History+of+Human+Sex+Trafficking


 * “Imagine being illegally smuggled into a foreign country and forced to sell your body. Imagine having no freedom of speech—no freedom of movement. Imagine having absolutely no say in what happens to you. Imagine being constantly afraid. Imagine feeling like there is no way out… This is the experience of thousands—even millions –of women and children who endure unimaginable brutality every day. And yet, many people don’t know that human trafficking exists. It is a global issue that needs global attention. The statistics of modern slavery are shocking [and] the heartbreaking stories of its victims are shocking.”** (Human Trafficking. Dir. Christian Duguay. 2005. DVD.)

Human sex trafficking is one of the oldest crimes in recorded history, and the practice continues today in almost every country around the world, including the United States and Canada. “Approximately 800,000 people are trafficked across international borders…[every year, and] after the illegal sale of drugs and weapons, [it is] the most profitable criminal business.” (Human Trafficking. Dir. Christian Duguay. 2005. DVD.) **Dating back to as far as 3000BC**, where slavery, forced prostitution, and sexual exploitation existed in ancient cultures such as the Egyptians, Romans, Greeks, and Persians, (Shared Hope Mar.2010) human trafficking and exploitation of basic human rights is still extremely prevalent in today’s modern society.

The problem of human trafficking was finally brought to light and made a political issue during the early 1900’s, where the International Agreement for the Suppression of the White Slave Traffic was drafted. (Women and Global Human Rights, 04 Mar. 2010.) Its purpose was to "prevent the procuration of women and girls for immoral purposes abroad". ( [|www.protectionproject.org] ) In 1865 the U.S. Congress approves the thirteenth Amendment, outlawing slavery, and then in 1998, Linda Smith, a US Congresswoman, created a foundation called Shared Hope International, in order to “rescue and restore women and children in crisis by providing comprehensive services to meet their needs”, (Shared Hope Mar.2010) after traveling on Falkland Road in Bombay India, where one of the worst brothels in the world is located. “The hopeless faces of desperate women and children forced into prostitution compelled Linda to found …the non-profit organization.” (Shared Hope Mar.2010)

Shared Hope International is a foundation that works on combating sex trafficking worldwide. This foundation is an international leader with regards to the issue of human sex trafficking, and they have managed to “gain a promising reputation for prompting legal and political reform against sex trafficking, and have expertise in restoring women and children worldwide.” (Shared Hope Mar.2010) In 1999, Shared Hope International opened its first Home of Hope in Bombay in India. The home includes facilities such as six safe houses, an educational facility, and a vocational school. Shared Hope International also opened a home in Nepal that year, to help girls who have been trafficked from Nepal to India start a new life. They also lunched a mobile HIV/Aids clinic and mobile food van in Bombay, allowing for intervention into hard to reach areas, and helping bring girls out of the brothels toward long-term restoration. In 2000, the domestic Women’s Investment Network program was established, training women to enter the workforce and support themselves and their families. (Shared Hope Mar.2010)

Even though organization like Shared Hope International, are playing a huge role in combating human sex trafficking and slavery, they are still facing quite a large challenge. **Human sex trafficking is an issue that affects virtually every region of the world.** Statistics show that people are trafficked from one hundred and twenty seven countries, and are then exploited in one hundred and thirty seven countries. Some experts even suggest that **sex trafficking accounts for eighty percent of all human trafficking**. ("Sex Trafficking: the Facts Trafficking for Sexual Exploitation Has Become an Epidemic in the past Decade. 04 Mar. 2010.) According to the International Labour Organization, men and boys who are forced into commercial sexual exploitation by sex, amounts to about two percent, and for women the numbers amount to about ninety-eight percent. For forced economic exploitation by sex, men and boys range from about fourty-four percent of affected persons, where as women and girls range from about fifty-six percent of affected persons. ("Sex Trafficking: the Facts Trafficking for Sexual Exploitation Has Become an Epidemic in the past Decade. 04 Mar. 2010.)

In India “more than 2.3 million girls and women were believed to be in the sex industry, and experts believed that more than 200,000 persons were trafficked into, within, or through the country annually. There were approximately three million trafficking victims in the country, and two thousand rescues a year. Women's rights organizations and NGOs estimated that more than 12,000 and perhaps as many as 50,000 women and children were trafficked into the country annually from neighboring states for commercial sexual exploitation. According to an International Labor Organization (ILO) estimate, 15 percent of the country's estimated 2.3 million prostitutes were children, while the UN reported that an estimated 40 percent of prostitutes were below 18 years of age. Tribal persons made up a large proportion of the women forced into sexual exploitation.” ("The Facts. 04 Mar. 2010.) In the US, the Civil Rights Division and United States Attorney Offices filed ninety-one trafficking cases—which was a 405% increase in trafficked victim cases from the year 1996 through 2000 to 2001 through 2005. In these cases, two hundred and fourty-eight trafficking defendants were charged. ("The Facts. 04 Mar. 2010.) “Despite an estimated prevalence of 100,000 to 150,00010 slaves in the U.S., fewer than 1,000 victims have been assisted through the efforts of federal, state, and local law enforcement since 2001, when services for trafficking victims were first made available.” ("The Facts. 04 Mar. 2010.)

Human trafficking is one of the most unfortunate aspects of globalization and failing economies. The results have rendered devastating consequences on international human sex trafficking. “**Traffickers employ a number of different techniques to coerce, deceive, and force people into trafficking.** Deceptive ads for work abroad in local newspapers, and employment and travel agencies mislead people to believe that they will be migrating for legitimate jobs.” (Amnesty International Firefly Project. 04 Mar. 2010.) Women are also sold into trafficking by family members who have been promised high profits for their wives and daughters. Often, family members and women are equally deceived through Internet operated recruitment websites such as Mail-Order Brides, marriage agencies, and modeling agencies. However, one of the most common methods of recruitment for human sex trafficking is through community members, friends, or even past victims of human sex trafficking themselves, in attempts to pay off their own debt sooner. In some cases more forceful recruitment methods are used, such as kidnapping and drugging of the victims. (Amnesty International Firefly Project. 04 Mar. 2010.)

The movement of trafficking victims into the United States and Canada are intricate and involve both legal and illegal methods. Some victims are smuggled across borders, like that of Mexico and the United States, and then distributed to other states, while others are admitted in to the country with legal documents such as tourist, entertainer, fiancé, or business visas. These documents are then confiscated by the traffickers along with any money and personal identification. It is also possible for Americans and Canadians to fall victims within their own country, under the deception of an individual about the nature of work in which a person may have applied. Emotionally vulnerable, young, homeless or drug dependent individuals are highly at risk for recruitment of human sex trafficking. (Amnesty International Firefly Project. 04 Mar. 2010.) “Victims of trafficking frequently suffer violent forms of abuse at the hands of their traffickers or those who use their labor services. Debt-servitude also places trafficking victims in situations in which they are trapped and deceived. Victims are expected to pay back exorbitant sums to their traffickers for smuggling fees, housing, doctor’s bills, and/or debt from a drug habit. Often these sums are so high that it is not realistically possible that a person could ever work them off. Traffickers may also exploit a victim’s fear to keep him or her from leaving or going to the police. Fear of deportation, fear of further sexual or physical exploitation at the hands of officials, or fear of persecution for his or her engagement in illegal activities such as sex work and/or illegal entry may keep a trafficking victim from coming forward and asking for help.” (Amnesty International Firefly Project. 04 Mar. 2010.)

The health risks involved in human sex trafficking are both frightening and horrific. Victims are at high risk from exposure to deadly diseases, including HIV/Aids, injuries or illnesses from the poor working conditions, depression and exhaustion, anxiety, and other sexually transmitted infections. In many cases, trafficking victims are worked and even physically brutalized to death. (Amnesty International Firefly Project. 04 Mar. 2010.) **The largest demographic who buys into sex slavery and sex tourism are males who are married and/or are in long-term partnerships**. ("The Facts. 04 Mar. 2010.)

The business of human trafficking has literally become one of the largest profit-making enterprises in the world, second only to the trafficking of illegal weapons and drugs. It is a serious social issue that goes unnoticed. It is estimated that every two seconds a person somewhere in the world is abducted and forced into sex slavery and human trafficking. ("The Facts. 04 Mar. 2010.) These women can be your friend, your sister, or even your daughter. It is time that more light is shed on the horrific events that are taking place in our world today. Both men and women need to be made aware. The demand for purchased sex and pornography must be stopped. Everyone deserves the most basic human right…. Freedom.