On Friday, January 13, Her Campus McGill, in association with Big Moe productions, was proud to present Chérie. This vintage benefit gala was held in honour of the non-profit organization Project Futures Canada, which aims to raise awareness and funds to combat sex trafficking worldwide.
Sex trafficking is the forceful, coercive, or deceptive transportation of men, women and children for sexual exploitation, primarily, but not necessarily limited to prostitution. With an estimated annual profit of $31.6 billion US, the human trafficking industry is the second largest source of income for organized crime worldwide. An estimated 88% of human trafficking victims are women and children, and the majority of these are thought to be forced to work in the commercial sex industry. These individuals are denied free will, deprived of civil rights, and are often subject to physical restraint as well as psychological coercion or violence. In many cases, they are defined as property, and are liable to be bought and sold by their ‘owners.’ They exist all over the world—in the ‘Pussy Clubs’ of Bangkok, on the streets of Johannesburg, in the brothels of Europe—and yes, even in our own back yards. They are the victims of slavery in the 21st century.
The reason that such slavery is so complex is because enslavement can occur in many different scenarios and situations. While there are some cases of kidnapping or abduction in the acquisition of modern-day sex slaves, it is much more common for trafficking victims—or their families, by whom many victims are sold—to have been deceived by promises of legitimate employment or the hope of a ‘better life.’ This vulnerability is often created by overwhelming conditions of poverty and new patterns of urban migration, which have become more predominant over the course of the past century. As the possibilities of legitimate work have increased the mobility of societies and individuals, this, in turn, has contributed to a rise in trafficking and consequential enslavement, as the orchestrators are able to exploit the willingness or desperation of migrants who take such chances.
In an awareness talk given last year, campaigner David Westlake of Tearfund UK gave an example of the way in which desperate poverty can force people into bondage. He spoke of a young girl in South East Asia, who was sold to a sex trafficker so that her father could afford to feed her younger siblings. If faced with the loss of one daughter—with the hope of her making a ‘better life’ for herself working in a city—or the starvation of his entire family, one might justly ask whether he would really feel he had much choice but to accept the trafficker’s offer.
Such victims of trafficking are often subjected to cramped and dirty living conditions, and many workers are required to sleep with multiple men per day in order to ‘repay’ their room and board, in addition to the debt that many are told that they owe for the cost of their purchase. Naturally, there are large variations between cases, but some trends are common to the experiences of many trafficked sex workers. One of the most prevalent is that upon initially arriving in a brothel, many girls are forced to undergo a process of ‘conditioning’ to overcome their unwillingness to perform sex work. In some cases, they will be raped into submission, or they may be locked inside and denied food until they become compliant. Drug use is common, with many prostitutes—including children—being fed methamphetamine (crystal meth or speed). Moreover, HIV infection rates in some areas are very high, with an estimated 40% of Cambodian prostitutes thought to be infected.
Despite such horrific conditions, after being trafficked, there is often little or no way for these individuals to make their way out of slavery. Violence, coercion, threats and even incarceration are commonly used to ensure that a slave cannot leave. Amongst the most common practices is the confiscation of immigration documents or identification, leaving the enslaved individual with no legal identity and putting them at risk of arrest for illegal immigration. The confiscation of immigration documents and identification is also commonly used to ensure compliance as the enslaved individual is stripped of his/her legal identity. Paul Donohoe, of Anti-Slavery International, explained in a statement that ‘particularly if [an individual’s] immigration status is irregular, their gang-master threatens to inform the police and they could be arrested.’ Moreover, among younger trafficking victims, it is common for emotional and psychological bonds with their fellow sex workers, and with pseudo-mother figure brothel owners to prevent them from attempting to escape, or to inform police of the identity of trafficking profiteers.
There is no simple answer as to how to eradicate sex trafficking and modern day slavery. While the industry remains so profitable, there will be no discouragement for traffickers without serious and decisive action from governments and law enforcement agencies across the world. However, this is not likely to happen without increasing pressure from the public—which can only be brought about through education and rising awareness of the sex trafficking problem. It is here that organisations such as Project Futures come in, as only with public awareness and commitment will decision makers be likely to address the issue to the extent where real change is earnestly and realistically pursued. It is now up to them—and us—to speak for these men, women, and children forced into modern slavery, when they cannot speak for themselves.
Sources:
www.antislavery.org/
www.stopthetraffik.org/
Kara, Siddharth, Sex Trafficking: Inside the Business of Modern Slavery. Columbia University Press, New York, 2009.