A black market, underground economy, or shadow economy is a market characterized by some form of noncompliant behavior with an institutional set of rules. If the rule defines the set of goods and services whose production and distribution is prohibited by law, non-compliance with the rule constitutes a black market trade since the transaction itself is illegal. Parties engaging in the production or distribution of prohibited goods and services are members of the illegal economy. There are many different illegal “services” that the black market is economically supported by. The most common are drugs, alcohol, exotic animals, currency, and, the main focus of this paper, sex trafficking. Sex trafficking is composed of two aspects: sexual slavery …show more content…
Any person under age 18 who performs a commercial sex act is considered a victim of human trafficking, regardless of whether force, fraud, or coercion was present. The TVPA which allows law enforcement to protect not only US citizens but also foreigners from human trafficking. The United States FBI website states that the most effect way of investigating human trafficking is collaboration with citizen who have suspicions or have witnessed it in action. Fortunately for traffickers, everyday citizens are oblivious to the signs that could be right in their face.One of my resources, sharedhope.org, is a website that not only educates the general public on child trafficking, but also supports the children by finding safe homes for children to cutout the opportunist, and they also train people of all age groups to notice the …show more content…
Beyond women, what about children? Children are not born to be enslaved, never have and never will be. The world is digressing from the progress we thought was made, but in reality it was just hidden much easier. It’s sickening how these burdened should have been treated. In conclusion, sex trafficking in the black market is dark and we know very little about it but effort needs to be made to fill in the gaps of missing knowledge. That knowledge will be able to save millions of children and thousands of adults from being trapped within the grasp of heartless inhumane traffickers, who intend to
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).
Have you ever walked into Wal-Mart and taken the time to look at the numerous pictures of missing youth that is plastered on the wall? When looking at how long they have been missing, it ranges anywhere from months to years. Looking at their age, both boys and girls, it is hard not to wonder if these kids are being trafficked. Child sex trafficking, also known as human trafficking, is a major issue that is not only plaguing the United States, but the world. Residing in a state where teen sex trafficking is very common, it is imperative that not only adults, but the youth understand what child sex/human trafficking is, what is a sex-trafficker, and the data that reveals the seriousness of child sex
Human trafficking has been identified as a profitable illicit business. Sexual exploiters have profited off the sexual exploitation of women and minors, while businesses have profited from nonconsensual labor from minors who cannot express their own interest. (Marcus, et.al, 2002, p.47). The regional director of “Not for Sale” makes a valid point about profitable gains of human trafficking. “You can sell a bag of drugs once, but you can sell a person multiple times,” (Marcus, et.al, 2002, p.47). That quote is basically the mindset of traffickers who look forward to making a profit and decide partake in this illicit business. In regards to sexual exploiters and minors, there are only a handful of
Annotated Bibliography including five citations in APA documentation format, each with a brief summary paragraph: in your own words, write a two-three sentence summary the source’s main point and identifying key expert views or evidence which will help support specific points in your outline.
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
Imagine knowing that your parents set you up to be raped, just so they can make money. This violence leads to depression and even suicide, making the children feel extremely weak and empty. Weak law enforcement and poverty has driven sex slavery out of hand. A solution to end this violence begins with people who raise awareness. To raise awareness, it is important to meet with the federal and local government to inform them on the issues and convince them to combat sex trafficking. Come up with different fundraisers for battered victims, host awareness events so people become familiar with the issue, and eventually the victims can become educated and well equipped with the proper care they need. Consider working with different organizations that help women who have fallen victims of prostitution, pornography, trafficking and other forms of sexual violence. Work with a religious community that can help raise money for families in poverty. This can decrease the amount of women and children traded for sex. Internationally, we need to become more familiar with, knowledgeable of, and aggressive to end this suffering of dehumanization and advertise what the poor victims have to face on a daily
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
Many people have their own definitions of sex trafficking and human trafficking. A lot of people in the U.S believe that all prostitution is voluntary when that is not the case. As Lerum and Brents stated, “Human trafficking is defined by the U.S. State Department of State as labor induced by force, fraud, or coercion. The definition of trafficking in the sex industry (but not other industries) includes additional stipulations for individuals under 18: “When a child (under 18 years of age) is recruited, enticed, harbored, transported, provided, obtained, or maintained to perform a commercial sex act, proving force, fraud, or coercion is not necessary for the offense to be characterized as human trafficking” (U.S. Dept. of State 2014, p. 29).” In addition, reliable data when it comes to human trafficking is hard to achieve when definitions of the word are always changing. Most of the criminal justice
This journal article examines the issue of minor sex trafficking in the U.S and provides the reader with the results of the research that was conducted on the matter at hand. A data analysis consisting of 115 minor sex trafficking was thoroughly examined and studied. The information surrounding these cases was collected using two specific methods. One method included the reviewing of press releases of human trafficking cases
Human trafficking has been known to be a tragic and unfortunate crime of the 21st century. Social workers, policy makers, and other human service providers must understand the various policies and forms of legislative involvement that are working towards combatting this issue. For the purposes of this policy analysis, I will be analyzing The Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000 and the implications that it has for social workers and those who are invested in working towards abolishing this social issue.
Furthermore, the Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000 was best known for providing the framework to respond to human trafficking (Feldman, 2011). Likewise, it also helped for the redesigning of the laws in the United States by making sex trafficking an individual crime and allowing the government to focus on the victims. Even though this law has been reauthorized in 3 years the latest time, 2008, is the one that actually strengthens protections for the victims as well as, improves the protections for the victims. While this law already helped to develop people to prohibit the crime, the reauthorization of it, created a new set of criminal tools to reach unscrupulous labor recruiters (Feldman, 2011). Although the revisions of this law
Currently, 501 children mostly African American and Latino are missing out of Washington, D.C. since the beginning of the year. The police have good reason to believe that this is due to sex trafficking. These kids were taken from their lives and are threatened even with the thought of leaving their trafficker. Some children have been able to escape, but this is very risky. A young, 13-year-old girl who has a mental illness was brought into sex trafficking because she believes that her trafficker loved her. She was sold for sex to around 40 men per day. Because of these reasons sex trafficking needs to become a thing of the past. Sex trafficking in the United States can be reduced and possibly eliminated through education, government intervention,
Today, many people say that slavery has ended many years ago, however, there is a hidden population that were being exploited in exchanged for financial and economic gains of others. The victims of Trafficking and Violence Protection Act(TVPA) of 2000 defines human trafficking as “the recruitment, harboring, transporting, provision or obtaining of person for labor or services through the use of force, fraud, or coercion for the purpose of involuntary servitude, peonage, debt bondage, or slavery.” (Hachey and Phillippi, 2017, page 31) Sexual trafficking and labor trafficking are two types of human trafficking. With sexual trafficking, an individual is utilized for commercial sex acts; with labor trafficking, an individual is utilized for
Governmental actors such as elected legislator and executives should implement strict policies on human trafficking. Traffickers should be held accountable for their actions and should receive tough punishment. The approaches we examined in class that I believe is the most appropriate is the Trafficking Victim Protection Act. It’s the first legislation to defined human trafficking and greatly enhanced criminal sanction. Through the Trafficking Victim Protection Act, a T-Visa is award to victims who have been transported to the U.S. illegally. It allows victims to remain in the U.S. to assist in the prosecution of their perpetrator. In addition, I recommend another way to address this matter is through unity. I believe together the world must
Despite many efforts to stop human trafficking in general, there are still many underground dealings of trafficking that happen while we speak. People who were kidnapped, and have yet to be seen, have not been crossed off as possible victims of this horrendous act. Why has the government done nothing to stop human trafficking dealings if it outlawed slavery? Because they are frightened to reveal the horrors of the world to its people and they want to control us by promising us something will be done, but it is often never mentioned again. The American government enacted the Trafficking Victims Protection Act, better known as the TVPA, in 2000 and it expired in 2011. After six years, they finally decided to reintroduce this bill and hoped Congress