Child Pornography And Child Trafficking Essay

Sex trafficking, particularly that of children, has become a growing concern in the United States over the past several decades (Kotrla, 2010). By definition, child sex trafficking is “when a child (under 18 years of age) is induced to perform a commercial sex act” (U.S., 2013, para. 4), and includes forms such as prostitution and pornography (Kotrla, 2010). Researchers suggest that children are the most vulnerable to becoming victims of prostitution (Kotrla), and it is estimated that there are at least 100,000 victims in the United States (Estes & Weiner, 2001). Sex traffickers, otherwise known as “pimps,” often lure children with promises of food, clothing, love, and shelter, and then the pimps manipulate the children to keep them in prostitution (U.S. Department of Justice [DOJ], 2015). Awareness of the issue has led to the development of organizations, such as Children of the Night, that seek to help victims escape the sex trafficking industry (Children of the Night [COTN], 2016d).

Children within the United States who are being trafficked are part of what is called, domestic minor sex trafficking. These adolescents are citizens who have been forced, coerced, or misled to become a part of the commercial sex industry. Some of the most common ways to force minors into trafficking is through exotic dancing also known as stripping, brothels, porn, escorting, and massage services just to name a few (Minor Domestic Sex Trafficking). It is disturbing to know that there are children who are going through this. In order to create prevention and intervention programs for trafficking, it is important to understand what a sex trafficker is and the strategies they use to recruit children.

Sex trafficking is essentially systemic rape for profit. Force, fraud and coercion are used to control the victim’s behavior which may secure the appearance of consent to please the buyer (or john). Behind every transaction is violence or the threat of violence (Axtell par. 4). Just a decade ago, only a third of the countries studied by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime had legislation against human trafficking. (Darker Side, par.1) Women, children, and even men are taken from their homes, and off of the streets and are brought into a life that is almost impossible to get out of. This life is not one of choice, it is in most times by force. UNODC estimates that the total international human trafficking is a

Nothing drives emotions out the window more than hearing about innocent children being used for sex. In Cambodia, sex trafficking has grown into a troublesome issue. Sex trafficking has become one of the fastest growing crimes occurring internationally. It is the third largest crime-business in the world, after drugs and arms trafficking. Women, girls, and even men and boys are victims of the billion-dollar sex trafficking industry. Sex trafficking occurs everywhere, and it is not culturally specific, but a gender specific issue. There are numerous cases of sex trafficking within Cambodia, however child sex trafficking is extremely captivating and distressing to learn about.

Human trafficking affects our children and our schools more than most realize. It is estimated that more than 200,000 American children are trafficked each year in America. Victims of trafficking often come from vulnerable populations, including migrants, oppressed or marginalized groups, runaways or displaced persons, and the poor (Talati). The children most likely to be targeted by traffickers are those not living with their parents, who are vulnerable to coerced labor exploitation, domestic servitude, or prostitution. Sex traffickers target children because of their vulnerability and gullibility, as well as the market demand for young victims. Studies have shown that it is not just high school children at risk, demonstrating that pimps prey on victims as young as 12 years old. Victims

Women and children who are being sexually exploited are often found in the urban areas of Thailand, but even rural areas have a share of commercial sex workers (Lau, June 2008). The Thai society is extremely male dominated as men are considered superior to women and hold the government and societal power (Vejar & Quach, May 2013). Foreign investors have a great deal of power in Thailand as the country has become more dependent tourism and manufacturing rather than the traditional small farm economy (Geary & Meyer, June 1993).

Human trafficking is one of the largest growing criminal activities. The commercial sexual exploitation of children, also known as CSEC, is often perceived as a hidden atrocity that occurs in an international setting. However, this manifestation of sexual abuse has increased and has become a recognized health issue in the United States. You may hear this problem to be known as domestic minor sex trafficking (DMST). Domestic minor sex trafficking is defined as the “recruitment, harboring, transportation, provision, or obtaining of a person for the purpose of a commercial sex act” where the person is a citizen younger than the age of 18 years by the Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000. This includes sexual acts like survival sex, prostitution, and stripping, where the child is the victim of criminal exploitation in exchange for remuneration in the form of money, food, shelter, or other valued entity. Approximately twenty-eight percent of US minors living on the streets are reported to exchanging sex for drugs or money. The estimation so far is that 150,000 to 300,000 children are falling at risk of being victimized each year, and the average age at which they are recruited is twelve to fourteen years of age. By raising awareness we are avoiding children suffering from long-term health consequences such as severe sexual, physical, and emotional abuse. By raising awareness a family may not lose their little boy or girl to human trafficking. Consider how many young women have been kidnapped, drugged, tricked or even sold by

This essay also focuses on the issues of child – sex trafficking. The study claimed that trafficking women especially children for sexual slavery is one the fastest growing common criminal and a social issue in the world. The study states that in the united states, almost 6 in 10 identified trafficking survivors were trafficked for sexual abuse. Out of that figure, 98% of the victims are female and 70% of it are children. This because the number of victims of sex trafficking is children, this may go as young as the age of eight. This is because children are easy targets when

Sex trafficking is a problem that is happening and occurring all over the world. Many families and individuals suffer due to sex trafficking. Many people are not even aware of what it really is. Sex trafficking is when young girls, as young as five or six, get kidnapped and are used for the sexual pleasure of others with a profit, or are sold as sex slaves to other people. The official definition is, “Human sex trafficking is a form of slavery and involuntary servitude resulting in grave human rights violations. Sex trafficking involves individuals profiting from the sexual exploitation of others and has severe physical and psychological consequences for its victims.” (The

“According to UNICEF, every two minutes a child is being prepped for sexual exploitation.” Studies have shown that 1.2 million children are being trafficked each year. “This number excluded the millions already being held hostage by trafficking.” (1).

In a small village consumed by poverty a man in a business suit shows up. He goes from family to family offering to buy children for a year’s worth of pay. He gets to one family with a young girl whose father sells her to feed his addiction for heroine. Scared and confused the girl is now forced into a brothel, sexually pleasing more than 20 men a day. Nearly five years later she is rescued only to lose her life to AIDS from unprotected sex. The human trafficking industry in Thailand has long been overlooked both internally and externally. Corruption, greed, foreign relations, economic pressure, and overall demand have fueled the trafficking industry in Thailand. Until the world and the Thai government make serious changes to the way they

Imagine a four year old girl growing up in contemporary Cambodia. Each morning she wakes up miles from home, homesick and scared. She is forced to beg for money for the brothel that she belongs to, and all of her earnings go straight to her master. Then, that night, about seven men come to the brothel. These men, some as old as fifty, often pay as little as two dollars to partake in sexual intercourse with these school-aged children. The toddlers enslaved in the horrific sex trade are forever stripped of their purity, making human trafficking a major issue in present day Cambodia. Over 30,000 children are sexually exploited annually (“Children for Sale”), and millions have been forced into human trafficking

The small country of Cambodia has become a transit, source, and destination for child trafficking victims. There are many children going through Cambodia from Vietnam and Thailand as a result of child trafficking (“Human Trafficking” 2). In 2006 Cambodia was one of the busiest spots in the world for child trafficking, with many of those victims being delivered into the sex trade in Thailand, Malaysia, Macao and Taiwan (“Global Crime Case: The Modern Slave Trade” 1). Child trafficking is happening all over the country but t one place notorious is Svay Pak, a run-down village on the outskirts of Phnom Penh (“Children for Sale” 4). As tourists in Svay Pak you are bombarded by many young children assuming you are there for sex. Throughout the village there are many girls as young as nine who are for sale. As stated by the reporter Bob Mosier, “You have an 8-year old or 9-year-old little girl you know just looking at you smiling, realizing that you’re going to in just a few

With child prostitution comes child pornography. Child pornography is the exploitation of children for sexual stimulation. It may produce with consent or non-consent. However, some people travel across the world to engage in “child sex tourism”. “Child sex tourism” is tourism for the purpose of child prostitution. “Child sex tourism” is most severe in South America and Asia, but is still a global problem.

Different age groups fall victim to trafficking as well. Not only adults, but also children, are trafficked worldwide. Child trafficking is defined as "the recruitment, transportation, transfer, harbouring, or receipt of children for the purpose of exploitation" (Child Protection from Violence, Exploitation and Abuse). Children make up almost twenty percent of trafficking victims around the world. "However, in some parts of Africa and the Mekong region, children are the majority (up to 100% in parts of West