Causes of Sexual Slavery: Why is This Happening?
"Poverty, ignorance, superstition, social customs, greed, government corruption, and human cruelty combine to put families -- particularly women and children -- at risk." (U.S Department of State) Across the globe, unemployment has been rising while government-sponsored social services have been declining. This has allow poverty and labor exploitation to severely increase throughout the developing world. Women suffer the most from this economic instability. "Women constitute 70 percent of the world's 1.3 billion absolute poor, those living on less than $1/day." (Global Fund For Women)
Devestating living conditions and the devaluation of women and girls, makes them highly vulnerable to human trafficking. According to the United Nations, "Traffickers target poor communities, and may show up during a drought or before the harvest, when food is scarce, to persuade poor families to sell their daughters for small amounts of money." (United Nations Population Fund)
When families are in extreme poverty, they often cannot feed all of their children. Parents may decide to sell one child, so that they do not risk the survival of the entire family. In many cultures, girls are considered far less valuable than boys and are more likely to be sold.
Violence within the home, which is often a direct result of economic instability, can also make women and children more vulnerable to trafficking. Women and children will often run away when they are facing domestic violence, because they fear for their safety. Once they are out in the streets they desperatley search for housing and food and may come in contact with trafficking agents who decieve them by offering security.
Increasing militarization and conflict play a major role in the trafficking of humans. Traffickers often take advantage of individuals who have been devestated by the conditions that accompany war, and target refugee camps. Child prositution and sex tourism often rises upon the arrival of soldiers in an area. There is often a greater demand for sex trafficking in the region, when military personnel are present.
Many people are not aware that slavery exists and because of this they become easy targets for traffickers. Individuals need to be educated on the tactics that traffickers use so that they can protect themselves. It is also important that people become aware of the issues surrounding human trafficking, so that they can play an active role in identifying and reporting instances of slavery.
Victims are usually sold for very meager amounts of money, while traffickers, pimps, and brothel owners make large profits from the services that victims are forced to provide. It is disturbing that individuals participate in the business of selling others so that they can make financial gains. Certain governments also profit from the slave trade. The U.S Department of State declared that, "government corruption is one of the driving factors behind the burgeoning trade in human beings." Furthermore, some states do not actively or effectively target those involved in with the trafficking of human beings. Some cultures actually condone slavery and accept it as a normal part of life.
Why do women have the greatest risk of being trafficked?
Because of their subordinate position, women and girls are most vulnerable. Gender discrimination within the family and community, as well as tolerance of violence towards women and children is responsible for the disporportianate amount of women and children who are trafficked.
Gender inequalities are at the heart of sexual slavery, and because men are valued over women in many cultures, women have less power, privilege, and economic oppertunities. According to Fergus, “Most feminist analyses situate inequalities of sex, race and class, and the power this gives some to abuse others, as central to any detailed analysis of the causes of trafficking.” (Fergus 9)
Women are most vulnerable to sexual exploitation because of their low economic status, due to the fact that they often lack education and job opportunities. Shaw and Lee state that, “in countries where many families are in poverty, accompanied by male power over women in families, women are sold and traded as commodities.” (Shaw & Lee 375)
Therefore, sexism and the devaluation of women across many different cultures leads to the trafficking of women for sexual servitude. The general discrimination and violence against women that is tolerated in countless societies is directly responsible for the suffering of these women. It is critical that in order for this slavery to stop, women's statuses in society need to dramatically improve. However, although many people are aware that women have yet to achieve equality, many of these same people are also ignorant to the fact that this lack of equality is the dominant factor why hundreds of thousands of women are brutally forced into sex slavery.
Other factors that contribute to the existence of sexual slavery are are lack of adequate legislation and political drive to solve the problem, restrictive immigration policies, globalization of the sex industry, and the involvement of transnational organized criminal networks. (United Nations Population Fund) The fact that most people are not aware of modern day slavery and most authorities are not trained to recognize those who are being enslaved, also contributes to the ongoing trafficking of humans. The demand for purchased sex and sex tourism is also responsible for sexual slavery. If there was not a demand, then there would not be a constant supply of trafficked women and children.
There is also a connection between women being deprived of their reproductive rights and women being sold into slavery. When women are not in control of their own bodies, they are likely to exploited. Also, when women are treated as objects and commodities in the media, this treatment of women is normalized.
Slavery can be stopped, forever. Yet, we have to penetrate to the core of what is causing this injustice and realize that the unfair treatment of women and the burden of women's inqualities is what makes women the most vulnerable. Women need to stop being seen as inferior to men in cultural contexts. They deserve the same access to socioeconomic oppertunities as men do. We cannot tolerate this inhumane and disturbing treatment and minipulation of women in any society. We have to realize that what is fueling the trafficking of women, in particular, is gender inequalities and gender discrimination.
