How effective are local law enforcement personnel at distinguishing between victims
of human trafficking and those engaged in prostitution?
Should we even bother distinguishing between them?
Does the general public care about the differences between the two and how do we
inform them about those differences?
What can the justice system do to help victims of sex trafficking?
500 words, references
Running Head: HUMAN TRAFFICKING AND PROSTITUTION 1
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HUMAN TRAFFICKING AND PROSTITUTION 2
Human traffic is an epidemic in the United States despite stiff penalties and legislation
against the vice. An estimated 105,000 victims were trafficked worldwide last year, with close to
half trafficked in the United States. Most of the victims are usually women and young girls. Sex
trafficking, which involves commercial sexual exploitation and reproductive slavery, is why it
has become a lucrative business that brings over $100 billion yearly. The ability to distinguish
between victims of human trafficking and those involved in prostitution is not easy for local law
enforcement officers (JACLYN GALLUCCI, 2019). One of the reasons for this is that two-thirds
of the human trafficking victims are locals. It is easier to identify a victim if he/she is a foreigner
than if they are locals. Therefore, it becomes difficult for the officer to differentiate between
those who are being trafficked and those involved in prostitution. Unless such victims approach a
local officer, then most of the time, they go undetected as officers think they are into prostitution
business, which is rampant in the country. Foreigners that are trafficked are also introduced into
prostitution in the country (Farrell & Reichert, 2017). Since most enter the country illegally, it
becomes challenging for law enforcers to identify a missing person and those who might be
involved in prostitution willingly or unwillingly.
To most people, prostitution and human trafficking are interchangeable. Although it might seem
insignificant, there is a big distinction between these two. Human tracking involves the
exploitation of an individual for purposes of forced labor or commercial sex fraudulently,
through coercion, or forcefully. Unlike human trafficking, prostitution is performing sexual acts
for monitory exchange without coercion, fraud, or forcefully. Despite both being crimes and an
individual ending up feeling abused and used, it is critical to tell them apart since victims of
human trafficking are coerced or forced into the trade (DRESSEMBER, 2019.
HUMAN TRAFFICKING AND PROSTITUTION 3
Although not everyone cares about the difference between the two, the general public is
sympathetic to victims of human traffic. The biggest challenge facing human trafficking is that
most of the victims are hidden in plain sight. Various members of the community come into
contact with them without any knowledge if they might be victims. However, when attention is
drawn to them, the general public becomes sympathetic, considering they had no idea they were
victims. The general public can be informed of the differences between these two groups by
educating them (Katelyn E. Nichols, 2016). Being aware that victims of trafficking, whether
involved in prostitution or labor, are not doing so willingly, unlike most involved in prostitution.
The criminal justice system has made great strides in taming human trafficking pandemic.
Nonetheless, more can be done to help the sex trafficking victims, one being focusing on the
survivors rather than the crimes. Such individuals need to be seen as human beings who have
gone through terrible ordeals. This would be the first step in decriminalizing the survivors. Some
of the victims arrested while working as commercial sex workers tend to be prosecuted rather
than getting the much-needed help from the justice department. By providing law enforcement
officers and those in the justice department with training focusing on sensitivity and knowledge
to distinguish between victims of human trafficking and prostitution will go a long way in
getting these individuals proper counseling and treatment they need (Evelyn McCoy et al., 2018).
HUMAN TRAFFICKING AND PROSTITUTION 4
References
DRESSEMBER. (2019, April 10). Are prostitution and human trafficking the
same? Dressember. https://www.dressember.org/blog/are-prostitution-and-human-
trafficking-the-same#
Evelyn McCoy, Colleen Owens, Lilly Yu, Hanna Love, & Jeanette Hussemann. (2018).
Delivering Justice for Human Trafficking Survivors. Justice Policy
Center. https://www.urban.org/sites/default/files/publication/97356/delivering_justice_f
or_human_trafficking_survivors.pdf
Farrell, A., & Reichert, J. (2017). Using U.S. law-enforcement data: Promise and limits in
measuring human trafficking. Journal of Human Trafficking, 3(1), 39-
60. https://doi.org/10.1080/23322705.2017.1280324
JACLYN GALLUCCI. (2019, April 14). Human trafficking is an epidemic in the U.S. it's also
big business. Fortune. https://fortune.com/2019/04/14/human-sex-trafficking-us-slavery/
Katelyn E. Nichols. (2016). Public A Public Attitudes Toward Prostitution and Sex Towards
prostitution and Sex Trafficking awareness [Unpublished master's thesis]. St. Catherine
University.
Outline
Paragraph 1 - Difference between victims of human trafficking and those engaged in prostitution
Paragraph 2 - Should we even bother distinguishing them
Paragraph 3 - Does the general public care
Paragraph 4 - What the justice system do to help
