What is trafficking?
What is sex slavery/trafficking?
Who trafficks women and girls?
How are women trafficked?
Who purchases trafficked women and girls?
What is the impact of sex trafficking?
What is Soroptimist doing to stop trafficking?

What is trafficking?

Trafficking is a type of slavery involving the trade or transport of people for the purpose of work. According to the U.N., trafficking is a $32 billion annual industry that ensnares about 2.5 million people around the world at any given time.

People of all backgrounds are impacted by trafficking, and for a variety of purposes. Men are often forced into working hard labor jobs, while children are often trafficked into labor positions in industries such as textile, agriculture and fishing. Girls and women are most often trafficked into a segment of the commercial sex industry such as prostitution and other forms of sexual exploitation.

Although not all slaves are trafficked, all trafficking victims are also victims of slavery. Trafficking is a particularly cruel type of slavery because it removes the victim from all that is familiar, renders her completely isolated and alone, often unable to converse in the language of her fellow victims or captors.

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What is sex slavery/trafficking?

Sex slavery or sex trafficking is the exploitation of women and children, either within national borders or across international borders, for the purposes of forced sex work. Examples of commercial sexual exploitation are prostitution, pornography, and sex trafficking of women and girls; it is characterized as a human being that is exploited in exchange for goods or money. Each year, an estimated 800,000 women and children are trafficked across international borders—and unknown numbers are trafficked within countries.

Some sex trafficking such as street prostitution is highly visible, but many victims of trafficking remain unseen because they are operating out of unmarked brothels in unsuspecting—and sometimes suburban—neighborhoods. Sex traffickers may also operate out of a variety of public and private locations such as spas, escort services, massage parlors, strip clubs, and spas.

The largest group of sex trafficking victims is adult women, followed by girl children. A small percentage of men and boys are also trafficked into the sex industry.

Migration patterns of trafficking tend to flow from East to West, but trafficking victims exist everywhere. Women may be trafficked from any country to another country at any given time; many of the poorest and most unstable countries have the highest incidences of trafficking, and trafficking victims share a common bond in extreme poverty. Where there are no economic alternatives women and girls are more vulnerable to being deceived and coerced into sexual service. Higher unemployment and lower job security have undermined women’s economic positions and incomes. A stalled gender wage gap combined with an increase in women’s informal sector and part-time work push women into poorly-paid jobs as well as long-term and often hidden unemployment, leaving women vulnerable to traffickers.

According to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) Thailand, China, Nigeria, Albania, Bulgaria, Belarus, Moldova and Ukraine are among the countries that are the greatest sources of trafficked persons. The UNODC further cites Thailand, Japan, Israel, Belgium, the Netherlands, Germany, Italy and the United States as being common destination countries of trafficked women and girls.

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Who trafficks women and girls?

Organized crime is largely responsible for spreading international human trafficking. Although sex trafficking—along with its correlative elements such as kidnapping, rape, physical abuse, and prostitution—is illegal in nearly every country in the world widespread greed and corruption make it possible for sex trafficking to proliferate. While national and international institutions attempt to regulate and enforce anti-trafficking legislation, local police forces and governments may in fact be participating in the very sex trafficking rings they are charged in preventing.

Why do traffickers traffic?
Sex trafficking can be extremely lucrative, especially in areas where education and employment opportunities may be limited. According to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), the greatest numbers of traffickers are from Asia, followed by Central, Southeastern, and Western Europe. Crime groups that are involved in the sex trafficking of women and girls often are also involved in the transnational trafficking of guns and drugs, and frequently use violence in order to carry out their activities.

One overriding factor in the proliferation of sex trafficking is the fundamental belief that the women and girls are expendable. In societies where women and girls are undervalued or not valued at all in comparison to males, women are at greater risk for being abused, trafficked, and coerced into sex slavery. If women experience improved economic and social status a large part of trafficking would be eradicated.

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How are women trafficked?

Women and girls are ensnared in sex trafficking in a variety of ways. Some are offered legitimate and legal work in positions such as shop assistants or waitresses. Others are promised education, marriage, and the promise of a better life. Still others are sold into trafficking by friends, neighbors, acquaintances, boyfriends, and sometimes parents.

Trafficking victims are often passed among multiple traffickers as they are moved further and further from their home countries. Women often travel through multiple countries before they arrive at their final destination, becoming confused and disoriented along the way. For example, a woman from the Ukraine may be sold to a trafficker in Turkey, who passes her on to a trafficker located in Thailand.

Typically, once a woman is in the custody of traffickers, her official papers and passport are confiscated. Victims are told they are in the country of destination illegally, increasing the victims’ dependence on their traffickers. Women are often kept in captivity and are also trapped into debt bondage, meaning they are obligated to pay back large recruitment and transportation fees before they will be released from their captors. Many victims are charged additional fines or fees while being held under bondage, requiring them to work longer periods in order to pay off their fees.

Trafficking victims go through several stages of degradation, physical, and psychological torture. They are often deprived of sleep and food, not allowed to move about freely, and endure physical torture. In order to keep women captive, they are told their families and children will be harmed or murdered if the women try to escape or if they tell anyone about their captivity. Because victims rarely understand the culture and language of the country into which they have been trafficked, they experience an additional layer of psychological stress, isolation, and frustration.

Often before servicing clients women are forcibly raped by the traffickers in order to initiate the cycle of abuse and degradation. Some women are drugged in order to prevent escape. Once “broken in,” sex traffic victims often service up to 30 men a day and are vulnerable to sexually transmitted diseases, HIV infection, and pregnancy.

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Who purchases trafficked women and girls?

Although many believe that sex trafficking is something that occurs “somewhere else” many of the biggest sex trafficking consumers are in developed nations and men from all levels of society are involved in and support the trafficking industry. There is no one profile that encapsulates the “typical” client. Men who purchase women are both rich and poor, Eastern and Western. Often they are married and have children, and in some cases such as was reported the New York Times men have sex with trafficked girls instead of abusing their own young children.

One reason for the proliferation of sex trafficking is that in many parts of the world there is little or no stigma attached to purchasing sexual favors for money, and prostitution is considered a victimless crime. Because women and girls are culturally and socially devalued in so many societies there is little conflict involved with the purchasing of women and girls for prostitution. Further, few realize the explicit connection between the commercial sex trade, the trafficking of women and girls, and the slave trade. In western society in particular, there is a commonly held perception that women enter into the commercial sex trade by choice. However, for the majority of women in the sex trade, and specifically in the case of trafficked women and girls who are coerced or forced into servitude, this is simply not true.

In addition, the sex tourism business—that is, the practice of traveling or vacationing for the specific purpose of having sex—is a billion dollar industry that encourages the sexual exploitation of women and girls. Many sex tours explicitly feature young girls because the tours are marketed specifically to pedophiles who prey on young children and to men who believe that having sex with virgins or young girls will cure sexually transmitted diseases (STDs). Often, these men spread HIV and other STDs to their young victims and create localized disease epidemics.

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What is the impact of sex trafficking?

Trafficking has a harrowing effect on the mental, emotional and physical wellbeing of the women and girls ensnared in its web. Trafficked women suffer extreme emotional stress including shame, grief, fear, distrust, and suicidal thoughts as well as the repercussions of physical abuse. Victims often experience post-traumatic stress disorder and the ensuing acute anxiety, depression and insomnia. Victims often turn to drugs and alcohol to numb the pain.

Sex trafficking promotes societal breakdown by removing women and girls from their families and communities. Trafficking also finances organized crime groups that usually participate in many other illegal activities such as drug and weapons trafficking and money laundering. It negatively impacts local and national labor markets due to the loss of human resources. Sex trafficking also burdens public health systems and erodes government authority, encourages widespread corruption, and threatens the overall security of vulnerable populations.

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What is Soroptimist doing to stop Human trafficking?

As an organization of business and professional women working to improve the lives of women and girls and local communities throughout the world, Soroptimist undertakes a number of projects that directly and indirectly help potential trafficking victims. In late 2007, the organization launched a major campaign to raise awareness about the devastating practice of sex trafficking. Soroptimist club members place fact cards about sex trafficking in highly visible locations such as police stations, women’s centers, hospitals, and legal aid societies. In addition, the organization is calling on the public to join in to end this heinous practice.

Soroptimist undertakes a number of other projects that directly and indirectly help victims and potential victims. These projects provide direct aid to women and girls—giving women economic tools and skills to achieve financial empowerment and independence:

The Women’s Opportunity Awards program is Soroptimist’s major project. The program provides women that are heads of households with the resources they need to improve their education, skills and employment prospects. By enabling women to receive skill and resource training Soroptimist provides trafficking victims and potential trafficking victims with economic options.

The Soroptimist Club Grants for Women and Girls program provides Soroptimist clubs with cash grants for innovative projects that benefit women and girls. Many clubs undertake projects that directly and indirectly benefit trafficking victims; for example a Soroptimist club in the Philippines supports a shelter for abused women and girls who have escaped from sex trafficking; a club in California held a conference to support the Western Regional Task Force to Stop Human Trafficking, and a club in Chicago has held several educational events to inform the public about trafficking.

Making a Difference for Women Award program honors women who work to improve the lives of women and girls. Kathryn Xian is a recent recipient; in 2004 she led a grassroots campaign against a local tour company offering Asian sex tours. She also testified at a Hawaii State House of Representatives hearing on trafficking. The hearings resulted in the passage of Act 82, which makes “promoting travel for prostitution” a Class C felony violation. Act 82 now serves as model legislation for other states.

Soroptimist strive to present Human Trafficking Facts that make a difference in women’s lives worldwide. Educational materials such as fact sheets and flyers are made available to the public by many Soroptimist clubs.

Soroptimist’s Disaster Relief Fund provides financial assistance to regions affected by natural disasters or acts of war, with special attention paid to services benefiting women and girls because women and girls affected by disasters are often the most vulnerable to traffickers.

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