Sexual exploitation and human trafficking in America.
Giovanny D. Flores Jusino
Sex trafficking is made up of two aspects: sexual slavery and trafficking in persons. These two
aspects represent the supply and demand of part of the sex trafficking industry, respectively. This
exploitation is based on the interaction between the trafficker who sells a victim (the individual
who is trafficked and sexually exploited) to clients who carry out sexual services. These sex
trafficking crimes are defined by three steps: acquisition, circulation and exploitation. The
various types of sex trafficking are; child sex tourism (CST), sex trafficking of underage
domestic employees (DMST) or commercial sexual exploitation of children, and prostitution.
According to a 2012 United Nations (UN) report, there are 2.4 million people around the world
who are victims of human trafficking at any given time. In this industry of 32 billion US dollars
annually, 80 percent of the victims are being exploited as sex slaves.
According to the International Labor Organization, there are 20.9 million people subjected to
forced labor, and 22 percent (4.5 million) are victims of forced sexual exploitation. However, due
to the cover-up of the sex trafficking industry, obtaining accurate and reliable statistics is difficult
for researchers.
Most victims find themselves in coerced or abusive situations from which escaping are both
difficult and dangerous. The places where this practice occurs encompass the whole world and
reflect an intricate network among nations, which makes it very difficult to build viable solutions
to this human rights problem.
Defining the problem
Worldwide
In the year 2000, the countries adopted a definition established by the United Nations. The
United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime, the Protocol to Prevent,
Suppress and Punish the Trafficking of Persons, Especially Women and Children, is also referred
to as the Palermo Protocol. The Palermo Protocol created this definition. 147 of the 192 member
states of the United Nations ratified the Palermo Protocol when it was published in 2000. Article
3 of the Palermo Protocol establishes the definition as:
A) "Trafficking in persons" means the recruitment, transportation, transfer, accommodation or
reception of persons through the threat or use of force or other forms of coercion, kidnapping,
fraud, deception or the abuse of power or a position of vulnerability or of giving or receiving
payments or benefits to obtain the consent of a person who has control over another person, for
the purpose of exploitation.
Exploitation shall include, at a minimum, the exploitation of the prostitution of third parties or
other forms of sexual exploitation, forced labor or services, slavery or practices similar to
slavery, servitude or the removal of organs;
B) The consent of a victim of trafficking in persons to the exploitation provided for in
subparagraph a) of this article shall not be relevant when any of the means established in
subparagraph a) has been used;
C) The recruitment, transportation, transfer, accommodation or reception of a child for the
purpose of exploitation shall be considered "trafficking in persons", even if they do not involve
any of the means established in section a) of this article;
D) "Child": any person under eighteen years of age.
Article 5 of the Palermo Protocol requires that member states criminalize trafficking based on the
definition outlined in Article 3; however, many domestic laws of the member states reflect a
narrower definition than that of Article 3. Although these nations have an obligation under
Article 5, the restricted laws mean that fewer people are prosecuted for sex trafficking.
Causes
There is no simple factor that perpetuates sex trafficking, rather a complex network,
interconnected with social, governmental, socioeconomic and political factors. Siddhartha Kara
argues that globalization and the spread of Western Capitalism lead to inequality and rural
poverty, which are the material causes of sex trafficking. Kara also emphasizes that there are
factors in the supply and demand side of sex trafficking, which contributes to their continued
practice. Natural disasters, gender discrimination, personal problems which increase
vulnerability, and cultural norms which discriminate certain populations serve as factors which
support the sex trafficking offer side. In consideration of the demand for sex trafficking, Kara
believes that the demand for cheap labor, strict migration laws and police and the participation of
corrupt government agents in the trafficking of people as drivers of the industry. The strict
migration laws are also cited by Susan Tiefenbrun as a key factor in the entry of individuals into
this industry because "poor women seeking a better economic situation by emigration resort to
the financial assistance of unscrupulous usurers and traffickers".
In Susan Tiefenbrun's work on sex trafficking, she cites the high poverty rate, a social norm of
minimal respect for women, a lack of public awareness on this issue, limited educational and
economic opportunities for women; and the scant laws to prosecute the exploiters and traffickers,
as the main factors that sex trafficking presents in the countries of origin. However, the countries
of destination to which sex workers are sent tend to be much richer compared to the countries of
origin.
As shown in this research and in many other documents, sex trafficking is the result of a
combination of several factors of the simple desire of individuals wanting to reap the benefits of
taking advantage of others through the demand for economic sexual acts.
Profile and modus operandi of traffickers
Traffic controlled by pimps
In traffic controlled by pimps, the victim is controlled by a single trafficker, sometimes called a
pimp. The victim can be controlled by the trafficker physically, psychologically and / or
emotionally. In order to gain control over their victims, the traffickers will use force, drugs,
emotional tactics as well as economic means. In certain circumstances, they will even resort to
various forms of violence, such as gang rape and physical and mental abuse. Traffickers
sometimes use offers of marriage, threats, intimidation and abduction as means to get victims.
A common process for traffickers is first to gain the trust of the victim, called infant capture.
They try to make the victim depend on them. The trafficker can express love and admiration,
makes noble promises such as making the victim a star, offering him a job or an education or
buying a ticket to a new place. The main types of jobs offered are in the hotel service and
industry, in bars and clubs, modeling contracts, or a couple of jobs. Once the victim is
comfortable, the pimp moves to the accustomed stage, where they will ask the victim about
having sexual acts with the pimp, in which the victim can do it because they believe that it is the
only way to maintain the condition of the victim. Trafficker. The requests progress from there
and it can be difficult for the victim to escape.
Another tactic is for the traffickers to kidnap their victims, and then they drug or insure them so
they cannot escape. Traffickers can search for potential victims who are traveling alone, are
separated from their group, or appear to have low self-esteem. They can go to places like
shopping centers where it is more likely for them to find girls without their parents.
Traffickers are using social media at a high rate to find victims, investigating potential victims,
controlling their victims and announcing their victims. Traffickers often target people who post
things that indicate they are depressed, have low self-esteem, or are angry at their parents.
Traffickers also use social media publications to establish patterns and track the locations of
potential victims.
After the victim has joined the offender, several techniques are used to restrict the victim's access
to communicate at home, such as imposing physical punishment unless the victim indulges the
trafficker's demands and making threats to harm and even kill to the victim and his family.
Sometimes victims will succumb to the Stockholm syndrome because their captors will pretend
to "love" them and "need them", even going as far as promising marriage and future stability.
Traffic Control Gangs
In a traffic control gang, the victim is controlled by more than one person. Most gangs circulate
their sex trafficking as it is safer and more lucrative than drug trafficking. A victim controlled by
a gang can be sexually exploited by members of the gang and also by members outside the band.
They can tattoo their victims to show their property in front of other people.
Sexual survival
In sexual survival, the victim is not necessarily controlled by a person but he feels he must
perform sexual acts in order to obtain the basic comforts to survive. They are considered victims
if they are below the allowed age and cannot legally access the sexual act.
In the case of South America, 74% of victims of trafficking in persons are women and girls.
According to the document 'Global Report on Trafficking in Persons 2016', issued by the United
Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), in the case of South America, the majority of
trafficking victims in the region are women and girls - 74 percent of the total - and their
destination is usually sexual exploitation.
Fifty-seven percent of victims are targeted for sexual exploitation - almost all women - and 29
percent for forced labor - mostly men.
Human trafficking consists of transferring and retaining a person by force or coercion, in order to
exploit it, not only for work or sexual purposes, but also for begging or even for organ trafficking
or forced marriages. .
The UN data is based on the information of 5,800 victims registered in South America between
2012 and 2016, and the report recognizes that it is only "the tip of the iceberg" because part of
these crimes is not detected. On the other hand, the majority of those convicted of this crime are
men -63 percent- and, to a large extent, of the same nationality of the country in which they have
been prosecuted. This is the summary of the situation in South America on what is defined as "a
modern form of slavery", but there are great variations depending on the countries. Most of the
cases of trafficking and illicit trafficking of persons were registered either within the country or
the South American region, following a universal pattern, from poorer to richer areas.
Another feature of this type of crime is the high presence of minors, 40 percent, largely girls.
Here there are differences: for example, the document states that trafficking in minors is the
majority in Andean countries such as Ecuador, Peru and Bolivia, while adults are the most
frequent victims in Argentina, Chile and Uruguay. Also for the type of exploitation there are
variations, in this way, while in Chile and Bolivia the majority of victims are destined for forced
labor, in Colombia, Ecuador, Paraguay, Peru and Uruguay, sexual abuse is more common. In
Argentina and Venezuela, the same number of people assigned to sexual exploitation as to work
was detected. Although men tend to be the majority of the victims of forced labor, numerous
cases of women exploited in domestic tasks have also been detected.
The report details that two victims, from Bolivia and Peru, fell into this type of exploitation in
Argentina and Venezuela after they were caught with false promises of education and
opportunities. Another of the regional characteristics highlighted by the UN is that a large portion
of victims end up exploited in other tasks outside the two most frequent: sexual abuse and forced
labor. Thus, 4 percent of the victims detected between 2012 and 2014 were destined to illegal
adoptions and 2.5 percent to film pornographic material. In addition, cases of trafficking for
begging or forced marriages were detected in smaller numbers.
Although there are numerous trafficking routes and trends, the UN points out that, in general
terms, countries such as Argentina, Chile and Uruguay are the destination of this type of crime,
while Paraguay, Bolivia, Colombia and Guyana are the origin.
The majority of victims outside the region - 10 percent of the total - come from the Caribbean,
the Dominican Republic, Cuba or Haiti, recalls the report. Finally, 2 percent of foreign victims
detected in North America and 3 percent registered in Western Europe come from South
America. In Central America, 5 percent of victims come from the south of the continent.
Central America and the Caribbean
The majority of victims of trafficking in Central America and the Caribbean (62 percent of the
total) are minors and largely girls, reports the UNODC.
"In that region, trafficking in minors is the most frequently detected. The region has the second
highest level of trafficking in minors worldwide, after sub-Saharan Africa, "says the agency.
The report acknowledges that there is no clear explanation as to why in these two regions child
trafficking is a majority, and lists some possible reasons. Among them is that in both regions
there is a large young population, reduced educational opportunities and that minors generate
more benefits, either because they can be exploited more easily or can be "sold" at a higher price.
In addition, sexual exploitation is the most common form of trafficking in Central America and
the Caribbean, with 57 percent of cases detected, while 51 percent of those convicted of
trafficking are male.
On another level, it is exposed that forced labor was detected in 15 percent of the cases, while the
rest of the victims were exploited forcing them to beg or for illegal adoptions. The high presence
of women among those condemned by trafficking in Central America and the Caribbean, almost
half, is another regional characteristic that, according to the UN, could be related to the way of
capturing the victims.
According to the report, this recruitment is mainly carried out by relatives or friends of the
victim, and women could participate especially in the case of minors. Central America and the
Caribbean is a region of origin of trafficking, as shown by the fact that 12 percent of foreign
victims in North America come from there, as well as 10 percent of those detected in South
America, with victims from especially from the Dominican Republic, Cuba and Haiti. At the
same time, there is trafficking between the countries of the region, and in Guatemala and El
Salvador victims are often found in Honduras and Nicaragua. Be that as it may, the route of cases
of cross-border trafficking goes from the poorest to the richest countries.
Refugees and displaced by conflicts are especially vulnerable
Refugees and internally displaced persons due to conflicts and wars are especially vulnerable to
being trafficked for sexual or labor exploitation, reports a UN report released today in Vienna.
"People fleeing war and persecution are particularly vulnerable to trafficking," says UNODC
Director Yuri Fedotov.
The Report also points out that in the absence of legal channels to emigrate, those fleeing from
conflict or persecution have no other option than to resort to traffickers who can easily exploit
them. "The urgent need and the pressure to leave can lead them to make dangerous decisions,"
the document said.
The report recalls that different studies indicate that a growing number of Syrians have been
victims of trafficking in the Middle East since the war broke out in their country in 2011. In
Syria there are seven million internally displaced and another four million have left their country
and they are mostly in neighboring states such as Turkey, Lebanon or Jordan.
Another study by the International Organization for Migration (IOM) argues that 7 percent of
Syrians who participated in a study, which included a total of 2,300 people, said they had
suffered some form of abuse along the route of the Balkans on their way to central and northern
Europe. The irregular situation of the refugees outside their country or the fall of the rule of law
in a conflict zone generates a situation of vulnerability that the criminal organizations take
advantage of to exploit the victims.
Fedotov highlighted how some armed groups use trafficking in their areas of operation, forcing
women and girls to marry or become sex slaves, and men and boys to forced labor or to be
combatants. The report also denounces those different terrorist groups such as the self-styled
Islamic State (IS) or the Nusra Front use children as soldiers, something also widespread in areas
of conflict in Africa, where Boko Haram, another terrorist group, has forced minors to commit
suicide bombings.
On Tuesday, the UN Security Council approved its first resolution with specific measures aimed
at combating trafficking in persons in situations of conflict. This text, promoted by Spain, was
adopted unanimously in a session chaired by the President of the Spanish Government, Mariano
Rajoy. The resolution calls on the governments to carry out a series of actions to stop trafficking
in wars or in areas affected by terrorism and to protect the victims of these crimes, while warning
those responsible with UN sanctions.
The Spanish initiative arose from the observation that conflicts increase the risk of human
trafficking, a crime that armed groups such as the EI or Boko Haram use as a weapon of war and
financing. The Security Council resolution recognizes that women and girls are the main victims
of these crimes and recalls that trafficking often ends in exploitation and sexual violence. In
addition, it affirms that those who suffer trafficking or sexual violence at the hands of terrorist
groups should be classified as "victims of terrorism" when it comes to accessing official support,
recognition and reparations.
Perverting the Scripture
Such disgusting slavery is a consequence of our fallen world, a vile distortion of God's plan for
human relationships. God made life in the Garden of Eden a paradise, but man sinned and that
sin infects our culture today. God created man and woman to be companions, united among them
in a faithful and lifelong relationship (Matthew 19: 3-5, Ephesians 5: 22-33), but human
trafficking is far from that ideal.
Any kind of slavery is a consequence of our fallen world. Human trafficking is the furthest from
the ideal that God created.
Everything about the industries of prostitution and pornography is offensive because they violate
the sanctity of human beings, created in the image of God. But humanity has despised this clear
revelation of Scripture, thus reaching our present vile condition. When humanity embraces the
idea that humans are only evolved animals without a Creator, the strong abuses the weak. But
when they realize that each one is created and loved by God, each life gains an infinite value that
goes beyond simple self-satisfaction and the survival of the fittest.
Our Christian way of seeing things clearly teaches that no person is a product that others can use
(1 Timothy 1:10, see Philippians 2: 3). Any other argument, based on displacing human opinion,
lacks the sure moral compass that comes from the authority of the Word of God.
In the past, Christianity has been the greatest force in history in elevating women to levels of
respect and dignity, and Christians have been the point of the spear in the battle against sin and
evil. The Creator calls Christians, today more than ever, to shine the light of truth in the darkened
corners of the world, exposing the evil that is sex trafficking.
Today, Christian groups and churches have begun to open shelters were rescued victims can
receive Bible-based help they need to overcome the overwhelming trap of sex and drugs and
become contributing members of society. More importantly, Christians are offering broken girls
and women the transforming power of Jesus Christ so that they become whole again, walking
with their Maker and Lord.
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