When
thinking about the global issue of sex trafficking, many Americans believe that
the issue is not pertinent to American politics, and therefore dismiss the
issue on the grounds of irrelevance. However, sex trafficking is actually a
major problem in the US, with an estimated 100,000-300,000 american children
affected by sex trafficking a year, not including immigrants that were brought
into the U.S., or exploited upon entering the U.S.. Sex trafficking is a huge
infringement on a person’s human rights, and is a major problem in the US as
well as the rest of the world. It should not be ignored by the American
populace, but must be addressed at home instead of just being considered ‘their
problem and not ours.’
Many people associate problems with
underdeveloped countries as exacerbating the sex trafficking trade, believing
that sex trafficking is something that only occurs in countries in Africa,
Asia, and South America. It is true that underdeveloped countries have severe
problems with sex trafficking. Families may sell daughters to the industry for
money, or police may turn their back on women because they are corrupt and paid
by the sex traffickers. It is also easy to exploit uneducated girls in need of
money who are in search for work. However, the United States is “the only advanced democracy in the
world that has the preponderance of its victims be its own citizens and have it
be youth” (Andrew Tully). As Cass Clemmer says, in the United States, we
view “sex trafficking [as] a foreign concept” because it’s “easier to tackle a
problem we perceive as occurring far from home” when “we can fundraise for
victims of sex trafficking with a comfortable wall between our lives and
theirs, convincing ourselves that nothing so horrific could happen in our own
backyards.” People can no longer sit comfortably on their couches any more,
because sex trafficking does occur in our own backyard, and needs to be
stopped.
The biggest problem with sex
trafficking in the United States is the fact that victims of sex trafficking
are often viewed and prosecuted as prostitutes. Because prostitution is illegal
in the US, victims of sex trafficking are often imprisoned and charged with
committing prostitution instead of getting the help that they need. Many
victims of sex trafficking in the United States are therefore afraid or
hesitant to go to the police for help. They may even view themselves as
offenders. This makes sex trafficking extremely hard to combat. Furthermore,
many law enforcement agencies are ill-equipped to deal with problems of sex
trafficking, often prioritize other types of crimes such as murder, burglary,
and drug abuse over sex trafficking. In addition, even when traffickers are
caught, law enforcement often does not fully understand how to prosecute them,
“commonly charging offenders
with offenses they were not familiar with such as a rape, kidnapping, or
pandering” (Alvarez, The Atlantic).
In
class we talked about human security as being freedom from fear and freedom
from want. We also discussed ontological security as being the protection of a
person’s habits and daily routines. Sex trafficking violates both of these
securities. It takes people from their homes and their daily lives and forces
them into situations that they don’t want to be in. It takes away their basic
rights by not allowing them to make their own decisions and enslaving them. Sex
trafficking is viewed by many to be the modern form of slavery, as it is
capturing a human and forcing them to commit acts against their will without
any pay. It is important to recognize that sex trafficking is a major problem
in the United States and needs to be dealt with in a way that will not hold the
victims of sex trafficking as criminals. Sex trafficking violates rights to
security and must therefore be addressed by both the government of the United
States and the citizens of the US in order to properly help its victims. Sex
trafficking is not just a foreign issue, it is also a national issue, and must
be viewed as one for change to happen, and given the extent and problems
associated with sex trafficking, change must happen for the sake of the
security and basic rights of citizens of the US and the globe.
I have to be honest, before reading the materials for this class as well as my criminology class this semester, I never realized just how large of a problem sex trafficking is in the US really is. I previously associated sex trafficking mainly with places like Thailand and Saudi Arabia, not with countries like the US, Italy, or Japan. Like you mentioned in your post, it is disheartening to learn that between 100,000 and 300,000 American children are effected by this problem every year. It shocks me that for a very developed nation like the US, the government is not better at preventing and/or deterring sex trafficking within its own boarders. As a US citizen, when I return to Boston after an international flight, I am always amazed at how intense things can be, and I am honestly surprised at how many people can be legally trafficked into the US given the seemingly strict security measures. On another note, I think that the issue of sex trafficking highlights the shortcomings of our criminal justice system, in the way that victims of this criminal lifestyle are prosecuted in our current system. Hopefully things will change in the future, but for now educating the public on this issue, I think, is a good place to start.
ReplyDeleteI agree with your point that human trafficking is just as much evident in third world countries as it is the US. The United States is not innocent in the fight to combat human trafficking, more specifically sex trafficking. I think the other point of your argument is interesting that many consider sex trafficking to be in cohesion with prostitution. Many Americans group these two actions into one; yet, there are many differences and attributes that are contained with each. Understanding that prostitution is an act done by the choice of a woman is a lot different that trafficking which considers non consensual coercion. Many Americans need to understand the differences so as to be more aware and create ways of prevention within their own backyard.
ReplyDeleteIt's scary when you think about this case. Whenever you here about sex trafficking you always think about a country across the world fighting these problems. You always see the third-world countries having a problem like this and when it's first-world countries it is a smaller scale, but when I started actually looking into this and reading these blogs I started seeing the hidden truth. Countries tend to hide some of their worst aspects and this problem seems like it is hidden for those only willing to go out and search for it. The prostitution claim of those that are trying to prosecute these people possibly do not know as much about these problems as they should. I would love to have this be more talked about in the news.
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