Sex Trafficking and Sexual Exploitation of Girls and Women

Written by Yifei Yu

March 21, 2022

Sex trafficking is a form of human trafficking that involves sex exploitation of those being trafficked. Among those affected, 95% are women and girls (Ibrahim, 2021). And yet, often times, our knowledge and understanding about this severe form of exploitation are confined to the individual cases that are sometimes reported on the news. Although news reports on the circumstances of the victims and survivors are essential, there are millions of women and girls that didn’t have the chance to be noticed through media exposure. The news headings often look like this: “2 arrested, 1 wanted after multi-force sex trafficking probe: London, Ont. Police” (LeBal, 2021). While we become furious at the unforgivable acts of criminals, I have to admit that sometimes the news looks pretty much the same, despite minor details which may differ. This is because the experiences of the survivors are neglected, especially since they have already been objectified in the “deals” as commodities that are traded often for profit.

But first, what is the difference between a “survivor” and a “victim”? The word “victim” suggests the power dynamics in the incident, where they are “not in control of what happens to their own body” (Harding, 2020). On the other hand, “survivor” suggests the agency of a person with individuals reporting fewer negative emotions compared to using the term “victim” (Boyle & Rogers, 2020). Although people have the choice to identify as either “survivors” or “victims”, the meaning that we give to these words suggest underlying judgements that we hold towards them. Thus, although sometimes people might think of themselves as victims, they would instead use the word “survivor” because it infers positivity and agency. As Kate Harding agues in a TIMES article: “I did not feel I had survived anything in particular” (Harding, 2020), which is something I think we all need to reconsider at this point. Girls and women who went through the painful experience of being sexually exploited by external force didn’t choose to “survive” in the first place. Similarly, I would also argue we should forgo the complexity of word choices. The word “victim” is completely fine, and we should allow individuals to choose how they would identify themselves in these situations.

For all of the issues mentioned above, there lacks consent between the two opposing groups. In other words, it’s involuntary, which often involves coercion (e.g., threats) and deception (e.g., a promise of a better life). Moreover, according to the UN protocol on trafficking, prostituting anyone under 18 constitutes trafficking (UN, 2000, as cited in Crawford 2016). Sex trafficking is more likely to affect girls and women as it targets vulnerable groups worldwide. On the other hand, gender and sex as social tools of class and status stratification puts specific groups of individuals in danger. Since sex trafficking is often underground and hard to be distinguished from commercial sex work or other forms of daily social activity, it is under-reported. For example, some traffickers would hide among the crowd in malls (Jones, 2019). They would look for young targets whose parents aren’t paying much attention to their kids. Therefore, calculations of cases aren’t accurate. We don’t know how many cases of human trafficking occurs each year, not to mention the cases of sex trafficking in particular, as these deals can be transnational. The United Nations estimated that between 700,000 and 2,000,000 girls and women are trafficked each year (Crawford, 2016). The International Labor Organization estimates the number to be 1.39 millions of victims (Lee, 2012).

Therefore, how can we combat this ongoing sexual exploitation of girls and women? Generally, the “three Ps” are adopted: prosecution (criminalization of human trafficking such as prison sentences), protection (identifying victims and offering relevant services to them), and prevention (intervention programs and amendment of laws), with a recent addition of the fourth P: partnership. The idea of partnership works closely with prevention to raise awareness among both the general public and the victims through the partnership of the private and public sectors, as well as the civil society (Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons, n.d.).

However, we should recognize that it’s not easy for victims to escape because there are various profit chains and stakeholders involved in such trades. Whether willingly or unwillingly, victims are sometimes forced to sign contracts through deception, with a “guarantee” of providing them with a better life. However, they would then be sold to club and brothel owners and would never be able to pay the “debt” of being transported to these places (Crawford, 2016). Another common reason for not being able to escape even if they had the means of doing so, is that their families often reject them for the stigma related to prostitution and sexual exploitation (Crawford, 2016). They are often stigmatized as “immoral fallen women” (Crawford, 2016) because they have been involved in the sex industry.

We need to be cognizant of the seriousness and invisibility of this issue globally. There is still a long way to go, as this issue is very much embedded in our social system. Not only do we need media exposure to allow the general public to develop awareness towards sex trafficking, but we also need transnational effort, which would play a vital role in identifying, monitoring, and criminalizing sex trafficking and sexual exploitation.

Sources:

Boyle, K. M., & Rogers, K. B. (2020). Beyond the rape “victim”–“survivor” binary: How race, gender, and identity processes interact to shape distress. Sociological Forum, 35(2), 323 – 345. https://doi.org/10.1111/socf.12584.

Crawford, M. (2016). Sex Trafficking. In The Wiley Blackwell Encyclopedia of Gender. and Sexuality Studies (eds A. Wong, M. Wickramasinghe, r. hoogland and N.A. Naples). https://doi.org/10.1002/9781118663219.wbegss097.

Harding, K. (2020, February 27). I've been told I'm a survivor, not a victim. But what's wrong with being a victim? Time. https://time.com/5789032/victim-survivor-sexual-assault/

Ibrahim, D. Statistics Canada. (2021). Trafficking in Persons in Canada, 2019. Canadian Centre for Justice and Community Safety Statistics. https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/pub/85-005-x/2021001/article/00001-eng.htm.

LeBal, J. (2021, September 10). 2 arrested, 1 wanted after multi-force sex trafficking probe: London, Ont. Police. Global News. https://globalnews.ca/news/8180712/london-ontario-sex-trafficking-investigation/.

Lee, S.H. (2012). Sex Trafficking. In The Wiley-Blackwell Encyclopedia of Globalization, G. Ritzer (Ed.). https://doi.org/10.1002/9780470670590.wbeog517.

Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons. (n.d.). 3Ps: Prosecution, protection, and prevention. https://www.state.gov/3ps-prosecution-protection-and-prevention/. US Department of State.

Public Safety Canada (n.d.). Sex trafficking. https://www.canada.ca/en/public-safety- canada/campaigns/human-trafficking/sex-trafficking.html. Government of Canada.

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