Each day, people suffer because of labor and sex trafficking. For example, Alex, a 15 year old girl who lived in a group home, was a victim of sex trafficking. She had a new 31 year old boyfriend, David, who she was glad to have around especially when she was fed up with her group home. When her boyfriend asked her to move in with him, she said yes. Although living with David went well at first, later, he started to ask her to help him out financially by sleeping with men for money. Alex did not want to do it, but David still tried to assure her that a lot of women did;  if she didn’t, she would have to go back to foster care because he wasn’t able to support her. He also told her that she would be locked up in foster care since she ran away before. David convinced her and she became a prostitute. Alex wanted to run away, but she did not know where to go. She didn’t want to be locked up in a foster home and she didn’t want to go back to her old neighborhood because of what David threatened her with if she left him. She eventually was given information about where she could go to receive help. She was able to share her story and benefit from the support of a counselor (NYC). Like Alex, thousands are put into these situations; it is ruining lives.

       For labor trafficking, people outside the U.S. are moved here to work in areas such as “construction sites and farms” and “in restaurants, hotels, and homes.” How it all starts is people outside of the United States will hear about the job opportunity from someone in their country and then they will meet with a “recruiter,” a person whose job is to recruit people to come work in the United States. The laborers are then persuaded by being told, “Employment in America would offer them a unique opportunity at a better life for both themselves and their families.” However, they do not inform them that they are required to pay a fee and that once they are settled and working, they are stuck there. These “recruitment fees” range from 1,750 to 25,000 dollars; the average fee is 6,150 dollars. Because this fee is more than their country’s average income per person, people are “selling family property, mortgaging their land, and taking out high-interest loans” so they have enough money to pay the fee. They also have contracts that they have the workers sign; however, the contract is not fully explained to them and they aren’t given a chance to fully read the contract (Jeanne Sahadi).

  After the laborers start working, they are somehow used, whether they are paid incorrect amounts, physically abused, or threatened. Also, the “subcontractor,” the person in charge of the workers’ paychecks, uses some of it for supplies and other expenses, thus leaving them unable to pay off their debt (Jeanne Sahadi). These poor people are tricked, unable to make money and unable to leave work, stuck in a place they thought would be better for them.

       After they are somehow freed, or if they are freed at all, it is said that the workers suffer from chronic back, hearing, cardiovascular and respiratory problems. After working as slaves day after day with agriculture and farming and on construction sites, their bodies cannot take it anymore. Not only are they physically affected, but also mentally. They develop Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, depression, fear, and anxiety. Because of the symptoms they develop, even if they are freed, their lives will never be the same (Department of Health and Human Services).

Like labor traffickers, sex traffickers also hold people against their will and shatter peoples’ lives. Sex trafficking is the use of women and children for prostitution and forced sex work. A lot of people think that it is the women’s fault because they are the ones exposing themselves (Katheryn Houghton). They are wrong. Adult women are the largest group used for trafficking and next are girl children. Even men and boys are victims; however, it is not seen as much. Each year, 800,000 women and children are brought across borders and several are trafficked in their own country (Soroptimist).

There are a few different ways in which people are brought into sex trafficking. Some sex trafficking is seen and some is not. While street prostitution is out in the open, some traffickers operate out of business buildings such as strip clubs. Some women are offered jobs while others are bribed with marriage, education, or better lives. Women are bought and sold, travelling from trafficker to trafficker and country to country. Their traffickers take their passports away and tell them they are in the country illegally so they are forced to rely on them. These victims try to survive with lack of sleep and food; they are abused and mistreated. They cannot risk escaping because if they do, their loved ones pay the price and are harmed for it. For example, if a woman escaped, her family could be held captive, tortured, or even killed for it. It is said that the women are sometimes raped by their traffickers before they are sent on to other men because the traffickers want to “start the cycle.” Thirty men a day is what these miserable women have to “service”; they are exposed to sexually transmitted diseases and sometimes pregnancy. If a woman does have a baby, it will be sold and the money will be split between “traffickers, lawyers, and border officials” (Soroptimist).

Most people think that only certain people can be sex traffickers, but this is not true. Traffickers have been married with children and from different areas of the world. They cause mental, physical, and emotional damage to their victims. These women undergo “extreme emotional stress” and “suicidal thoughts.” Some of them also turn to drugs and alcohol as a way to make their pain go away (Soroptimist).

The first step to preventing labor and sex trafficking is educating people. If you find this as disturbing as I do, you can help spread the word too.