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Sex trafficking is a concept that I was not introduced to until I arrived at college. Maybe a news segment would appear on the television at home or a documentary, but my father would change the channel. He did not believe that this was something that I needed to be exposed to at an early age. As I read through Kara's Sex Trafficking and learn more about the many horrors of sex trafficking I realize why my father felt the need to keep it from me. While reading I could not help but feel humble as ever about where I am at in my life and the privilege that I have. Fear was instilled in me. Fear for people who have to experience this in their lives. My father was able to change the channel because this was something he did not think I was ready to take in, but people who are coerced into sex trafficking do not have other options. It is scary. It is intense. It is real. Now although I definitely disagree with Kara's approach to getting his information (acting as a client to be alone with women who had been forced into sex work), his writing did help me to better understand sex trafficking. In my writing I would like to use Kara's piece and focus on how people are coerced into the system.
The first coercive tactic that Kara spoke of was "sale by family". Families will be extremely poor and have nowhere else to look for money. The slave traders feed off of the desperation that these families are struggling with. "Slave traders sniff out the most despondent individuals and make job offers for a child in exchange for a payment that might be as little as twenty or thiry dollars." (Kara, 2009). Kara goes on to explain how some families will sell their children out of greed. They most likely have enough money to survive, but could just use more. I read an article titled, The Women Who Sold Their Daughters into Sex Slavery, that talked about mother's who sold their daughters into sex slavery and also shared the daughter's experiences. We learn about a girl named Kieu who was sold by her mother for her virginity at the age of 12 and repeatedly sold by her mother for years to come. "She was kept there for three days, raped by three to six men a day. When she returned home, her mother sent her away for stints in two other brothels, including one 400 kilometers away on the Thai border. When she learned her mother was planning to sell her again, this time for a six-month stretch, she realized she needed to flee her home." (CNN, 2013). Her mother showed little remorse for her actions and said she only did it to pay off debts that she had. She said that she had no other choice.
Another way that sex traffickers aquire workers is through abduction. It is not a tactic that is commonly used, but it does still happen. Kara talks of women being abducted and sold time and time again to repay "debts". These are often times debts that were aquired by other people, but these women have to work to repay them. After they work off their debts to one trader they are often times traded to pay off new debts that they have unknowingly aquired.
The idea of "loverboys" is one that I was unfamiliar with prior to taking a women's gender and sexuality studies course at Allegheny. This term ignites a sense of sadness in me. ""Loverboys" are agents who approach attractive and vulnerable young girls, offering them undying love, treating them to extravagant gifts, and seducing them to migrate to a rich country where they can build a life together". (Kara, 2009). After being promised all of this and accepting it the girl will be sent away to the new place that she will live and is normally picked up by either a brothel owner or a slave trader. These women and young girls are promised these ideas of an amazing life which they could never get on their own based on their living circumstances.
While I read through Sex Trafficking an overwhelming feeling of helplessness came over me. At the end of the piece Kara provides a set of options of what you can do to "help", but I did not appreciate them because he is basically trying to promote his book by telling people who read it to have other people read it. I feel as though more people should be aware of the horrors of Sex Trafficking globally. I am unsure of how to get the word out, but I encourage everyone to look more into it more and try and come up with ways to spread awareness.
References:
'The women who sold their daughters into sex slavery. (n.d.). Retrieved April 14, 2016, from http://www.cnn.com/interactive/2013/12/world/cambodia-child-sex-trade/
Kara, S. Sex Trafficking: Inside the Business of Modern Slavery (Columbia University Press, New York, 2009).
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