Post by Ravyn Crescent on Aug 28, 2008 14:49:50 GMT -5
Sex trafficking is a modern-day form of slavery in which a commercial sex act is induced by force, fraud, or coercion, or in which the person induced to perform such an act is under the age of 18 years. Enactment of the Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000 (TVPA) made sex trafficking a serious violation of Federal law. The TVPA also recognizes labor trafficking, which is discussed in a separate fact sheet. (I’m working on it, guys. I’ll have it up soon)
As defined by the TVPA, the term ‘commercial sex act’ means any sex act on account of which anything of value is given or received by any person.
The TVPA recognizes that traffickers use psychological as well as physical coercion and bondage, and it defines coercion to include: threats of serious harm to or physical restraint against any person; any scheme, plan, or pattern intended to cause a person to believe that failure to perform an act would result in serious harm to or physical restraint against any person; or the abuse or threatened abuse of the legal process.
Victims of Sex Trafficking and What They Face[/u]
Victims of sex trafficking can be women or men, girls or boys, but the majority are women and girls. There are a number of common patterns for luring victims into situations of sex trafficking, including:
- A promise of a good job in another country
- A false marriage proposal turned into a bondage situation
- Being sold into the sex trade by parents, husbands, boyfriends (same goes for wives and girlfriends as both males and females can be victims of sex slavery)
- Being kidnapped by traffickers
Sex traffickers frequently subject their victims to debt-bondage, an illegal practice in which the traffickers tell their victims that they owe money (often relating to the victims living expenses and transport into the country) and that they must pledge their personal services to repay the debt.
Sex traffickers use a variety of methods to “condition” their victims including starvation, confinement, beatings, physical abuse, rape, gang rape, threats of violence to the victim and the victims’ families, forced drug use and the threat of shaming their victim by revealing their activities to their friends and families friends.
Victims face numerous health risks. Physical risks include drug and alcohol addiction; physical injuries (broken bones, concussions, burns, vaginal/anal tearings); traumatic brain injury (TBI) resulting in memory loss, dizziness, headaches, numbness; sexually transmitted diseases (e.g., HIV/AIDA, gonorrhea, syphilis, UTI’s, pubic lice); sterility, miscarriages, menstrual problems; other diseases(e.g., TB, hepatitis, malaria, pneumonia); and forced or coerced abortions.
Psychological harm include mind/body separation/disassociation ego states, shame, grief, fear, distrust, hatred of men, self-hatred, suicide and suicidal thoughts. Victims are at risk for Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) — acute anxiety, depression, insomnia, physical hyper-alertness, self-loathing that is long-lasting and resistant to change (complex-PTSD),
Victims may also suffer from traumatic bonding — a form of coercive control in which the perpetrator instills in the victim fear as well as gratitude for being allowed to live.
Trafficking Information and Referral Hotline 1.888.3737.888
[/color][/center]This information is provided by the Department of Health and Human Services. As well as Rescue & Restore.
