Persuasive Essay On Sex Trafficking

Teenagers take for granted how privileged they are. To many, torture takes form for them as long work hours at Market Basket, or writing a five to eight page research paper to graduate. However for many others, especially girls, torture is being forced to have sex with as many as twenty men in under an hour, and being beaten if the men are unsatisfied with her. This torture, formally known as sex trafficking, is a world epidemic that must be stopped. There is no ‘typical’ trafficker. Traffickers can range from a single person, to a small groups of wealthy individuals, to massive nationwide organizations. Most traffickers are wealthy middle-classed couple who are usually highly educated in the region they reside (Aronowitz 110). In countries where prostitution is legal, the traffickers will disguise their rings as regulated clubs or brothels. Often times, they will not register with the government, pay taxes, or even protect their prostitutes. Swedish government officials find that most money goes straight to the trafficker, and little to no money goes to the prostitute (U.S. Department of State Web). Traffickers use many different tactics to keep their victims in their pockets. Most methods include fear and/or violence; this can range from threatening the victim’s family to beating them into submission. Other methods include bringing the victims into areas they cannot communicate with the natives, or where prostitution is illegal. Some traffickers will go as far as stripping the victims of their passports, identification, and other vital papers in order to make travel impossible (Behnke 7, 32). The traffickers have no remorse for their actions, and very little do they actually care for their victims. The only logical reason they’ll ‘care’ about their victims is because they see the victim as property, or as a ‘cash cow.’ Like the traffickers, victims come from a variety of situations. Many are kidnapped or forced by the trafficker to become a prostitute. Others may be tricked, or even may willing become a sex worker, only to find themselves in a dangerous situation that they are unable to get out of. Victims are often, unfortunately, trafficked before they are eighteen years of age (Deyer Web). Some traffickers manage to manipulate other trafficked victims into ‘recruiting’ other women into joining the circle. This is called ‘happy trafficking.’ The effects of becoming a trafficking victim are detrimental. …show more content…
Physically, many of the women are constantly raped and terrorized, usually by gangs of men. In the Democratic Republic of Congo, hospitals are filled to the brim with brutalized women whose genitals cut off by knives or machetes (Simons and Zoldak 44). This horrible act could cause harm in even more areas than the affected, and if not treated, can scar irreversibly, or become severely infected. To keep the prostitutes captive, armed guards will beat and torture them; to exhaust them, the victims can work for more than twelve hours a day, six days a week. Some of the severely sadistic traffickers will brand or tattoo their prostitute with the debt owed, or if the trafficker is part of a gang, their ring’s logo (Behnke 40, 41). The victims, more likely than not, will develop mental scars and illnesses from their traumas. A doctor from the Congo Republic, Dr. Mukwege, tells CNN official Anderson Cooper, “… Here in the hospital, we’ve seen women who’ve stopped living.” Many women give up and submit to drugs and alcohol, if only to cope with the hand they were dealt (Simons and Zoldak 45, 63). There are even some women who are in such denial of their treacherous situation that they may develop Stockholm Syndrome. This illness causes its victim to have affection or even fall in love with their kidnapper (Behnke 42). Possibly the …show more content…
Victims of this vile phenomenon should not have to feel like they cannot get help, nor should they feel they must stay victims, knowing they will be ridiculed by their loved ones or even jailed. Traffickers should not be able to get off scot-free or slapped on the wrist for their crimes. Tougher laws should be passed, and support systems need to be implemented. And after all is said and done, trafficked victims should be able to go home to their loving families and sleep soundly at night, knowing justice has and will be