Human Trafficking and Prostitution

The link between human trafficking and prostitution is undeniable.  An overwhelming majority of discussions on human trafficking are dominated by trafficking for sexual exploitation.  Despite overlapping components of trafficking and prostitution, “the human trafficking phenomenon is more complicated than prostitution” (Batsyukova 2007).  Human trafficking is undoubtedly a damaging issue because numbers indicate that at any given moment between 4 million and 27 million individuals are victims of forced labor or human trafficking (Alvarez 2012).  Prostitution refers to the act of having sexual intercourse for material compensation:  money, drugs, clothes, and jewelry. The United Nations Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons defines human trafficking as: “the recruitment, transportation, transfer, harboring or receipt of persons, by means of threat or use of force or other forms of coercion, of abduction, of fraud, of deception, of the abuse of power or of a position of vulnerability or of the giving or receiving payments or benefits to achieve the consent of a person having control over another person, for the purpose of exploitation.  Exploitation shall include, at a minimum, the exploitation of the prostitution of others or other forms of sexual exploitation, forced labor or services, slavery or practices similar to slavery, servitude or the removal of organs” (Batsyukova 2007) (Smith 2011).  The UN Protocol to Prevent, Suppress, and Punish Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children was passed in 2000 and is the first global effort addressing human trafficking (Smith 2011).

            At the core of prostitution and human trafficking is sexual exploitation.  In certain cases of prostitution, individuals willingly chose to prostitute themselves and voluntarily subject themselves to a life of sexual exploitation.  Other instances of prostitution may involve a runaway being forced to become a prostitute in order to survive on the streets and therefore is forcefully sexually exploited.   Similarly, in occurrences of human trafficking, trafficked individuals are forced by somebody else to sell their bodies for sexual purposes (Batsyukova 2007). 

            In addition to the differing nature of the sexual exploitation, a component that varies between individuals who chose prostitution; who are forced into prostitution; and those who are sexually exploited as a result of human trafficking, is whether or not they receive material compensation .Sex workers who willingly chose to work in the sex industry as escorts, street prostitutes, or in-door prostitutes are typically given payment for their services.  Additionally, these sex workers are usually able to quit their jobs whenever they desire to leave the industry.  On the other hand, individuals who are forced to become prostitutes, either by a controlling pimp on the streets or by human traffickers are not paid for their sexual encounters and are not able to leave freely (Batsyukova 2007).   The traffickers force the individuals to basically buy their freedom because they “require enslaved women to pay them back unbelievable prices for the transportation, visa, food and clothes.  Trafficked women are often kept in sex slavery as long as they may be used, and are forced to work even if they are sick.  Victims are subjected to multiple forms of violence and abuse” (Batsyukova 2007).  Victims of human trafficking are often times sold to other human traffickers and are forced to endure a continuous cycle of treacherous abuse at the hands of violent exploiters.  Escape from the cycle is rare and only occurs if the victim is rescued by authorities, freedom for the victim is purchased by a customer, or by some miracle the victim is able to escape.  Unfortunately the end of the cycle is more often than not the death of the battered victim (Batsyukova 2007).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Works Cited

Alvarez, M., & Alessi, E. J. (2012). Human Trafficking Is More Than Sex Trafficking and             Prostitution: Implications for Social Work. Affilia: Journal Of Women & Social Work,   27(2), 142-152. doi:10.1177/0886109912443763

Batsyukova, S. (2007). Prostitution and Human Trafficking for Sexual Exploitation. Gender         Issues, 24(2), 46-50. doi:10.1007/s12147-007-9001-0

Smith, H. (2011). Sex Trafficking: Trends, Challenges, and the Limitations of International          Law.Human Rights Review, 12(3), 271-286. doi:10.1007/s12142-010-0185-4

 

 

 

 

           

Easy Targets

            By committing the crime of prostitution, one is not only subjecting oneself to a degrading lifestyle, but more importantly continuously placing oneself in life-threatening situations for profits.  Female prostitutes have the highest homicide victimization rate amongst any sample of women studied. In the United States, from 1982 until 2000, 2.7% of female homicide victims were prostitutes. Homicide is not a foreign occurrence in the world of prostitution where prostitutes are most often killed by their clients, clients are primarily killed by prostitutes, and pimps are victimized by fellow pimps (Brewer 2006).

            Violence is an overbearing theme present each day in the life of a prostitute. Whether the female sex worker is subjected to sexual and physical abuse from her pimp and clients, or lured into the illicit drug trade by companion prostitutes, she is constantly engrained in a violent society. Active and passive surveillance conducted in Canada, Kenya, the United Kingdom and the United States demonstrated that homicide is the leading cause of death in the prostitute population (Brewer 2006). Despite common assumptions, the death of prostitutes is not entirely at the hands of pimps and drug dealers. Recent homicide investigations have identified that 62-64% of prostitute homicides in Canada and the United Kingdom were committed by clients (Brewer 2006).   A study conducted in the red light area based in Mumbai India discovered that victimization of prostitutes is at the hands of a male who is first her client, then her intimate partner, and finally her coercive pimp (Karandikar 2010).   It is crucial that, regardless of bias and judgment that prostitutes are allowing themselves to become easy targets through their risky method of income, the homicide investigators take the time, effort, and resources to carry out focused investigations rather than simply jumping to conclusions that the pimps got angry.

            Focused investigations will not only ensure that justice is found for the deceased prostitute, but additionally  they are  beneficial in reducing the likelihood of future homicides. Serial perpetrators are quite common in the context of prostitute homicide. Serial perpetrators of prostitute homicide were responsible for over one-third of prostitute victims in the United States between the 1980s and 2000.   An overwhelming majority of the serial perpetrators who committed these heinous acts were clients. (Brewer 2006).  Serial perpetrators often discard of the bodies in distant cities making it difficult for police to track the murders and connect the victims to a single perpetrator. The data on prostitute homicide is  easily skewed by bodies that are never located, and by prostitutes severely decomposed at the point of discovery that it is impossible to identity the victim by the decayed remains. It is also not uncommon for victims to be identified but not recognized as prostitutes (Brewer 2006). Prostitutes may be appearing to be asking for trouble, and placing themselves in harm’s way, but nevertheless the prostitutes are human beings whose violent victimization is never justified.

            The violent victimization of prostitutes peaked in the late 1980’s and early 1990’s.  A likely cause of the increase in prostitute homicides during this time period was the upsurge in crack cocaine use by prostitutes and others residing in the United States (Brewer 2006).  Prostitutes become especially vulnerable while under the influence of crack cocaine because they indiscriminately solicit while high, and the propensity for violence increases through their increased desire and desperation for money and cocaine. Cocaine causes elevated aggression thus resulting in violence between clients and prostitutes if both parties are using the drug.  Cocaine use has also been linked to inhibited male sexual function.   Inhibited male sexual ability results in the male becoming angry and directing his aggression towards the prostitute because he believes it is her fault that he is unable to rise to the occasion (Brewer 2006). Drugs clearly play a vital role in the demise of prostitutes since they not only contribute to a female turning towards the life of prostitution in order to support her drug habit, but can also end her life of prostitution when a client under the influence of drugs loses his cool and snaps her neck.

            Fortunately, not all prostitutes who endure a beating at the hands of a violent client, pimp, or drug dealer are killed. Unfortunately, the battle does not end once they survive the assault. Victimization is linked to worse outcomes in future well-being, and increasingly risky sexual behavior (Vanwesenbeeck 1995). This is because  victimization results in reduced self-esteem. The destroyed self-image contributes to the victims  becoming less likely to protect themselves against HIV and STDS.  The survivors fear violent victimization if they insist that their clients use condoms (Vanwesenbeeck 1995). Prostitutes who survived a vicious attack may not be so lucky when battling a deadly sexually transmitted disease.  Once again they are victimized, only this time through a fatal disease rather than a beating, but both are perpetrated by violent men.

Works Cited

Brewer, D. D., Dudek, J. A., Potterat, J. J., Muth, S. Q., Roberts, J. M., & Woodhouse, D. E.       (2006). Extent, Trends, and Perpetrators of Prostitution-Related Homicide in the United    States. Journal Of Forensic Sciences (Blackwell Publishing Limited), 51(5), 1101-1108.   doi:10.1111/j.1556-4029.2006.00206.x

Karandikar, S., & Próspero, M. (2010). From Client to Pimp: Male Violence Against Female Sex Workers. Journal Of Interpersonal Violence, 25(2), 257-273.

Vanwesenbeeck, I., & de Graaf, R. (1995). Professional HIV risk taking, levels of victimization, and well-being in female prostitutes. Archives Of Sexual Behavior, 24(5), 503.

Prostitution through the Decades

Flip through any history text and immediately gracing the pages are words discussing the presence of prostitution in every country, and the “World’s Oldest Debate”, the question each founder asked, whether to legalize or criminalize said acts of prostitutes.

`           Japan is one of the few counties which chose to legalize prostitution.  A system for licensed prostitution was created in 1900 (Garon 1993). The establishment of licensed prostitution significantly altered the lives of thousands of young women in Japan. By creating a system of licenses to engage in sexual acts for money the number of prostitutes in Japan rose immensely. The number peaked with a record high of 54,049 in 1916 and remained in the 50,000 range during the 1920’s and the early 1930’s (Garon 1993). In 1925 the statistical evidence demonstrated that 1 out of every 31 women between the ages of 18 and 29 was engrossed in the world of prostitution (Garon 1993). By legalizing these acts the women believed it was a lucrative and acceptable means of making money whereas criminalizing the act of prostitution would have discouraged young women from pursuing such a self-deprecating lifestyle.

            Criminalization of prostitution would additionally have persuaded young women to strive for an education.  Data indicates that in 1924 13% of registered Japanese prostitutes had not attended a single education course and that a mere 28% had completed the basic 6 years of compulsory elementary education (Garon 1993).  The primary deciding factor whether young Japanese women chose to attend an educational facility or turn to the brothels was money and social status.  An abundance of the women recruited to a prostitute lifestyle were from Japans poorest region the rural northeast (Garon 1993). Not surprisingly, when asked why they had chosen to become prostitutes 82% percent of licensed Japanese prostitutes in 1918 responded that “they took up their trade either to rescue their families from poverty, bail out failed family ventures, care for parents or siblings, or because of death or illness in the family” (Garon 1993). Also not shocking, a measly 0.5% of women interviewed claimed that they had taken up their degrading lifestyle because they had “personally wanted” to be prostitutes (Garon 1993).  

            Despite the fact that the life of a licensed Japanese prostitute was clearly damaging and dangerous, a startling 13 of every 1,000 prostitutes dying annually, government officials continued to believe that the positive effects of licensed prostitution outweighed the negative (Garon 1993).  Cosmopolitan thinker Fukazawa Yukichi stated in 1885 that prostitution was “the only way to preserve social peace” because of the rise in single men that were unable to marry due to financial troubles (Garon 1993). Additionally, it was believed that prostitution contributed to Japan rising as a major world power.  The argument for this bold statement was that during the Naval Race with the United States in 1935 the abundance of available and willing licensed Japanese girls working as prostitutes meant that the Japanese officers were able to be away from home for extended periods of time on naval maneuvers.  The men of the American Navy insisted on being at sea no longer than 3 months since they desired to go home to enjoy the company of their wives (Garon 1993). 

            Although the support for licensed prostitution in Japan was substantial, the momentum to abolish it rose between 1920s and 1930s when Non-Christian Organizations composed of Buddhists and social workers designed abolitionist campaigns. The organizations were quite successful in persuading prefectural assemblies to vote to abolish licensed prostitution.By 1934 The Home Ministry stated that licensed prostitution would be abolished in the coming years (Garon 1993). Due to the war and Japan invading China the action to abolish prostitution was placed on the back burner and it was not until 1958 that the Anti-Prostitution Law was finally enforced (Garon 1993).

            The history of prostitution in the United States is strikingly different than the rollercoaster battle between legalized and abolished prostitution in Japan. The American reformers of the 1880’s main concern were lobbying governments to carry out censorship and “the purification of society itself” (Garon 1993). The concerns regarding prostitution in America were brief in comparison to the prostitution debate ongoing in Japan. The “popular hysteria” over venereal diseases and promiscuous women only took place during the two years America was involved in World War I and did not reoccur during World War II. Furthermore, the American feminists and liberals were more concerned with why only the prostitute was targeted and the pimps and customers were not prosecuted (Garon 1993).

            Amsterdam is a country well known for “the red light district” and asocietal attitude towards prostitution that greatly resembles that which existed in Japan. Prostitution has been legal in Netherlands since 2000.74 percent of the Dutch population view prostitution as an acceptable job (Abrams 2009). The Dutch have supported prostitution throughout the history of Amsterdam. In 1413 one of the first by-laws stated that brothels will not be forbidden because whores are necessary in big commerce cities, and that the church tolerates whores on good grounds (Abrams 2009). In 1911 a law was passed which forbid brothels but  the prostitutes themselves were not penalized so they continued to engage in their sexual acts for money (Abrams 2009). In the 15^th and 16^th century prostitution was concentrated on two streets, and by the 17^th century it encompassed three large areas in the heart of the city. These streets and areas are still present within the present day red light district (Abrams 2009).

            Virtually every country has had at least one if not many more debates regarding prostitution.The history of prostitution varies in each country based on religion, morals, beliefs, and philosophies held by the individuals of said society.   

Works Cited

Abrams, M. (2009). City of (red) lights. History Today, 59(11), 6-7.

Garon, S. (1993). The world's oldest debate? Prostitution and the state in imperial Japan, 1900-    1945. American Historical Review, 98(3), 710.

Orme, N. (1987). THE REFORMATION & THE RED LIGHT. History Today, 37(3), 36.

Unveiling the Face of Prostitution

            Voluntarily subjecting oneself to a life of exploiting one’s body or being forced into a self-depreciating life style by an overbearing pimp? Regardless of the answer to this question, both voluntary and involuntary prostitution encompass a severe social problem. The Justice Department's Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) press release, which  discussed investigative analysis of the 2,500 incidents of human trafficking ,announced that “Most suspected incidents of human trafficking investigated between January 2008 and June 2010 involved allegations of adult prostitution (48 percent) or the prostitution or sexual exploitation of a child (40 percent)” (McCarthy 2012)). Of the 2,500 recorded incidents of human trafficking, 40 percent involved the sexual exploitation of a child;  inquiry of whether or not the sexual act is consensual is irrelevant in this aspect of the social problem since “Any commercial sex act performed by a person under age 18 is considered human trafficking, regardless of whether force, fraud, or coercion is involved” (McCarthy 2012).Pompous pimps and foul johns benefit from the issue of substantial percentages of victims being underage, and consequently unable to legally consent to sex acts.

            Crucial variables when analyzing the issue of prostitution are: age, gender, and race.  All three contribute to the likelihood of becoming a victim, as well as painting a picture of prospective suspects, the pimps, who are responsible for the commission of such crimes. Statistics demonstrate that the prevalence of female versus male victims is high with the percentage of sex trafficking victims being overwhelmingly female: 94%. Additionally females over the age of 25 comprise 13% of the confirmed sex trafficking victims, while the remaining 87% of female victims are below the age of 25 (Bureau of Justice Statistics).  Race is another element to ponder because the numbers prove sex trafficking victims are most often black and white with the statistical percentages 26 percent white and 40 percent black (Bureau of Justice Statistics). Based on these figures it is appropriate to approximate that the victim of human trafficking is most often a white or black female below the age of 25, yet the face of the suspected pimp contrasts greatly with that of the victims. An overwhelmingly great percentage of the confirmed suspects responsible for the completion of the illegal sexual acts were male, 81 percent, and a substantial percentage of those established pimps were black, 62 percent.( McCarthy 2012)

            The link between prostitution and the misuse of drugs and alcohol is substantial.  In order to solve the societal qualm of prostitution successfully one must include drug rehabilitation programs. Prostitution heightens the use of drugs and alcohol and vice versa (Bhunu 2012).  Failures to halt prostitution involved attempts based solely on “poverty eradication” without the realization that prostitutes may be resorting to the criminal sex acts in order to feed their addictions (Bhunu 2012).

            Legalization of the sexual acts currently categorized as criminal would alter the future of the issue immensely. Although the current law in the United States, with the exception of certain parts of Nevada, punishes all parties involved in the commission of prostitution, it is possible that in the future America will turn to reforming Prostitution Law as is currently underway in Canada. Contemplation of decriminalization, legalization, and feminist outlooks of prostitution are under discussion in Canada and if reformed will impact the future of prostitution (Lowman 2012).  By removing the stigmatism of prostitution through decriminalization the allure of committing a crime will vanish and the face of prostitutes will no longer be in shame.

Works Cited

BHUNU, C. P., & MUSHAYABASA, S. S. (2012). PROSTITUTION AND DRUG       (ALCOHOL) MISUSE:: THE MENACING COMBINATION. Journal Of Biological

Lowman, J., & Louie, C. (2012). Public Opinion on Prostitution Law Reform in Canada1.            Canadian Journal Of Criminology & Criminal Justice, 54(2), 245-260.  Systems,         20(2), 1250005-1-1250005-17.

McCarthy, K. (2011). Bureau of Justice Statics