The Intersection
How do human trafficking and prostitution intersect? An easy way to distinguish prostitution from sex trafficking is understanding that the act of prostitution is consensual, and human/sex trafficking is forced. But how do you know if a prostitute is truly willing to do sex work? You don’t. There are many women and girls out there being trafficked, but not many people would know because they appear to just be prostitutes. The majority of trafficked victims are not in shackles bound by physical bondage. The media portrays human trafficking this way, but many victims actually have mobility and freedom to leave the site. They actually have to in order to make their pimps money. To put this in perspective, if you ever saw a streetwalker attempting to make a new customer, you would never really know if she’s an actual prostitute, or if she is a victim of sex trafficking. Many buyers may not even be aware that the majority money they are giving the prostitute will actually go to the pimp/middleman. Sex slaves get little to no compensation for the labor they do. However their pimps will assure them that they are “taking care of them” and “providing for them”. Here’s how mental bondage works: If a homeless person is offered a placed to stay, he or she most likely will accept that offer. And if they are told to go make some money for their pimp, they will feel more obligated to sell themselves because the pimp is providing them shelter. A common strategy pimps use to trap victims is to give them false promises of a better life. They may seem generous at first for giving the victim a place to stay, or giving them drugs, or whatever they need, but in reality, they are exploiting these people. They abuse the victim mentally and sometimes physically, making them feel like they are trapped in this cycle and there is no getting out. Once you enter the sex trade industry, it’s hard to leave it.
Traffickers often share the same national, ethnic, or cultural background as their victims to better understand and exploit their vulnerabilities. Traffickers either work individually, or work in an extensive criminal network. According to the Polaris Project, an organization in the global fight to erase modern slavery, “Traffickers can be lone individuals or extensive criminal networks. Pimps, gangs, family members, labor brokers, employers of domestic servants, small business owners, and large factory owners have all been found guilty of human trafficking. Their common thread is a willingness to exploit other human beings for profit.” This is a disgusting mindset to have, as it is the most unethical, immoral, and inhumane way to make money.
As stated previously, anyone can become a victim of sex trafficking, but there are some statistics that show some people are more likely to become victims than others. In the US, The 2019 Trafficking in Persons Report indicate that a large number of child sex trafficking survivors were in the fostercare system at one time. Another statistic from the “Human Trafficking Within and Into The United States: A Review of the Literature” states, “The average age a teen enters the sex trade in the US is 12 to 14 years old. Many victims are runaway girls who were sexually abused as children.” Vulnerability is a common trait that victims have which make them targets for trafficking. However, traffickers/pimps are recruiting and advertising girls/women through online social media platforms and websites. Not surprisingly, girls and women who are already in the commercial sex industry are targets of trafficking as well.
Prostitutes are also more likely to be trafficked because many of them are vulnerable as well. Not all prostitutes are the same, but it’s fair to say that most enter the sex trade industry due to financial struggle. If they feel like there aren’t enough job options for them, they turn to prostitution. These kinds of prostitutes usually come with some baggage such as drug addiction or a history of physical/sexual abuse. Using drug addiction as a scenario: If a pimp approaches a prostitute and offers her drugs if she works for him and she accepts this offer, she is now being trafficked. Trafficking is more than people being physically bound, and transported from country to country. The most common type of human trafficking is mental bondage. Prostitutes are often manipulated and exploited by their pimps. Pimps/traffickers will often promise things that seems too good to be true. This is they lure people into the sex trade. Whether it be a lucrative job, stability, education, or a loving relationship. Whatever the victim is lacking in their life, the pimp will give promises to fulfill that need IF they are willing to give their bodies to them.
Human Trafficking and Prostitution are different things, however, there is a connection between the two that cannot be ignored.
image portraying mental bondage/ hands offering things to person
lingerie girl
