.  In order to fully understand the enormity of this crisis, we will examine the root causes, facts, and the impact of human trafficking throughout the world.

     There are several factors to why human trafficking exists: poverty, governmental instability, natural disasters, addiction, and organized crime are just a few.  Although there certainly are men victimized into trafficking (particularly forced labor), women and children are the most vulnerable to trafficking.  Generally, those who become prey to traffickers are poor, weak, ill-educated, or isolated woman.  Some recruiters befriend teens and adults with the intent of exploiting them.  Deceived with the promise of a better life, young women travel with them into unknown territories.  Once they reach their destination, traffickers burn their passports and immediately force them into sexual labor.  Raped and beaten, girls are chained to beds and are repeatedly forced to serve up to forty men a day.  In several low income communities, fathers and mothers will sell their children due to an overwhelming amount of debt.  Despairingly, their debt is often increased—making it impossible to pay off.  

     Strategies that captors practice to prevent their slave girls from escaping include violence, coercion, lies, and threats.  If victims resist following orders, their masters will threaten to kill them or their families.  Occasionally, slaves will form an attachment to their masters out of fear.  Manipulatively, traffickers convince their victims that they brought oppression on themselves and are receiving the treatment they deserve.  Corrupt law enforcement accomplishes little to prevent these crimes.  In Cambodia, it’s not uncommon for pimps to pay police under-the-table to warn them when raids are conducted.  At times, even the married businessmen and respected policemen own and operate brothels.      

     Although lack of prevention is certainly an issue, the primary root of sexual exploitation is demand.  According to the Invisible Traffick Organization, “There would be no trafficking if there was no end-user willing to exploit the victims.”  Without the demand there would be no supply; where there is considerable demand, the supply must inevitably be met.  In order to satisfy the sexual needs of the public, traffickers abduct a substantial amount of women and children.  In order to boost profits, girls perform in pornographic films and strip clubs.  As the commercial sex industry escalates, men’s lustful desires are fueled—driving the demand further.  Recently, reports show that human trafficking has gone from generating $32 billion in illegal profits to $150 billion yearly.  In the U.S. alone, some 14,500 to 17,500 people are trafficked from overseas each year.          

     Slavery is at its worst and the consequences are horrific.  Clearly, victims suffer the greatest amount of damage from trafficking.  Personal rights have been compromised, bodies have been physically abused, and millions of people are dealing with emotional trauma from sexual exploitation.  Furthermore, victims of sex trafficking have a high risk of contracting sexually transmitted diseases.  Politically, the primary concern is human rights.  Laws are doing little to prevent traffickers from undermining the system.  Sadly, only 1 to 2 percent of victims are ever rescued, while only 1 in 100,000 traffickers are ever convicted.  As authors Stephanie Hepburn and Rita J. Simon point out in their book Human Trafficking Around the World

Across the globe, while victims are criminalized and in many instances have little recourse against their traffickers, the traffickers themselves often face minimal or suspended sentencing.  For instance, in Germany, 92 of the 115 convicted traffickers did not have to face jail time in 2010.

As a matter of fact, according to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), the trafficking of persons is believed to be the third largest source of profits for organized crime in the world. 
 
     The issue seems too immense for anyone to stop.  How can a single person make a difference?  One of the greatest actions that can be taken is raising awareness.  Countless numbers of people underestimate the enormity of slavery today.  In America, much of the slave trade happens under the radar and is believed to be a problem of the past.  Human trafficking isn’t just happening in third world countries—it’s happening locally: on our streets, in our neighborhoods, and throughout our nation.  Ignorance is not an option.  Change begins with the willingness to speak up and assume action.  While raising awareness definitely helps, contributing financially to abolition organizations reduces the progression of sex trafficking. 

     In conclusion, woman and children from every corner of the world are deceived by men—for men.  Escape is not a painless endeavor.  Victims are stricken with fear from their captors and feel responsible for their oppression.  Human trafficking is caused not only by poverty, but demand.  In order to prevent the demand from increasing, the commercial sex industry must be irradiated.  Since governing powers ensure little to prevent the sex trade from inflating, it’s become a low risk way for traffickers to gain extensive profits.  As a result, victims are suffering from disease and trauma.  Millions upon millions of voices are lost in the wind, but we can be their voice.  William Wilberforce—a key figure in the abolition of the British slave trade in 1807—once said, “You may choose to look the other way but you can never say again that you did not know.”  If we all band together, we can put a stop to slavery as we know it in the 21st century.



Sources: 

An Introduction to Human Trafficking. New York: United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, 2008. 
Bales, Kevin, and Ron Sooddalter. The Slave Next Door. Berkeley: U of California P, 2009.

Caine, Christine. "The A21 Campaign." Natalia's Story. 27 April 2011.

"Causes of Human Trafficking." n.d. Invisible Traffick.
 
Hepburn, Stephanie, and Rita J. Simon. Human Trafficking Around the World. New York: Columbia UP , 2013. 

Keen, Laura. "Human Trafficking Is On The Rise." 24 June 2014. Not For Sale.