According to The Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies, human
sex trafficking, not far behind the illegal drug-trade, has become the second fastest
increasing criminal industry in today's world. This type of slavery has been traced back to
the ancient Mesopotamian and Mediterranean civilizations and has continued to grow.
What is human sex trafficking? Commonly referred to as "modern-day slavery," it's the
recruitment, harboring, transportation, provision, or obtaining of a person for the purpose
of a commercial sex act. This horrific yet ever-increasing issue is one that desperately
needs to end quickly, since each day thousands of innocent children around the world are
losing their freedom to this barbaric lifestyle.
First, I'll start with some statistics. In an article written by Initiative against
Sexual Trafficking, it is estimated that somewhere between 700,000 and four million
women, children and men are trafficked each year, and no region is unaffected. An
estimated two million children, the majority of them girls, are sexually exploited in the
multi-billion dollar commercial sex industry. Around half of trafficking victims in the
world are under the age of eighteen. Sixty-eight percent of female sex trafficking victims
meet the clinical criteria for post-traumatic stress disorder, and more than two-thirds of
sex trafficked children suffer additional abuse at the hands of their traffickers. Trafficked
children are significantly more likely to develop mental health problems, abuse
substances, engage in prostitution as adults, and either commit or be victimized by violent
crimes later in life. Women who have been trafficked for the purpose of sexual
exploitation experience a significantly higher rate of HIV and other STDs, tuberculosis,
and permanent damage to their reproductive systems.(UNICEF).
One would think with such disturbin...