WOMENSEXTRAFFICKING

WomenSexTrafficking
ErikaZamoraCastellanos
e3CivicHigh


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Abstract
TherearefivethematicissuesthatarepresentedinHalftheSkyGenderBasedViolence,Sex
TraffickingandIntergenerationalProstitution,MaternalMortality,EconomicEmpowerment,
andEducation.Whilesextraffickingisnottheonlyissueaffectingwomenslivestoday,itisa
definingstruggleofthe21stcenturythatistalkedaboutthroughoutthispaper.Countlesswomen
facediscriminationfrompoliceofficersandreceivenohelpbecauseoftheimpliedsocial
hierarchyinstilledinthecommunity.Duetothefactmanypeoplearoundtheworldwouldreject
theideaspresentedinthispaper,therebuttaltosomeofthosestatementsareincluded.Thereare
manythingsthatcanaffecttheresultsmentionedinthispaperastherecanbemanyoutside
factorsinvolved.
Keywords:
sextrafficking,socialhierarchy,discrimination,women


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Introduction
Sextraffickingisanissuearoundtheworldthatcanbesolvedinmultipleways.When
talkingaboutsextraffickingitshouldbeknownthatwomenaretakenawayeitherbyforceor
withtricksandareshovedintotheworldofsexualslavery.Societyincertainareasaroundthe
worldhasnotdonemuchtohelpthesewomenandhaveatypeofsocialhierarchyinvolvedin
theirdecisionsonwhethertohelpornot.Mostpeoplearoundtheworldwouldsaythatitisthe
victimsfaultforbeingtrafficked,butinreality,thisistheexactthoughtprocessthatmakes
societytheproblem.
Intheworldtoday,tonsofwomenaretraffickedintoabusinesstheydonotwanttobein.
Theyareforcedtosellthemselvesforsexortheywillfacedireconsequences.CNNhasstated,

Itwaschildrape...Theexploitationcontinuedtoescalate.Sacharaysoonwasbeingsoldto
dozensofmenaday.Shewouldmeetthesesexbuyersinmotelroomsnearafreeway,oreven
sometimesinthebackofthebarbershop(Coorlim).Thisshowsthatevenifthewomandoesnot
knowthatsheisbeingtrafficked,sheisanditisnotherfaultforbeingmanipulatedbytheother
person.
Thepolice,whoseethisasanormaloccurrenceinsomeareas,arenohelpsincethey
believethepeoplebeingtraffickedareofnoimportancetothecommunityandthereforethey
shoulddonothingtohelpthepoorwomenthatdoescapeonrareoccasions.Sometimesthey
evenarrestthewomen.Inthebook,HalftheSky,byNicholasD.KristofandSherylWuDunn,
anIndianpoliceofficerisquotedsayingthefollowing,Prostitutionisinevitable.Therehas
alwaysbeenprostitutionineverycountry.Andwhatsayoungmangoingtodofromthetimehe
turnseighteenuntilwhenhegetsmarriedatthirty?...Oh,yesbutthosearepeasantgirls.They
cantevenread.Theyrefromthecountryside.ThegoodIndianmiddleclassgirlsaresafe


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(Kristof,24).Thisquoteshowsthatsomeofficersinmanythirdworldcountriesdonotcare
aboutthewellbeingoflowerclassgirlsbeingprostitutedaslongasthegoodmiddleclass
girlsaresafe.Therehavebeeneffortstostopsextrafficking,but,thelawsmadeusuallyendup
aninconvenience.
Therehavebeenlawsthatarepassedtotryandputanendtosextrafficking,however,
thecountrieseffortsareusuallyfruitlessandcouldendupmakingthesituationworsethanwhat
italreadyis.TheUnitedNationshasbeenquotedsaying,Sofarwehavenotattainedmuch
knowledgeandthereforeinitiativeshavebeeninadequateanddisjointed(UnitedNations).This
showsthatitisknownthattheeffortsmadearenotaseffectiveastheycouldbe.Thelawscanbe
alotmoreeffectiveifthecountryplansitoutbeforehandandcomeupwithsomepossible
outcomestothelaw.Thatwaytheycanseewhatthebestcourseofactionwouldbe.TheUnited
Nationshavealsostated,Ontheotherhand,asof2007/08,twooutofeveryfivecountries
coveredbythisreporthadnotrecordedasingleconviction.Eithertheyareblindtotheproblem,
ortheyareillequippedtodealwithit(UnitedNations).Thisshowsthatsomecountriesarent
puttinganyeffortinmakinglawsagainstsextrafficking.Althoughitisnotalwaysthecountries
faultforfailingatmakinglaws,sometimesitisthepeoplethatupholdthelawthatmakesex
traffickingacurrentproblem.
Intheworldofsexslavery,mostpeoplegetawaywithitbecausetheycanbribethe
peoplewhoupholdthelaw.Ascholarlyarticlestates,Akeyfeatureofmanymoralcrusadesis
thattheimputedscaleofaproblem(e.g.,thenumberofvictims)farexceedswhatiswarranted
bytheavailableevidence(Weitzer).Thisshowsthatthecountrydoesnotalwaysincludethe
totalamountofvictimswhentalkingabouttheproblem.Thecountryliesaboutittomakeit


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seemlikeitisnotaproblem.Moreover,thismeansthatthecountryisnothelpinginthefight
againstsextrafficking.Thepoliceandpoliticalfiguresarecorruptedandjustturnablindeyeto
thesufferingoftheonesbeingtrafficked.Notmanypeoplewouldagreewiththestatement,but
thatisanormalresponsetoanystatement.
Manypeoplearoundtheworldwoulddisagreewiththefactsandopinionspresentedin
thispaper.Somewouldsaytheofficerisjustoneoutofmany.Thisistrue,however,heisnot
theonlyonethatisknowntothinkthatsextraffickingissomethingthatcannotbesolvedand
thatitshouldjustbeleftalone.Anothercomplaintsomeonewouldsayisthatthelawsdowork
andthatitjusttakessometimetoseetheresults.Therehavebeenstudiesthatshowsthatmany
lawsthathavebeenpassedonlyachievedinsendingthetraffickersundergroundandmadeit
hardertostop.Therehavebeensomelawsthathelpedslightlybuttheywerenotverywell
plannedandsomecountriesstoppedupholdingthelaw.Finally,somewouldsaythatjust
becauseonepersoniscorrupted,thatdoesnotmeanthateveryoneiscorrupted.Thatistrue,
nevertheless,onepersoncaneasilyruinitfortherest.Thereshouldnotbeevenonecorrupted
officerastheyshouldallhaveasenseofjusticeandwouldwanttohelpinsteadofwanting
moneyandturningablindeyetootherssuffering.Therearemanythingsthatsocietygetswrong,
butitisalrightaslongastheylearnfromtheirmistakes.
Societyhasaproblemofblamingthevictimfortheirissues.Thecountrydoesnotseesex
traffickingasaproblemortheysaytheycannotdomuchaboutit.Lawsthatarepassedare
usuallyinadequateorarerushedandmakethesituationmuchworse.Thentherearepolitical
figuresandpeoplewhoupholdthelawthatarecorruptedandmakeiteasierforsextraffickersto
dotheirjobs.Thiscanbestoppedbybeingeducatedonwhatishappeningintheworldtoday


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andbyinformingothersatthesametime.Bybeinginformedeveryonecanhelppasslawsor
makepetitionstomakealawgointoeffect.Thiscanalsochangethewaypeoplelookathelping
othercountriesraisefundingtosupportpeopleaftertheyhaveescapedfrombeingtrafficked.All
inall,thissituationwillslowlydecreaseinnumbersofvictimsasmorepeoplelearnaboutthe
horriblethingshappeningandstanduptofightagainsttheinjusticethatmanyarefacing.


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References
Coorlim,L.,&Ford,D.(2015,July21).Sextrafficking:ThenewAmericanslavery.Retrieved
March01,2016,fromhttp://www.cnn.com/2015/07/20/us/sextrafficking/
Thesourcetellsthestoryofayounggirlbeingtrickedintoprostitutionafterfacing
bullying.Thissourceisreliablesinceitisfromatrustednewssourceandisknownfor
beingtrustworthy.Thesourcewillbeusedtoshowhowgirlsendupinthesextrafficking
businessandwhytheusuallystayinit.
Kristof,N.D.,&WuDunn,S.(2009).
Halfthesky:Turningoppressionintoopportunityfor
womenworldwide
.NewYork:AlfredA.Knop
Theauthorsrecountthestoriesofabusefrommultiplewomenaroundtheworld.This
sourceisreliablebecausethestoryisunbiasedandonlystatesfacts.Thebookisalso
madeofpeoplesretellingsoftheirlives.Thissourcewillbeusedtoshowthetrauma
thatwomenbeingsextraffickedhavetofaceonadailybasis,withoutthehopeofever
gettinghelp.
Thomas,G.(1991).
Enslaved
.NewYork:PharosBooks.
Theauthorrecountsstoriesofabduction,abuse,andthetraffickingofallgenders.This
sourceisreliablebecauseitincludesuptodatefactsfromthetimeitwaspublishedandit
includesnobiasopinionsunlessbackedupwithfacts.Thesourcewillbeusedinthis
paperbybeingquotedonitsfactsandbypointingoutcertainthingsrepeatedthroughout
otherbooks.Thebookwillalsobeusedtogiveoutfactsonhowpeopleareabductedand
theirstoriesofabuseduringthattimeandafter.
UnitedNations,UNODC.(2009,February).
GlobalReportonTraffickinginPersons
.Retrieved


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March6,2016,fromhttps://www.unodc.org/documents/Global_Report_on_TIP.pdf
TheUnitedNationsglobalreportonsextraffickingincludesstatisticsfromaroundthe
worldaboutthecurrentstateofthesextraffickingbusinessandthecurrentnumbersthey
haveonpeoplebeingsextrafficked.Thissourceisreliablebecauseitincludesnobias
andbecauseitisareportfromthegovernmentonaworldissue.Thiswouldmeanthat
thesourceistrustworthyandincludesnolies.Thesourcewillbeincludedinthepaperby
grabbinginformationfromittoshowhowmanypeoplearebeingtraffickedindifferent
areasandthiswillincludepeoplefromallaroundtheworldnotjustacertainarea.
Weitzer,R.(2007).TheSocialConstructionofSexTrafficking:Ideologyand
InstitutionalizationofaMoralCrusade.
Politics&Society,

35
(3),447475.Retrieved
March1,2016,fromhttp://www2.law.columbia.edu/faculty_franke/Gender_Justice/2007
PoliticsSocietyWeitzer.pdf
TheauthordiscussesandresearchestheissueofsextraffickingandtheUnitedStates
effortsatamoralcrusade.Thearticleexaminessocialconstructionsandprovesthatthey
arefalsewhilealsolookingatthegovernmentscrusadeideology.Thissourceisreliable
astheresearchwasconductedattheUniversityofAlabamaandthesourceusespure
academiclanguagewhilegettingtheirpointacross.Theauthorwillusethissourceto
explainthesocialconstructionofsextraffickingandtoshowpossiblesolutionstothe
problem.