Sunday, December 11, 2011

Well, I guess it's my turn to post!

First off, I am so excited about this blog! Thanks to Pietze for giving us the idea! It's going to be incredibly helpful for Cara and I to have a place to share our thoughts, ideas, and research, especially since I'll be away for most of this next year.

At the beginning of the semester, my Sociology professor decided to let me write my term paper on sex trafficking. It's been awesome to be able to research something that God has put on my heart and get a grade for it at the same time! So, as the semester is ending and I'm putting my paper together, I thought I would just lay out some of the research that we've gathered over the past few months. I put together a whole binder full of "scholarly" editorials and articles that have been used both for personal and school research. So these will just be some of the random bits of information we've found and have complied together.

- "The State Department has estimated that annually up to 20,000 people are trafficked into the United States, out of 800,000 people trafficked worldwide. Many are children between the ages of 12 and 17, who are trafficked here and elsewhere for the sex trade." (As of 2004)

- "In a survey of prostituted women in nine countries including Thailand, the United States, Mexico, South Africa, and Turkey, nearly nine out of ten said they longed to escape."

- "Cases of international sex trafficking have increased public awareness about human trafficking in the United States, yet many people remain unaware that more U.S. citizens are victims of sex trafficking than are foreign nationals."

- "It is important to recognize that the trafficking of thousands of American children for commercial sexual exploitation would not exist if that demand for them were not present."

- "Traffickers, many of whom are part of organized criminal networks, are undoubtedly influenced by profits in an industry in which those are estimated to fall between $32 billion and $91 billion." (As of 2009)

- Although the [sex trafficking] markets are distinct in each nation - shaped by factors such as history, language, and laws - they 'all require some level of tolerance within the community in order to exist.'"

- "Finally, according to a U.S. Department of Justice report, traffickers and pimps target children and youths at 'bus stations, arcades, and malls, focusing on girls who appear to be runaways or without money or job skills.'"

- "Sweden was the first country to outlaw the purchase of sex, making the 'john' the criminal rather than the prostitute."

- "[Prostitution] is like someone jumping from a burning building - you could say they made their choice to jump, but you could also say they had no choice."

- "Research indicates that most prostitutes were sexually abused as girls, and they typically enter 'the life' between the ages of 12 and 14. The majority have drug dependencies, and one third have been threatened with death by pimps, who often use violence to keep them in line."

- "For every john arrested for attempting to buy sex, there are up to 50 women in prostitution arrested."

- "This is the only form of child abused where the child is put behind bars."

- "The most common estimates, oft-repeated by major media, suggest that 100,000 to 300,000 children are trafficked in the United States every year."

Sources:

"Smuggling and Trafficking." American Magazine. (2004): n. page. Print.

Kotrla, Kimberly. "Domestic Minor Sex Trafficking in the United States." Social Work. 55.2 (2010): n. page. Print.

Bennetts, Leslie. "The Johns Next Door." Newsweek. n. page. Print.

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