Kansas City Sex Trafficking

Kotrla, K., & Wommack, B. A. (2011). Sex Trafficking of Minors in the U.S.: Implications for Policy, Prevention and Research. Journal of Applied Research on Children: Informing Policy for Children at Risk: Vol. 2 (Iss. 1), article 5.

Las Vegas, It’s known for its shining,glimmering lights and extraordinary wild nightlife.This city has the famous saying of “What happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas”, unfortunately for too many people,they take that too literally. Every year, an immense estimate of forty million tourist come to vegas to escape from their ordinary lives back home. Due to the high demand of sex-related shows and adult stripper clubs,many underground complications occur. Sex trafficking is a major problem in Las vegas, and is dangerously increasing. It involves tens of thousands of people of all ages, and revenues about one hundred billion dollars every year.(Time)

In chapter 3, the basis of the chapter was sex trafficking in the St. Louis and bi-state area. It went into details about how sex trafficking occur, why sex trafficking occur, and who is at risk for sex trafficking. Chapter 3 first goes on to provide who are at risk. Sex trafficked victims are of a variety of contrasting demographics who stem from different socio-economic backgrounds. Chapter 3 also talk about how the general population usually have the wrong idea of what sex trafficking is.

Now that the effects of human trafficking on its victims and the risk factors of being trafficked have been covered, it is now time to address the top four states within the U.S. that have been effected by this issue. It is also important to cover what each corresponding state is doing to put an end to this issue. According to The Denver Post, South Dakota ranks number one as the most effected by human trafficking with a category 4 Tier. In the past this state has been known to do very little when it came to fighting against human trafficking. This is because South Dakota’s state legislature only meets every other year which creates a lack of opportunities to take legal action against human trafficking. With this being the case, there was 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

Imagine being trapped in a box and having things and people thrown at you. You cannot get out and you have no control of who or what comes in. That is the life of a young girl who is trapped in sex slavery. On average over 100 adolescent girls are being used in sex trafficking every night in Atlanta, and most of those girls are with at least three men. Sex trafficking mostly consist of people taking control of the lives of young girls. They take their bodies to make money: in fact, this industry makes over thirty billion dollars per year. They destroy their emotions by trapping them from their freedoms. Those that are taken into the system are often innocent girls who are walking in Atlanta which should be a save city. Girls are threatened or beaten if they try to escape and forced to do things no one wants to do. Many girls who do get out end up getting back into the system because they feel that they cannot do anything else to support themselves, or because they aren’t looked after and they get taken back in. Sex trafficking in Atlanta has become a huge issue and more action should be made to stop it and help those who are trapped in it.

Sex trafficking in Houston is a big issue because the Super Bowl was just held in the city. Houston Chronicle author Emily Foxhall reports, “Houston is considered a hub for human trafficking because of its location along major highways by which victims can be transported, its international port and two major airports, and a diverse population and economy” (Foxhall A003). Foxhall also shares the importance of using the Super Bowl as a way to inform Houstonians of the major issue in their city. According to the U.S. Trafficking in Person Report 2016, the United States is categorized as a Tier 1 country, “The United States is a source, transit, and destination country for men, women, transgender individuals, and children—

Women’s Foundation). The numerous entry points into Texas allow perpetrators to easily bring new victims into the state. Only 10 years ago, Dallas reported having 55 domestic minor sex trafficking cases (“Texas”). In 2007, multiple cases of both labor and sex trafficking were reported in Dallas. The Dallas Police Department identified “119 minors exploited for commercial sex,” (“Texas”) as well as, charging “33 people with sex trafficking” (“Texas”). Although Dallas only holds “26% of the Texas population,” the city accounts for “35% of the state’s commercial sexual exploitation cases” (“Texas”), proving Dallas to be a top city for human trafficking.

Human trafficking is a serious problem in modern society. In fact, the United Nations has referred to it as “one of the gravest human rights violations of our times” (“Secretary - General Calls Human Trafficking”). It is a fast growing industry that affects millions. No gender, age, or status is spared from the cruelty that is trafficking. To stress this point again, human trafficking is not just a problem of the “world” or “United States”, in general. As previously seen, it strikes very close to home, affecting hundreds of men, women, and children of our own community. In fact, “North Carolina ranked as a top-10 state for human trafficking with Charlotte being the top destination. It is estimated that more than 1,700 girls are trafficked

According to the Webster Dictionary, sex trafficking is described as “ organized criminal activity in which human beings are treated as possessions

Human sex trafficking is an epidemic that has been continuously growing by the minute worldwide. And is the most common form of modern day slavery; slavery today and 200 years ago share the same notion. Around the world there are 12.3 million people being sold into the human sex trafficking industry(caeact.org). It mainly deals with women along with some men and young teens, typically young girls, who are around the age of 16 being used essentially as prostitutes and being sold to random people on the black market worldwide. This problem has grown tremendously over the years because it’s hard to catch those who are in charge of this business in the act especially when the business keeps getting bigger by the second. The policy problem with this policy issue is no one knows exactly who is a victim of human sex trafficking so it’s hard for authorities to spot him or her. Although there are programs that help authorities identify such victims the fact of the matter is those who are at the head of this ring are often more than one step ahead of everyone else.

In 2012 it was reported that 50% of humans being trafficked were underage; 76% of those were underage girls being bought and sold online for sex(1). The effect of sex trafficking of minors is detrimental; from sexually transmitted diseases, drug use and abuse, sleeping and eating disorders, psychological issues, depression and suicide to name a few (1). Twelve-year-old girls should be thinking about a new Justin Beiber CD, not an STD; thirteen-year-old boys shooting heroine to numb the pain of continued sexual abuse instead of trying out for the football team at school is wrong. The US isn't

So what exactly is the problem? Well according to the US department of health and human services, human trafficking is second largest criminal industry making $12 billion per year off of a staggering 1.2 million child victims, all from the ages 5 to 17. Unlike other criminal industries children can be sold over and over again. The profits from one girl alone can range to as much as 250,000 dollars. This is not just distant problem but LA which hits close to home for me is the second larges trafficking city in the United States. I am going to share with your the one statistic that lead me to write this speech. (CAS Research and Education) fewer than 1% of all children in California are in the foster care system (SCEC 2012 study) and yet they make of 60% to 80% of all commercially sexually exploited children in California. This is as much as 8 out of every 10 kids. That is a problem. Not only that but the average lifespan for a trafficked child decreases to just seven more years. Subjecting these children to a horrible death of disease, drugs, murder, or suicide.

Traffickers manipulate adolescents and youth into the sex trafficking through targeting their emotional vulnerabilities. To begin, traffickers use threats, intimidation and violence to enforce or entice adolescents into trafficking. One adolescent, a runaway from Baltimore County, Maryland, is gang raped by a group of men associated with the trafficker, who thereafter executes a “rescue” (Walker-Rodriguez & Hill, 2011) Following the “rescue”, the trafficker imposes she recompense him by working for him as one of his prostitutes (Walker-Rodriguez & Hill, 2011). Unfortunately, in many cases youth are generally beaten up until they yield to the trafficker’s orders (Walker-Rodriguez & Hill, 2011).

“Sex-Trafficking” is a very complex and layered phenomenon. Critically evaluate some possible explanations for it's continued prevalence and seeming invincibility to regulation and control.