Prevention of Sex Trafficking: Getting to the Roots of the Cliff

Recently, during class discussion, I have become aware of the widespread sex labor debate and the vast sex industry. We have discussed both voluntary and involuntary sex labor. I believe that the coercion and exploitation involved in involuntary sex work, including sex trafficking, makes this the area most in need of urgent attention and intervention. The trafficking of humans for the sex industry occurs between and within all countries. Often, it is women and young girls that are targeted and in the highest demand. The International Labor Organization estimates that 4.5 million people are in forced sexual exploitation globally (International Labour Organization, 2012), while the Polaris Project estimates that this figure is closer to 20.9 million global victims (Polaris, n.d.). The fluidity and resourcefulness of the sex trafficking industry makes it extremely difficult to make significant strides against this heinous aspect of human culture. Many proposals have been made which try to address and hinder various aspects of sex trafficking, however it is clear from global trends that minimal systemic progress has been made (Smith, 2011). Efforts to stop sex trafficking have included trying to create stricter laws, create harsher penalties for traffickers, create awareness, and many others (Examples here and here and here). As Kara outlines, sex trafficking involves the acquisition, movement, and exploitation of victims through a variety of means (CITE). I believe that intervention early in the trafficking process will be the most effective, since this will also reduce activity at later points.
Consider Dr Camara Jones' cliff of good health analogy, in which three points of intervention exist that correlate to the three stages of intervention. Placing emergency care services at the bottom of the cliff is tertiary prevention, installing a net or trampoline on the cliff face to catch
those who fall is secondary prevention, and putting up a fence at the top of the cliff to keep people away from the treacherous danger is primary prevention. Finally, she discusses how moving communities away from the cliff entirely would be akin to addressing the social determinants of health for the issue in question. I believe that this framework can be used to fight global sex trafficking. If one were trying to discuss sex trafficking in terms of prevention, interventions during acquisition, movement, and exploitation would be primary, secondary, and tertiary prevention respectively. While secondary and tertiary prevention are necessary and effective means of dealing with an issue, successful, thorough, and effective primary prevention can in time render them unnecessary. In time and with enormous effort, primary prevention can also be made obsolete by the social determinants of health that contribute to the health outcome.

Conditions of poverty are extremely contributory in making people vulnerable to sex trafficking, pushing them closer to the hypothetical cliff. It is much easier for traffickers to acquire, transport, and exploit people in poverty. For example, it is common for families in poverty to sell their children to people claiming to be able to take them to cities and teach them trades from which they can send money back to their families (Kara, p. 8). Individuals without financial security are also more likely to consider and pursue the obviously risky offers made by traffickers, such as false job offers or marriage arrangements (Kara, p. 7-9). Poor people are much more transient than those with financial means, and they are less likely to be missed or followed up with. The harsh conditions of poverty do not create a system in which communities are monitored and protected. Finally, the exploitation of trafficked victims often involves financial dependence or debts which can never be repaid. The sex industry is a business, and individuals in poverty may be used to working in extreme and intolerable conditions for little or no pay. This makes them ideal targets. Despite the clear link between poverty and sex trafficking, it is much easier said than done to reduce or eliminate poverty in order to prevent trafficking. 

It is easy to be discouraged by the enormity of the challenge to fight the sex trafficking industry. Efforts must be targeted and coordinated to have the greatest impact in the most effective way.  Focusing on social conditions and structures that contribute to all aspects of sex trafficking would be preferential to trying to save trafficking victims after they have been acquired, transported, and exploited. I believe that one of the approaches to solving this deeply rooted systemic issue must be education. Education of women and girls can empower them, help them to escape poverty, and can offer them with better employment options, which reduces the desperation that traffickers exploit (Narayan-Parker, 2002; Roberts, 2003). Men and women can be educated about the sex trafficking industry and how to recognize attempts to acquire victims, as well as how to recognize existing victims. Resources and statistics can be found on the Polaris Project webpage. Education can prevent all stages of sex trafficking, greatly reducing the ease with which sex traffickers profit from their activities. In order to fight this industry, everyone must be aware if it and able to avoid becoming part of it if they don't want to. Education and empowerment of women will not prevent individuals from performing sex labor if that is what they wish to do, but it can provide more options and an escape for all individuals who are involuntary participants in the sex industry.

Works Cited

International Labour Organization. (2012, June) New ILO global estimate of forced labour: 20.9 million victims. Retrieved April 13, 2016 from http://www.ilo.org/global/about-the-ilo/newsroom/news/WCMS_182109/lang--en/index.htm

Narayan-Parker, D. (Ed.). (2002). Empowerment and poverty reduction: A sourcebook. World Bank Publications.
Polaris. (n.d.). Home. Retrieved April 14, 201 from https://polarisproject.org/.

Roberts, J. (2003). Poverty reduction outcomes in education and health: Public expenditure and aid. Overseas Development Institute.
Smith, H.M. (2011). Sex trafficking: Trends, challenges, and the limitations of international law. Human Rights Rev., 12, 271-286. doi: 10.1007/s12142-010-0185-4