Briana Gomez

22 July 2015
Human Trafficking
Throughout time, human trafficking has kept increasing as it has become a modern day
form of slavery and has become a moneymaking industry. Human trafficking has become a
successful form of profit that involves sexual exploitation and forced labor among adults and
children. It has not only become a transnational crime, but also a hidden crime, in which many
victims do not seek help or say anything due to the great trauma that they encounter. Human
trafficking is well-known for their commercial sex work such as prostitution, pornography,
exotic dancing, stripping, mail-order brides and much more (NCBI). This form of slavery is
so complex that it involves recruiting, transporting, transferring, harboring, or receiving a
person by means of threat or use of force or other forms of coercion, abduction, fraud, or
deception (NCBI). This form of victimization can start off as young as nine years old and can
become a major part of ones life as it is a type of industry that is really difficult to escape from.
Although anyone is at risk of being a victim of this international crime, the most
common type of victims come from a poor socioeconomic condition. These type of people tend
to be victims of human trafficking due to their desperation of making easy money and seeing
their crime as something less severe compared to robbing as it doesn't involve an immediate
confrontation with law enforcement. The pimps, who are the supervisors and who make profit
off their victims, tend to look for people who show vulnerability and who are socially isolated,
which are all characteristics that these type of people portray making them an easy target. People
who come from a poor socioeconomic condition also suffer from a lack of support, which is

something the pimps tend to use against their victims by making them feel loved and well taken
care of by buying them luxuries. Not only are the victims being brainwashed by their pimps with
false love, but they are also forcing them into sexual exploitation, in which they gain profit from.
The victims also have many rules in which they are restrained from many things such as contact
with family and friends and have limited freedom. If they disobey their rules, they are not only
sometimes physically abused, but are also threatened. Even when a victim with a poor
socioeconomic condition realize their wrongdoing and want to escape the industry, it is
extremely hard for them to do so because all there legal documents were taken away and they
have no one to support them; making them feel hopeless and trapped in that lifestyle.
Another factor that increases the likelihood of a female becoming a victim are truancy,
drugs and gang involvement. When females have made truancy a routine it causes them to be
uneducated, which can cause them to be naive, making them an easy target as well. Being naive
is a big advantage for people who seek victims for human trafficking as they are easily persuaded
and are usually unaware of what is really going on. They also tend to see the bright side of a bad
situation and perform actions that they may not even be comfortable with doing in the first place.
Drugs can also lead to becoming a victim because many people who suffer from a drug addiction
are eager to gain money the fastest way possible with whatever it takes to satisfy their desires.
Gang involvement also plays a factor in becoming a victim because a gang is considered to be
family to many people, which makes them interact in the same activities because they have to be
united. Many of the victims who are part of gangs also have no say in becoming a prostitute
because they may be threaten by their gang as their actions are giving the gang a higher
profitability and lower visibility (11 Facts about Gangs).

Another factor that increases a females ability in becoming a victim is being a part of an
abusive family background. Many people who suffer from an abusive family background tend to
runaway with no exception of where to end up. Their solitude causes them to join groups that
makes them feel secure and cared for, which is what the pimps try to portray with all the
prostitutes. When one runs away they are not only confronting the challenge of seeking support,
but also the need of money to buy their basic needs and survive. The pimps are then idolized as
their savior because they buy them all their basic needs and even some materialistic things, in
exchange for their acts of prostitution. These females who were suffering in an abusive
household not only feel cared for, but also feel like they belong in that type of environment as all
the prostitutes were saved by their pimps in a time of need and hopelessness.
Knowing that human trafficking is a type of crime that one can easily be fooled into, it is
essential to be aware of what type of consequences come with it such as a different lifestyle that
is completely manipulated by a pimp. Many may consider this crime to be seen as the easy way
out of hardships one encounters, but instead it is basically giving someone the authority to
control your life and lose your human dignity. Human trafficking is a crime that keeps increasing
drastically and is legal in some countries, thats why it is crucial that one knows how many
people would be saved if everyone unites to stop people from living that type of lifestyle.