Sex Trafficking Is the Forced

Sex trafficking is the forced use and transport of unwilling victims into the sex trade (USDHHS, 2004). In typical situations, individuals who run illicit sex-selling operations coerce or trick their victims, many of whom are underage, into lives of abuse and exploitation in which they have no choice but to sell themselves for sexual purposes. It is a crime under U.S. And international law but in many countries where the sex trade is booming, laws are either lax or they laws that do apply to the sex trade are routinely ignored. Thailand and Brazil are two countries of many where many thousands of exploited children are currently trapped into this abusive and soul-destroying life (USDHHS, 2004).

Supply, Demand, and Two Different Types of Sex Workers

The main reason that the sex trade exists is that there is always a market for sex workers (BBC, 2010; NAPAWF, 2008). Naturally, that demand supports both that portion of the sex trade involving willing sex workers as well as that portion of the sex trade that exploits unwilling victims. The route of those who enter the sex trade voluntarily is very different from those who enter into it against their will. In many impoverished countries sex workers see their occupation as the only way for them to feed their families and in many cases that may be entirely true. While sex work of any kind is highly frowned upon in Western society, voluntary sex workers argue that they should have the right to earn a living and that instead of laws prohibiting their voluntary participation in sex work, laws should focus on protecting them and especially on protecting those whose participation in the sex trade is involuntary. Advocates for the rights of voluntary sex workers also point out that the same types of laws that could protect them would also help protect involuntary sex workers and other (i.e. non-sexual) victims of human trafficking (NAPAWF, 2008).

Typically, involuntary participants in the sex trade are children from extremely impoverished communities whose families sell them to human traffickers. In many other instances, victims are tricked through legitimate-sounding advertisements such as for work in foreign countries as nannies or service positions (waitresses, hostesses, etc.) Once their handlers have possession of their passports and identification papers, they may have no way of escaping from their control. In many cases, they are physically abused by being beaten or raped or even gang raped to "condition" them to accept a life as a sex slave (USDHHS, 2004).

Personal Opinion