SEX TRAFFICKING OF WOMEN IN THE UNITED STATES
... No matter which category of trafficking the woman is working in, the treatment of her is the same, degrading, vicious, and violent. The pimps that employ the women generally make five to twenty times as much as they paid for the woman (Hughes, 2001). ...
... Their ages typically range from 15-90 years old and come from many any different number of socio-economic classes. The majority of these men is married and has a family (Raymond & Hughes, 2001). Fifty-eight percent of American women said the men expected them to comply with all of their requests and forty-seven percent expected to have sex without a condom. ...
... Fifty-eight percent of American women said the men expected them to comply with all of their requests and forty-seven percent expected to have sex without a condom. Depending on the location of business, some parlors are restrictive on what race of men comes in (Raymond and Hughes, 2001). For example, a white or black man would have a difficult time getting into a parlor, which offered mostly Asian women. ...
In this paper the issue of human trafficking, in particular the trafficking of women, across national and international borders will be discussed having due regard to the literature review on this subject. It is acknowledged that there are many facets associated with human trafficking and will acknowledge their existence through the literature review. Having discussed issues that arise from the literature review current preventative measures and their effectiveness will be discussed. The paper will conclude with a summary of the problem, the national and international response and future preventative measure to limit, if not eradicate, the problem.
... According to Tsutsumi, Izutsu, Poudyal, Kato, and Maru (2008), trafficked individuals experience trauma by the very nature of being trafficked. Exposure to chronic trauma often causes post-traumatic stress disorder (Courtois, 2004; Flowers, 2001; Raymond & Hughes, 2001; United States Department of State [US DOS], 2006 ). In many human trafficking cases, the perpetrators induce psychological trauma by destroying the victim's sense of self in relation to others. ...
... They may threaten them by telling them that they will be deported or arrested if they seek help from the police or others (Hopper, 2004). In addition to emotional abuse, traffickers may create alcohol or drug dependencies to further entrap victims (Raymond & Hughes, 2001). Such techniques often leave victims feeling helpless and hopeless, so even if they come in contact with law enforcement or social services, they are hesitant to ask for help. ...
The purpose of this study was to evaluate program adherence, process factors, and success of human trafficking case management services in an agency providing services to international human trafficking victims as there is a lack of research on the effectiveness of services for this population; however, using a trauma-informed lens has been suggested by other researchers (see Mary & Johns, 2011). As such, this paper describes services provided to international victims of human trafficking in an upstate New York facility and outlines the use of a trauma-informed lens in conjunction with a client-centered approach to delivering case management to persons who have experienced human trafficking. External evaluators were used to conduct a process evaluation of the case management services in a single agency. Evaluation of adherence to the program’s service protocol used a deductive approach to identify if the service providers (case managers and program director) followed the seven principles of trauma-informed care (TIC) in their practice. Modes of examining for TIC indicators included participant observation, content analysis of case folders, and other paperwork utilized within the agency as well as conversations with case managers and the program director. Findings indicate that a trauma-informed lens was successfully implemented, and the small-scale preliminary feedback from clients (N = 7) is that they feel safe, respected, and confident to live independently in an environment of their choosing.
Introduction
Understanding substance use and treatment needs for survivors of human trafficking remains an underdeveloped area in the field of substance use treatment. This study assessed the nature of substance use among survivors of all types of human trafficking and identified treatment barriers and needs, as reported by human trafficking service providers in one Midwest major metropolitan area.
Methods
Participants were purposively selected from agencies that served foreign-born and domestic-born survivors of human trafficking. The study interviewed fifteen key informants across 13 agencies directly serving survivors of trafficking.
Results
Providers highlighted frequent use of alcohol and marijuana, as well as polysubstance use. They noted survivors' significant use of opioids, associated concerns regarding fentanyl-related deaths, and increased frequency of stimulant use. Barriers for addressing substance use problems with survivors included low self-perceptions of need, lack of available residential or inpatient treatment options, and prioritizing basic needs such as housing over substance use treatment.
Conclusions
Results underscore how broader trends in substance use and overdose in a region can mirror substance use patterns and treatment needs of human trafficking survivors. Further, a need exists for broader substance use screening and low-barrier referral services to address emergent needs of survivors of trafficking.
The application of quantitative analytics to human trafficking is growing rapidly, which offers novel approaches to studying a topic in which accessing reliable large-scale data is difficult. Human trafficking research often relies on proxy evidence, such as data from online advertisements. In this paper, we propose an alternative method for discerning the scale of trafficking activity. We develop a measure by applying network analysis to six years of North Carolina court data. In conjunction with existing measures, this measure could potentially produce a more accurate estimate of the amount of human trafficking encountered by the state's justice system. We further identify a series of non-trafficking criminal charges that can be highly indicative of human trafficking.
The technological innovations and unregulated use of the Internet have created a global medium for men's sexual exploitation and abuse of women and children. The sex industry has aggressively adopted every new information technology to increase men's sexual access to women and children. A mutually beneficial relationship exists between the Internet and sex industries. New technologies enable pimps to market women and children in prostitution or related activities, such as online strip shows, sex shows, and commercial voyeurism. The global communications forums have increased the visibility and exposure of women and children being exploited and abused, while conversely, increasing the privacy and communication of the men who exploit and abuse them. These forums normalize men's exploitative and abuse behaviors. Violence and humiliation are eroticized. The combined experience of using new information technologies, finding a supportive community on the Internet, and having a sexual experience is positively reinforcing and empowering to perpetrators. Viewing and interacting with women in online sex sites causes aloss of empathy for them ashuman beings. Women used in online sex shows are exploited and abused in ways that are both similar to the regular sex industry and unique to being online. In some instances, the abuse and exploitation is worse. More research is needed on the use of new information technologies for the sexual exploitation and abuse of women and children.…it's pretty bad working at [an] adult [Web] site…. the abuse is way beyond what goes on at strip clubs …” (Email from Renee, May 19, 2000)
Prostitution reemerged in China in the 1980s and has become rampant ever since then—attracting enormous attention and academic interest. This article examines the history of prostitution in China, from its roots to the causes of its resurgence. It also examines China’s legal responses and policies and their limited effectiveness in containing the growth of the sex industry. In considering the possible relationship between prostitution and human trafficking, this article intends to improve our understanding of the link between the sex industry and sex trafficking, and to push for empirical studies on Chinese women working as prostitutes.
Through a critical review of existing research, this article argues that (a) customers have been excluded from many debates surrounding prostitution, and including them will create a more robust dialogue regarding prostitution; (b) though prostitution seeking is often treated as a natural part of masculine sexual experience, most men do not pursue prostitutes, and very few are regular users; (c) many commonsense understandings of men’s motivations for seeking prostitutes are consistent with existing research; (d) a series of attitudinal orientations may help explain why some men meet their desires through prostitution and others do not, and may also help to explain some of the violence experienced by prostitutes; and (e) customers actively construct their encounters with prostitutes in ways that support their understandings of prostitution and their sexual desires, often working to maintain a sense of mutuality and consent. Incorporating customers into academic scholarship on prostitution can lead to more balanced research that better informs public policy.
International human trafficking—sometimes referred to as modern-day slavery—has increasingly come to be seen as a security threat. The question remains as to what kind of threat human trafficking poses. Traditional security approaches to international human trafficking call for analysis of trafficking as a threat to the state and to state control of borders. Traditional security analyses of trafficking therefore emphasize border security, migration controls, and international law enforcement cooperation. Feminist analyses of human trafficking challenge the traditional security framework, prioritizing the security of trafficked persons and recognizing the manner in which victims are threatened by both traffickers and the state itself. I argue that feminist approaches to human trafficking are essential for understanding and combating the phenomenon. Feminists identify the ethical and pragmatic grounds for broadening the analytical focus from states to people. Feminists' most important contribution, however, lies in the investigations of the social construction of human trafficking, which highlight the destructive role that sexist and racist stereotypes play in constructing the category of trafficking victims.
The present study examines the violence and change in violence experienced by domestically sex trafficked women from their pimps since their recruitment. A total of 100 women who currently had a pimp were interviewed, and 71 indicated that they had been recruited into prostitution, many under conditions meeting the federal definition of trafficking. Violence and coercive control were measured at 2 different points for each woman and compared separately and together. On average, violence had increased since recruitment, and those women who experienced more forms of coercive control generally experienced higher levels of violence from their pimps. The majority of women experienced violence and coercion, thereby meeting federal sex trafficking definitions.
Madonnaor whore? Pimp or protector? International law and organization related to global prostitution reflect assumptions about gender relations that portray women either as whores and victims of men's lust or as good wives and mother madonnas who work to save these fallen women.
