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
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