Human Trafficking For Sexual Exploitation Research Articles

Unveiling The Shadows: Examining Depictions of Human Trafficking for Sexual Exploitation and its Causes in Zura Maids

An ongoing problem in society and more specifically in Uganda, human trafficking for sexual exploitation takes advantage of helpless people and ruins countless lives. Eunice Atuko's moving book "Zura Maids," explores the sinister and unpleasant world of human trafficking. This abstract examines the novel's depictions of human trafficking for sexual exploitation in detail and looks into the root reasons of this horrible crime. This study's main goal is to shed light on the complex aspects of human trafficking as they are represented in "Zura Maids." The analysis focuses on the complex web of traffickers and their allies participating in this criminal operation while also examining the psychological, emotional, and physical traumas suffered by the victims. I sought to obtain a greater understanding of the emotional impact these depictions have on readers and their potential to foster empathy and awareness by looking at the storytelling strategies used by Eunice Atuko. This study also pinpoints and analyzes the underlying factors that contribute to the persistence of human trafficking for sexual exploitation in the novel's setting such as the role of socioeconomic circumstances, gender disparities, a lack of legal protection, and institutional shortcomings in sustaining this abhorrent trade as well as the cultural and historical factors that have shaped the characters' vulnerability, agency, and choices throughout the story are critically addressed. A close reading and textual analysis of "Zura Maids" is used in this study's qualitative methodology to identify pertinent themes and insights. Secondary sources such as academic research, reports, and pertinent literature are also used to support and strengthen the results. By offering "Zura Maids" the author intended to add to the corpus of information on the ugly vice, raise awareness and promote productive conversations aimed at ending human trafficking and defending the dignity and everyone’s rights by comprehending the depictions and underlying reasons of this worldwide horror as depicted in the novel.

Healthcare providers’ experience of identifying and caring for women subjected to sex trafficking: a qualitative study

BackgroundMen’s violence against women, including human trafficking for sexual exploitation, is a severe threat to global health. Healthcare providers are uniquely positioned to identify and care for women subjected to human trafficking for sexual exploitation. They are among the few professionals the women interact with while being exposed to human trafficking for sexual exploitation. This study aims to describe healthcare workers’ experience of identifying and caring for women subjected to human trafficking for sexual exploitation seeking women’s healthcare.MethodA qualitative design was chosen and nine qualitative interviews with healthcare providers were conducted and analyzed using the content analysis method.ResultsThree main categories were revealed: (1) the importance of being attentive, (2) the importance of providing safety, and (3) the importance of collaborating, followed by a number of subcategories: behavioral and physical signs, limited time to interact, security measures, value of confidence building, organizational collaboration, essential external network, and information transmission.ConclusionsAs the women subjected to sex trafficking have limited time in healthcare, it is important for healthcare providers to be attentive and act immediately if suspecting human trafficking for sexual exploitation. It may be the only possibility for the healthcare providers to care for these women and reach them. They must endeavor to provide the women with safety due to their vulnerable position at the hospital. However, these women may leave the healthcare setting unidentified and unaided, which highlights the importance of collaboration on multiple levels.

Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the health of survivors of trafficking for sexual exploitation: a qualitative study in Spain

PurposeThe purpose of this paper was to explore the health of trafficking survivors in Spain, which is relatively unstudied (Sweileh, 2018). Therefore, the objectives of this study are to describe the health conditions, access to health-care facilities, COVID-19 protection and health challenges in relation to the COVID-19 pandemic reported by women survivors of human trafficking in Spain.Design/methodology/approachDue to the pandemic situation, limited research and the complexity of the issue, the authors took a qualitative approach. A cross-sectional study was carried out through interviews with women survivors of human trafficking for sexual exploitation in Spain. Prior to the interviews, the researchers conducted written interviews with social workers to understand the most important challenges that the women survivors were experiencing during confinement. As a result of these written interviews, the interview script for the survivors was modified.FindingsTo sum up, the COVID-19 situation poses several challenges, including social difficulties (food insecurity; violence; terrible housing conditions; working pressure; poor sleeping habits; and cultural, linguistic and religious challenges), medical insecurity (due to lockdowns, negative experiences in care, lack of official documents, collapse of hospitals, telephone monitoring and fear of contagion), great emotional distress reported by women (anxiety, fear, sadness, post-traumatic stress disorder, stigma and substance use) and physical health problems (serious weight loss, muscle pains, dental problems and sexual and reproductive health-care limitations).Research limitations/implicationsAs is usual in qualitative research, rather than obtain generalizable results, the main objective was to delve deeper into under-researched or complex issues (Polit and Beck, 2010). While this report provides a timely overview marked by COVID-19 of an important population, there are some limitations. The major limitation of this research was the sample representativity, because the sample was conducted with only one non-governmental organization and only individuals who voluntarily agreed to make the interview; as such, other victim profiles may not be represented.Practical implicationsThe findings can provide information for detecting victims of human trafficking for sexual exploitation and contribute to understanding the pandemic’s impact. Furthermore, the paper emphasizes the need to adopt measures for the recovery of victims, such as medical and psychological assistance, in accordance with the Palermo Protocol. As people transition out of the pandemic, it is crucial for Spain, along with other European countries, to guarantee that all residents, particularly the victims of human trafficking, have access to social and health-care protections during times of crisis.Social implicationsAs already mentioned, further investigation should be done to fill the gaps on health of human trafficking (Sweileh, 2018) and improve the recovery of victims of trafficking (García-Vázquez and Meneses-Falcón, 2023 0; Sweileh, 2018). The paper acknowledges the existing research gap in the field and emphasizes the importance of future studies to delve deeper into the challenges faced by victims, calling for a more nuanced understanding of health.Originality/valueThe Coronavirus pandemic has increased and reinforced the vulnerability of sex-trafficked victims, especially creating different mental health problems. One of the biggest concerns for this group has been the difficulty of access to basic goods such as food. Furthermore, psychological distress impacted the well-being of trafficking victims, and many suffered from eating disorders. Less than half of the women who were forced to continue in prostitution did not have the means to protect themselves against COVID-19 and did not have easy situations to overcome illness.

Control of bodies.

The study of trafficking in persons for prostitution requires systematic and in-depth analysis, as it is a complex phenomenon resulting from multiple variables. Therefore, this work aims to map human trafficking, especially in the Brazilian context, by examining international norms and their impact on Brazilian law. At the same time, the study sheds light on the relationship between organized crime and human trafficking, considering human trafficking for sexual exploitation as a form of control of female bodies. The argument builds on the analysis of statistical data and scientific works dealing with human trafficking, prostitution, and organized crime.

Profiling Human Traffickers

Human trafficking is not a sporadic phenomenon that has consequences for a limited number of people, but a phenomenon with deep social and economic implications, bearing in mind the tendency to benefit from globalization and the use of new technologies. It is spread on every continent and every region of the world with the intention of permanent growth. Although it affects all ages and both sexes, it is dominant about women and girls as victims of human trafficking for sexual exploitation. The forms of exploitation are diverse and all involve the violent exploitation and abuse of human beings and their rights. The causes of this phenomenon are numerous and complex because our everyday life is full of numerous contradictions, conditioned by our existence in a specific global crisis of morality. One of the side effects of this crisis is the ubiquitous alienation of man from man. Therefore, this paper focuses on the importance of profiling human traffickers, their characteristics and modus operandi in the process of recruitment, and the mechanisms they use to control victims. It is one of the ways of reacting to make human trafficking more visible, as part of preventive programs before the belated manifestation. Methods were applied: quantitative and qualitative content analysis, comparative analysis (reaction to human trafficking), and descriptive and analytical statistics. The creative goal is to recognize human trafficking as a crime against humanity that requires an effective response from society.

How Hoteliers Act in the Form of Organized Crime in Human Trafficking: A Case Study from Turkey

Because of supply and demand factors, human trafficking for sexual exploitation has always been a profitable industry. Turkey, as a host country for immigrants from both former Soviet countries and the Middle East, combines supply and demand together, attracting illicit business. Few studies have been conducted in the previous two decades to investigate the organized criminal element of human trafficking in this region. This research is based on ethnographic research in which trafficking victims (N = 11) were interviewed, and on-site observations were made. Our findings revealed that the trafficking industry in our study area was carried out by persons who were only loosely related to one another. There was no sophisticated, long-lasting sex trafficking organization. Membership was not severely limited, and individuals did not identify themselves as members of a well-known criminal organization. We provided policy recommendations and proposals for future research to address female trafficking for sexual exploitation.

‘It’s About Survival’: Court constructions of socio-economic constraints on women offenders in Australian human trafficking for sexual exploitation cases

Women make up more than half of the offenders convicted for human trafficking for sexual exploitation in Australia since 2005. This article explores how courts construct the financial motivations for women’s offending to examine how gendered structural constraints are considered in Australian trafficking cases. We explore data from the sentencing remarks and appeal transcripts from the ten cases of women convicted for human trafficking and analyse the two most recent cases to explore how women’s financial considerations are underpinned by the gendered socio-economic pressure of supporting family members. Using data from interviews with Australian judges and anti-trafficking experts, we examine the relationship between structural constraints and women’s agency and the relative weight each of these factors are given in sentencing women trafficking offenders. In doing this, we explore the overlap between victimisation and offending and the tensions between structural constraints and agency, arguing that the former must be taken into consideration when sentencing women trafficking offenders.

Learning Each Other’s Language and Building Trust: Community-Engaged Transdisciplinary Team Building for Research on Human Trafficking Operations and Disruption

Background: Human trafficking for sexual exploitation (referred to as sex trafficking) is a complex global challenge that causes harm and violates human rights. Most research has focused on victim-level harms and experiences, with limited understanding of the networks and business functions of trafficking operations. Empirical evidence is lacking on how to disrupt trafficking operations because it is difficult to study; it is hidden and dangerous, spans academic disciplinary boundaries, and necessitates ways of knowing that include lived experience. Collaborative approaches are needed, but there is limited research on methods to best build transdisciplinary teams. Aim: The aim of this study was to understand how to form a community-engaged transdisciplinary research team that combines qualitative and operations research with a survivor-centered advisory group. Methods: We conducted a qualitative meta-study of our team that is seeking to mathematically model sex trafficking operations. Data were collected from the minutes of 16 team meetings and a survey of 13 team members. Results: Analysis of meeting minutes surfaced four themes related to content and style of communication, one related to value statements, and one capturing intentional team building efforts. Survey results highlighted respect, trust, integrity, openness and asking and answering questions as key aspects of team building. Results show that an action research approach to team building, focused on trust and communication, fostered effective collaboration among social scientists, operations researchers, and survivors of trafficking. Conclusion: Team building, shared language, and trust are essential, yet often neglected, elements of team science. This meta-study provides important methodological insights on community engaged transdisciplinary team formation to tackle vexing social challenges.

Police failure in identifying victims of human trafficking for sexual exploitation: an empirical study in Vietnam

ABSTRACT Police officers are considered as key actors in responding to the illicit trade in people in Vietnam. Based on 150 surveys and 25 in-depth interviews with these officers in five provinces/cities and one ministerial agency, this study explores challenges in identifying victims of sex trafficking. This research determined some police-related obstacles to identification, including lack of priority for identification of victims, stigmatization of sex workers, ignorance of ethnic minorities’ immigration for work, low quality of training courses, weaknesses in foreign and ethnic minorities’ languages, and ineffectiveness of interagency cooperation. The purpose of underlining such problems is to confirm that police weakness may contribute to lowered number of identified victims of sex trafficking.

The response and protection of migrant victims against human trafficking for sexual exploitation

오늘날 우리는 다양한 국가 출신의 이주민들과 함께 살아간다. 이러한 이주의 흐름에서 문제되는 현상이 바로 “(초국가적) 인신매매”(human trafficking 혹은 trafficking in persons)이다. 이주여성은 범죄에 취약한데, 국경을 넘는 조직범죄의 하나로, 인신매매의 피해자가 되곤 한다. 이러한 인신매매의 문제가 국경 내에서 해결하기 어려운 국제사회 협력이 필요한 문제가 되었다. 유엔은 인신매매에 대한 최초의 합의로, 2000년 초국가적 조직범죄를 방지하기 위한 ‘초국가적 조직범죄에 대응하는 유엔 협약’(United nations convention against transnational organized crime)의 부속서로 ‘인신매매, 특히 여성과 아동의 인신매매 방지, 억제 및 처벌을 위한 의정서’(Protocol to prevent, suppress and punish trafficking in persons, especially women and children, 2000)를 채택하였다. 인신매매방지의정서는 인신매매 방지의정서 수준으로 모든 회원국의 국내법 개정을 요구하여, 이에 부응하여 2013년 형법상 인신매매죄가 개정된 바 있다. 본고에서는 근래 한국 사회에서 쟁점이 된 이주민 대상 인신매매의 문제를 성적 착취 목적 인신매매로 한정하여 살펴보았다. 여성에 대한 인신매매의 큰 비중을 차지하는 ‘성적 착취’ 목적 인신매매에 대한 인식과 적절한 대응이 필요하다고 보고 피해자 보호 방안을 정책적인 방안과 법률적인 방안으로 나누어 서술하였다.In the era of migration, migrants from various countries live together in Korean society. In the past, the factors behind the influx of migrants have often been attributed to Korean society s labor force and lack of spouses. Nowadays the spread of Korean culture, so-called Hallyu have led the loyalty towards Korea, which is also a factor promoting the influx of migrants. Actually, a growing number of foreigners are visiting Korea because of its good culture. You can meet foreigners even if you go to small cities as well as Seoul. It is not strange anymore to them to move to Korea, settle down and start a living. But there s a new problem that is emerging in the era of migration, which is human trafficking or trafficking in person. Under the feminization of migration, one of the organized crimes beyond the borders has led to the problem of human trafficking. For this reason, an international agreement has been sought to prevent transnational organized crime and human trafficking, UN adopted Protocol to prevent, suppress and punish trafficking in persons, especially women and children in 2000 as an annex of United nations convention against transnational organized crime. In this paper, I described the issue of human trafficking for sexual exploitation and the protection of migrant victims, which has become an issue in Korean society. Human trafficking is a serious crime that violates human dignity. This paper examined the influx of Korean immigrants and proposed measures to respond to the current law on human trafficking for sexual exploitation and to protect victims. As a political measure, I proposed to prepare criteria for identifying victims of human trafficking, to provide opportunities for victims and their families to stay and work in Korea, to prepare criteria for returning and settling victims, and to educate and promote the prevention of human trafficking. Legal measures were also proposed to revise the current Act on the punishment of arrangement of commercial sex acts. etc. I proposed to revise the concept of human trafficking for sex trafficking purposes and introduce special provisions for victims of trafficking for sexual exploitation.

El espacio de la trata de personas con fines de explotación sexual. Sus representaciones en Argentina, a comienzos del siglo XXI

En el artículo se analizan las representaciones del espacio producidas sobre la trata de personas con fines de explotación sexual en Argentina, entre 2008 y 2018. Para dicho análisis se retoman las ideas sobre la producción del espacio de Henri Lefebvre y, específicamente, el concepto representaciones del espacio, para leer algunas de las cartografías elaboradas por organismos estatales y asociaciones civiles. En un primer momento se presenta brevemente una definición sobre la trata de personas y la conceptualización de Lefebvre. En un segundo momento se muestran las cartografías que representan espacialmente al fenómeno de la trata de personas a escala nacional, obtenidas a partir del análisis documental, para luego analizar la espacialidad que crean. A continuación, se presenta la campaña antitrata, y, para concluir, se plantea el vínculo entre esta y las representaciones del espacio de la trata de personas, en relación a los posibles imaginarios geográficos que pueden configurarse.

‘Sex Trafficking’ as Epistemic Violence

While the American Allow States and Victims to Fight Online Sex Trafficking Act of 2017 (FOSTA) has been heavily criticised by researchers and activists for the harm it inflicts on sex workers, many of these critics nevertheless agree with the Act’s goal of fighting sex trafficking online. This paper, however, argues that in American legal discourse, ‘sex trafficking’ refers not to human trafficking for sexual exploitation, but rather to all forms of sex work. As such, the law’s punitive treatment of sex workers needs to be understood as the law’s purpose, rather than an unfortunate side effect. This paper also demonstrates how the discourse of ‘sex trafficking’ is itself a form of epistemic violence that silences sex workers and leaves them vulnerable to abuse, with FOSTA serving to broaden the scope of this violence. The paper concludes by highlighting ways journalists and academic researchers can avoid becoming complicit in this violence.

Prosecuting Trafficking Crimes for Sexual Exploitation in Times of Conflict: Challenges and Perspective

This article explores the nexus between conflict-related sexual violence and trafficking for sexual exploitation in times of conflict from a prosecutorial perspective. More specifically, it analyses whether those responsible for conflict-related sexual violence can be prosecuted under domestic and international provisions for human trafficking for sexual exploitation in times of conflict. While this practice is broadly condemned, a lot must still be done to combat the culture of impunity. Focusing on the 13 countries identified by the Secretary-General as currently affected by conflicts, the first part of the article analyses the existent domestic legal framework on human trafficking and gender-related violence. This perusal reveals that national legislation is generally inadequate to comprehensively address these issues. With few exceptions, the domestic frameworks fail to comply with international recognised standards and enforcement challenges in time of conflict complicate further the application and implementation of these provisions for an effective prosecution. Concluding that no prospect of successful convictions exists under national law, the second part of this paper discusses the possibility of international prosecution. Even if the International Criminal Court (ICC) might have jurisdiction on the alleged crimes, this paper highlights that the crime of trafficking is not explicitly criminalised in the Rome Statute as such and its qualification as ‘sexual slavery’ or ‘enslavement’ is ambiguous. Nevertheless, the ICC could expand the definition of these two crimes to include the crime of trafficking for the purpose of sexual exploitation. However, the ICC has not yet prosecuted anybody for trafficking despite the existence of evidence on this crime in some of the states under investigation. In light of this analysis, this article concludes that there are little prospects of successful prosecution for those responsible for human trafficking because both the domestic and international framework have significant limitations, both internal and external and not sufficient deterrent force. Therefore, it suggests that the international community should keep pushing these 13 countries to improve their domestic legislation up to recognised international standards and the ICC to address the interpretative challenges posed by the crime of trafficking.

Q & A – The nexus between conflict-related sexual violence and human trafficking for sexual exploitation in times of conflict during court proceedings: An insider's view

Q & A – The nexus between conflict-related sexual violence and human trafficking for sexual exploitation in times of conflict during court proceedings: An insider's view

To What Extent Do Laws throughout England and Wales Protect Women against Sex Trafficking?

Despite somewhat extensive legislation that reduce the number of offences connected to human trafficking for sexual exploitation throughout England and Wales, all circumstances are not fully elaborated upon. Sex trafficking, according to the Shared Hope International Group, is when ‘someone uses force, fraud or compulsion to cause a profitable sex act with an adult which includes prostitution, pornography and sexual performance done in exchange for items of value, all including, money, drugs, shelter, food and clothes.’ Whilst undertaking this research report to consider the chosen topic, sex trafficking is closely allied to human trafficking and slavery, as they link together under the same legislation guidelines. We believe that it is best to address this matter in the opening of our report as sex trafficking has only recently converted into an issue within England and Wales as it was previously perceived solely as human trafficking and slavery. Human trafficking is the action of illegally transporting people from one country or area to another and this action is usually forced. Section 1 of the Modern Slavery Act then defines slavery to be ‘If a person requires another to perform forced or compulsory labour and the circumstances are such that the person knows or ought to know that the other person is being required to perform forced or compulsory labour’.

Quantifying the Relationship between Large Public Events and Escort Advertising Behavior

ABSTRACTWe study online escort advertisement responses to large scale public events using a time series anomaly detection framework. We analyze advertisement volume, approximations of advertiser volumes, and further devise a measure for movement derived from the spatio-temporal behavior amongst related advertisements. Our results imply that a variety of events correlate with unusual increases in sex worker activity, including an influx of providers that are new to the respective event location. The findings indicate that there are strong market responses to some public events and that Super Bowl events which received heightened attention by authorities and news media due to a perceived link to human trafficking for sexual exploitation do not stand out amongst these events in the effect on the market that we measured.

Strategies to Estimate Global Prevalence of Trafficking for Sexual Exploitation

Photo by Grace Forrest, Walk Free Foundation, www.by-grace.org.The research community faces two major challenges in estimating the global prevalence of human trafficking for sexual exploitation: co...

Exploring ‘juju’ and human trafficking: towards a demystified perspective and response

ABSTRACTAn existing hiatus in empirical research related to the use of ‘juju’ rituals as a spiritual or psychological control mechanism by perpetrators to subjugate victims of human trafficking for sexual exploitation has underscored the need for this exploratory study. The phenomenon is shrouded in secrecy and little is known about what juju entails and how it is used to subdue victims. The aim of this article is to explore juju as a phenomenon, whilst illuminating some of the multi-layered complexities associated with its use as a control mechanism. The available literature and in-depth interviews with local and international actors in the field contributed to the unveiling of this phenomenon in the South African and broader counter-trafficking context. The research confirmed that juju is in fact a reality that numerous victims of Nigerian traffickers have to contend with. The article clarifies how traffickers use juju rituals as an effective control mechanism and catalyst to instil profound fear amongst victims, whilst compounding efforts by response agencies and criminal justice practitioners to combat human trafficking. Finally, suggestions for a more informed counter-trafficking response and recommendations for future research are offered which include the need for a variety of perspectives to be incorporated in the quest for a better understanding of juju and the human trafficking nexus.

Turkey's Response to Sex Trafficking of Migrant Women: Is It Efficient Enough?

Human trafficking for sexual exploitation is a serious problem affecting especially women and children. Turkey has been particularly affected by sex trafficking because of the large numbers of female migrants that it receives. This article aims to critically assess the effectiveness of Turkey's current policies against sex trafficking using a feminist theoretical perspective with a particular focus on migrant women. To this end, the scope of the problem in Turkey, the supply and demand sides of sex trafficking, and the existing policies are discussed. Sex trafficking is examined at the intersection of Turkey's migration and prostitution regimes. It is argued that Turkey's response to sex trafficking has been inefficient because it currently focuses only on the economic supply side of the problem, ignoring the patriarchal demand side of it. The article concludes with a discussion of policy recommendations for Turkey that could help reduce sex trafficking in this country.

Human trafficking for sexual exploitation from Nigeria into Western Europe: The role of voodoo rituals in the functioning of a criminal network

This study is a content analysis of wiretapped conversations and police interviews concerning the criminal case of ‘Operation Koolvis’: an investigation into a Nigerian human trafficking ring for sexual exploitation in Western Europe. The criminal network traffics women from Nigeria, via the Netherlands as a transit country, to become street prostitutes in Italy. The aim is to explore the role of ‘voodoo’ in the functioning of the organization, applying transaction cost economics and rational choice theory. Four main categories of voodoo use were found. Firstly, voodoo is a coercive mechanism. Secondly, it is used cynically in cooperation between traffickers. Thirdly, there is non-cynical mention of voodoo as a belief system. A fourth category concerns voodoo priests as independent enforcers of contracts.