Human Trafficking Frequently Asked Questions
1) WHAT IS HUMAN TRAFFICKING?
The Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000 (TVPA) defines “Severe Forms of Trafficking in Persons” as: * Sex Trafficking: the recruitment, harboring, transportation, provision, or obtaining of a person for the purpose of a commercial sex act , in which a commercial sex act is induced by force, fraud, or coercion, or in which the person forced to perform such an act is under the age of 18 years; or * Labor Trafficking: the recruitment, harboring, transportation, provision, or obtaining of a person for labor or services, through the use of force, fraud or coercion for the purpose of subjection to involuntary servitude, peonage, debt bondage or slavery. |
The Polaris Project, one of the largest anti-trafficking organizations in the United States defines sex trafficking as “any form of sexual exploitation in prostitution, pornography, bride trafficking, and the commercial sexual abuse of children."
2) HOW PREVALENT IS HUMAN TRAFFICKING IN TOLEDO?
Human Trafficking is now considered the 2nd largest and fastest growing criminal activity in the world. (United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, 2008)
According to the report Prevalence of Human Trafficking in Ohio, 2009, from the Trafficking in Persons Study Commission, “Toledo is currently number four in the nation in terms of number of arrests, investigations, and rescue of domestic minor sex trafficking victims among US cities. The top three cities are Miami, Portland, and Las Vegas. Given that the city of Toledo’s population is 298,446 and Lucas County’s is 440,456, this area can be considered to lead the nation for number of traffickers produced and the number of victims recruited into the sex trade per capita.”
3) WHY HAS TOLEDO BECOME A HUB IN HUMAN TRAFFICKING?
Our regions proximity to the Detroit International Airport, as well as many other factors including, easy access to Canada and the East Coast, the prevalence of agricultural farms, massage parlors, strip clubs—where trafficking victims are often enslaved, and lenient laws and little risk for traffickers, are all factors that contribute to our position as a hub in the US.
4) CAN A CHILD BE A PROSTITUTE?
NO!! Young boys and girls in every city on the globe today are forced to serve as sex slaves. Sex traffickers target twelve- to seventeen-year-old children as their choice candidates. The johns who pay regular visits to brothels prefer adolescents above any other age group. Looked at from the cold perspective of a slaveholder, adolescents also have a longer shelf life. Any older and they start to lose their youthful appeal. Any younger and they may draw the attention of law enforcement authorities.
Because sex trafficking masks itself as prostitution, the general public does not feel outraged. The children are perceived to be criminals or sexual deviants or at best victims of their environment: desperate for survival, the kids “choose” to sell their bodies for profit.
2) HOW PREVALENT IS HUMAN TRAFFICKING IN TOLEDO?
Human Trafficking is now considered the 2nd largest and fastest growing criminal activity in the world. (United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, 2008)
According to the report Prevalence of Human Trafficking in Ohio, 2009, from the Trafficking in Persons Study Commission, “Toledo is currently number four in the nation in terms of number of arrests, investigations, and rescue of domestic minor sex trafficking victims among US cities. The top three cities are Miami, Portland, and Las Vegas. Given that the city of Toledo’s population is 298,446 and Lucas County’s is 440,456, this area can be considered to lead the nation for number of traffickers produced and the number of victims recruited into the sex trade per capita.”
3) WHY HAS TOLEDO BECOME A HUB IN HUMAN TRAFFICKING?
Our regions proximity to the Detroit International Airport, as well as many other factors including, easy access to Canada and the East Coast, the prevalence of agricultural farms, massage parlors, strip clubs—where trafficking victims are often enslaved, and lenient laws and little risk for traffickers, are all factors that contribute to our position as a hub in the US.
4) CAN A CHILD BE A PROSTITUTE?
NO!! Young boys and girls in every city on the globe today are forced to serve as sex slaves. Sex traffickers target twelve- to seventeen-year-old children as their choice candidates. The johns who pay regular visits to brothels prefer adolescents above any other age group. Looked at from the cold perspective of a slaveholder, adolescents also have a longer shelf life. Any older and they start to lose their youthful appeal. Any younger and they may draw the attention of law enforcement authorities.
Because sex trafficking masks itself as prostitution, the general public does not feel outraged. The children are perceived to be criminals or sexual deviants or at best victims of their environment: desperate for survival, the kids “choose” to sell their bodies for profit.
The real criminals hide in the shadows. An illicit network of traffickers, pimps, recruiters, brothel owners, and johns preys on vulnerable kids and forces them into a life of sexual commerce. Once the inner workings of that criminal network are exposed, common sense prevails. Of course a child would not volunteer for the repeated trauma of ten (or more) grown men penetrating their bodies every evening. We have a word for exploiting minors that way: rape.
It should be noted that the same mechanisms of financial bondage and violent intimidation that enslave children are practiced on females of all ages. Adult “prostitutes” too can recount shocking testimonies of pimps locking them in closets, flogging them with coat hangers, and forcing them to service a staggering number of clients. The pimps quite explicitly refer to these women as “my property” and will attack anyone who acts to compromise their control. (Not For Sale Campaign) |
