Sex-Trafficking

Angelique’ Evins

Journalism

January 4, 2013

Sex-Trafficking

            There are approximately twenty-seven million slaves, mostly made up of young boys and girls, in this world that are fighting for their innocence as well as their lives everyday. The problem is that they cannot fight back even though they might want to and that this lucrative business is illegal. Boys and girls from five to eighteen years of age are being kidnapped to serve as slaves to those who are cold-hearted. Because this has not affected us in any kind of way, we do not take notice to the issue at hand. We do not notice the severity that also goes along with this secretive and cruel “business”. There are many reasons why people kidnap children and use them anyway that they want to. But the main two reasons are to pay off a debt or to just earn money because they are in a tough situation. And while they are making their money and enjoying their pleasure, the young boys and girls are suffering, wanting to escape but cannot. I feel that if more people new about what trafficking actually did to the victims then someone would try to do something about it.

 Sex-Trafficking, or human-trafficking, is wrong in every aspect. Slavery was banned a long time ago and it is wrong for it to continue in this manner. There is no explanation or excuse on why sex-trafficking is acceptable. The victims suffer as they are sold and re-sold from trafficker to trafficker. They go through mental, emotional, and physical abuse on a daily bases. If they do not meet the quota of how much money they are supposed to make then they are abused. If they talk back or try to run away then they are abused as well.  The victims are forced into prostitution, forced to commit sexual acts for pornography, or mislead the victims into debt bondage. They get the victims addicted to drugs so that they can stay awake to be able to sleep with up to twenty or more men at night. These are young boys and girls that we are talking about. Even when the victims are free they are left with STDs, tuberculosis, and permanent damage to their reproductive systems. They may even continue to be prostitutes and may have post-traumatic stress disorder.

            The victims are sometimes shipped over seas and they are surrounded by different people and different languages. So if they tried to escape they would have no where to escape to. To ensure that the victims are safe, TVPA is put into play. TVPA, Trafficking Victims Protection Act, makes sure that they are safe and that they go into any program that is needed for whatever problem they are having. Even though this “business” will continue for a while in the future, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security is on the look out for traffickers. It is their responsibility to bring in the traffickers and find somewhere for the victims to reside in. There are many other programs for victims all around the world.

            It is very difficult for some people to talk about sex-trafficking so many people ignore it, and do not address the issue. But it is time for these victims story to be told and it is time for people to stand up to them. Sometimes, people judge prostitutes and say that they can get out of the situation if they wanted to, but we do not know the problems and trials that they had to go through as children. Most of them have been robbed of their childhood because instead of playing tag or hide-and-go-seek, they had to allow hundreds or thousands of men on top of them. Yes, the United States is creating new laws against sex-trafficking, but they need to be implemented. We need to reach out instead of judging. I feel that by people addressing this issue more, there will be something done about the illegal slave trade that is going on.