What comes to mind when you think of
slavery? The Atlantic Slave trade that took place in Europe and the America?
The Ancient Greek and Roman societies that had slaves as the majority of their
populations? POW’s who often experience torture and are forced to work in labor
camps? What I bet you didn’t think of is women being forced into prostitution.
Sex slavery today is one of the BIGGEST realms of exploitation in human
history. In fact, there are more slaves today then there ever were in any other
period of time. The difference? Instead of being forced to do hard labor or
work the land modern day slaves are forced into sex.
The industry itself came about with
the rise of prostitution in the modern day era. Since the sex industry is often
legitimized, it is easier for thugs to take advantage of the harsh barriers
being broken down around this. Women and children in poor countries are often
coerced into the business with promises of a better life, a husband and wealth.
The amount of people trafficked every year ranges from 700,000 to 4 million (1)
With these promises in mind, they themselves
or their families often willingly take their control and give it to the pimps
trying to exploit them. Soon after they will usually find themselves forced to
work in a brothel for dozens of hours on end, with little to no food, clothing
or protection. They are forced to sell themselves
for sex, but they don’t keep any of the money; the pimps do.
The pimps are very clever, and find
many ways to keep the women in this system. They charge them for their supposed
care, as well as for their “program “itself; they then create a “debt” the
woman has to work off. She only makes pennies off her work though, and the debt
will grow even if they are “working it off”.
It is by these means that the industry survives- women are falsely lead
into it through slander and pimps will use these tactics to keep them in.
Now that we’ve explored how the
system itself works, the question is where does this happen? Certainly you
don’t hear stories like this on your local news. You may wonder why this is.
The fact is that sex itself is still taboo and isn’t talked about much in
Western culture. In this country, between 14-17 thousand women are trafficked
into our nation every single year. (2) People are often misinformed about
prostitution as well, thinking that the women involved in the business are
sex-crazed nymphs who will take it wherever they can get it. While there are
women prostituting themselves by free will, many out there are forced or
coerced into the business because of their poor financial situation, or by
pimps with promises of a better life. They are promised jobs, and then forced
to work as prostitutes, facing violence or possibly death if they refuse. No
nation is unaffected. The countries classified as “very high” in demand for
trafficking are Belgium, Greece, Israel, Germany, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands,
Thailand, Turkey and the US (3).
This industry generates around 7 billion
dollars annually (4). That is why it thrives; it is low risk, high profit. Most
in the sex trafficking industry are either working with a corrupt police force,
or if prosecuted do not face heavy sentencing. In fact, the average sentence in
the Netherlands for sex traffickers is 14-15 years (1). Also, many times the
victims will actually face jail time, and instances of coercion, violence or
force must be proven.
So, how can
you stop this? One thing you can do is educate, educate, EDUCATE! Talk about
these issues openly with your peers and create a platform to discuss the results
of trafficking. You could also join the Not for Sale Campaign which seeks to
end sex trafficking. They seek to end trafficking through a variety of
campaigns, resources, and tools for people to use/facilitate.
And remember,
the violence ends with YOU.
Sources:
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