Essentials of Criminal Justice 9th Edition by Larry Siegel ,John Worrall

تمرين 2

Global Sex Trafficking
Human trafficking has become a global problem. How great a problem? The International Labor Organization (ILO)-the United Nations agency charged with addressing labor standards, employment, and social protection issues-estimates that there are at least 12 million adults and children in forced labor, bonded labor, and commercial sexual servitude at any given time. Of these victims, the ILO estimates that at least 1.39 million, 56 percent female, are victims of commercial sexual servitude, both transnational and within countries.
Every year, hundreds of thousands of women and children-primarily from Southeast Asia and Eastern Europe-are lured by the promise of good jobs and then end up forced into brothels or as circuit travelers in labor camps. Most go to wealthy industrialized countries. Japan now has more than 10,000 commercial sex establishments with 150,000 to 200,000 foreign girls trafficked into the country each year. India has experienced a large influx of foreign sex workers who are believed to be the source of the HIV epidemic that is sweeping the country. Traffickers import up to 50,000 women and children every year into the United States despite legal prohibitions (in addition to prostitution, some are brought in to work in sweatshops).
Global trafficking gangs use force, fraud, or coercion to exploit a person for profit. Victims are subjected to labor and/or sexual exploitation. Gangs prey on the weak, targeting vulnerable men, women, and children. They use creative and ruthless ploys designed to trick, coerce, and win the confidence of potential victims. Very often these ruses involve promises of a better life through employment, educational opportunities, or marriage.
Trafficking for labor exploitation-the form of trafficking claiming the greatest number of victims-includes traditional slavery, forced labor, and holding people in bondage until they can pay off debts. Trafficking for sexual exploitation may include involvement in prostitution or pornographic films. The use of force or coercion can be direct and violent or psychological. Women may be kidnapped, beaten, raped, and led to believe they can never return home. If they still won't cooperate, their families and friends may be threatened or attacked.
Trafficking gangs are located in Latin America, Asia, and Eastern European nations such as Bulgaria and Russia. The UN report found that sex traffickers are often women, many of whom began as sex workers themselves. They are encouraged by their recruiter/trafficker to return home and recruit other women, often under the scrutiny of people working for the trafficker to make sure they don't try to escape.
Because it is a global enterprise, there is a great deal of cooperation in trafficking, so that in Eastern Europe a single gang may include Russians, Moldavians, Egyptians, and Syrians. Cooperation allows sex slaves to be trafficked not only to neighboring countries but all around the globe. The UN found that victims from East Asia were detected in more than 20 countries in regions throughout the world, including Europe, the Americas, the Middle East, Central Asia, and Africa.
Combating Trafficking
Recently, the United States made stopping the trafficking of women a top priority. In 1998, the "Memorandum on Steps to Combat Violence Against Women and the Trafficking of Women and Girls" was issued, which directed the secretary of state, the attorney general, and the president's Interagency Council on Women to expand their work against violence against women to include work against the trafficking of women.
In the former Soviet Union, prevention education projects are aimed at potential victims of trafficking, and nongovernmental organizations have established hotlines for victims or women seeking information about the risks of accepting job offers abroad.
The UN report found that the number of convictions for human trafficking is increasing, especially in a handful of countries. Nonetheless, most countries' conviction rates rarely exceed 1.5 per 100,000 people, which is even below the level normally recorded for rare crimes like kidnapping.
CRITICAL THINKING
Should men who hire prostitutes who are obviously involved in the sex trade against their will be punished more severely in order to deter them from getting involved in the exploitation of these vulnerable young women? Or is it unfair to expect someone to know the reasons their sex partner was involved in prostitution?