Could you imagine being abducted or tricked into an industry that requires you to have sex with strangers all day to make someone else money? Most people cannot, and neither could "Debbie" or Miya until it happened to them. Debbie was a fifteen-year-old girl who was tricked by her own friend and kidnapped from her driveway, had a gun pointed at her head, gang raped, and continually trapped in this horrifying lifestyle of sex with strange men. In addition, she was treated like an animal, put in cages, had her family threatened, and was completely broken down as a person. Miya had a similar, even more common, experience: she was lured into the same sex trafficking ring thinking she was signing with a modeling agency. Her captors flew her to California, put ads on the internet, and moved her around constantly forcing her to have sex to make them money. This situation is nearly impossible to imagine, until it happens to you or to a loved one (Teen Girls' Stories).

Unfortunately, the sex traffickers are not the only ones at fault in this business, as the government plays a role as well. There are laws in existence, but they do not necessarily help to provide a solution to this problem. But an even greater problem is that quite often government workers are aware of the illegal activities in this industry but do not do anything about it. Sex trafficking, a problem in both the US and other countries, is perpetrated by the corruption of government and the lack of their involvement in finding a solution.

Most people, especially Americans, are familiar with the pornography and prostitution industry, but they do they really understand what goes on behind the scenes? What most are unaware of is the fact that the majority of these women are not participating in this by choice, but rather the force of sex traffickers. Sex trafficking, otherwise known as a form of modern day slavery, is defined as "the exploitation of women and children, within national or across international borders, for the purposes of forced sex work" (Soroptimist). These women are lured into a false sense of security being promised major opportunities that may seem too good to be true, as they usually are.

There are different ways that women are tricked into this industry, greatly depending upon where they live. For example, many women from impoverished countries who have very little value in their area are promised a better life in America with a job and housing, but they do not get what they are expecting. In other cases, more likely in the United States, young girls are simply kidnapped from shopping malls, movie theatres, and even their own driveways. On a rarer occasion, family members may even sell their loved ones into this industry because they are just that desperate for money. Regardless, this situation is extremely traumatizing for anyone put through it. 

Sex trafficking has even extended into the tourism and traveling industry, allowing men traveling to other countries and receive the services of children who have been trafficked. It's about as easy to find these services as it is to find anything else on Craigslist, as Bacon found out: "Finding information on sex tours can be as easy as perusing the Web for a used couch or an apartment" (Bacon). The men that turn to this industry, whether it be in their own town in a brothel or flying to another country, are often married and have a family of their own and do this rather than abusing their own children (Soroptimist). Even with all of the knowledge on how the sex trafficking business functions, its surprising that it is still such a prevalent issue that has yet to be combatted.

Although it does not appear that there are laws in place to prevent people from falling victim to the crime of sex trafficking, there in fact are laws dating back to 1910. The Mann Act of 1910 "makes it a felony to knowingly persuade, induce, entice, or coerce an individual to travel across state lines to engage in prostitution or attempts to do so" (Human Trafficking Laws). This law was the first to define this as a problem and attempt to create guidelines for the persecution of this crime. However, this Act did not give way to an efficient way to investigate the crime and thus did not make it difficult for perpetrators to fly under the radar and get away with it. Another law passed that included a section to fight against sex trafficking was the Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act of 2004. This Act created the Human Smuggling and Trafficking Center intended to work with other countries to prevent the smuggling of persons across borders (Human Trafficking Laws). Although this may have increased the conversation about the topic of human trafficking between countries, it still did not implement a department that could be devoted to this issue. In addition, only one section of this Act concerned human trafficking, showing that this has not been a pressing issue within the US government. This mentality immediately carries to the department of Border Security, where much of the sex traffickers are successful in sending their victims far away from their homes.

In countries where many impoverished people look at the US as a place of opportunity and will do anything to get across the border even if it means paying to be smuggled illegally. Although the danger of this plan is brought upon themselves, it makes the jobs of sex traffickers much easier. Although there are challenges to investigating sex trafficking cases, it adds to the conversation about legal vs. illegal immigration, making it less cut and dry, showing that more than just willing immigrants are traveling across the border illegally (Randall). Looking at this aspect of immigration and human trafficking could lead to the proposal of a department with the one and only job of investigating those coming across the border for sex trafficking victims. The tricky part about this potential solution is finding government workers who will restrain from the corruption that has become so innate in the trafficking industry. 

Within the government, many departments contribute to the success of the sex trafficking industry, especially border control and the police. Not only does the engagement of police and other officials in sex trafficking encourage it, but it also places women even further from being helped out of the industry. Villa's Huffington Post article exposes some of the corruption within the government: "Bribes silence the landlords who rent buildings for traffickers to imprison their slaves. Police officers are bribed with cash and sexual favors to turn a blind eye when a fresh crop of young foreign girls turns up on the street corner" (Villa). Villa is attempting to reveal just exactly how many people are involved behind the scenes of sex trafficking and in reality the system of smuggling girls from continent to continent would not be possible without the cooperation, and corruption, of government officials. This argument and information is especially important because not only does it show how sex trafficking depends on bribes, but also how bribes depend on wealth, declaring that this is where policies need to begin to cut off the possibility of this (Villa). Without the money to give to officials to keep them quiet, the sex trafficking industry would collapse. 

During modern times problems involving corruption within the police force have become more and more common, and usually involves police brutality. However, members of the force are involved in sex trafficking more than one would imagine. For example, Dries uses the instance where members of the Memphis Police were found to have brought prostitutes to a nightclub, and continued further to have sex with them in plain sight as well (Dries). The U.S. Attorney in this case asserted, "What makes this case worse is that the alleged perpetrator is a law enforcement official who was sworn to protect and serve" (Dries). This case presents the issue victims of sex trafficking have with trusting someone in this position who should be an outlet to help them. For example, a victim may have the opportunity to ask a policeman for help, but is too afraid because their only experience with the police is through their own exploitation. This leads to less women being rescued or escaping from their abusers because those who are supposed to have their best safety in mind are only helping the sex traffickers continue their business without getting caught.

In addition to members of the police and other departments failing to fulfill their responsibilities to protect the people, the US justice system also punishes victims of sex trafficking, as if it is their fault. More often than not, if young victims of sex trafficking are rescued by law enforcement they are incarcerated thereafter for prostitution, as found in the study done in Toledo, Ohio (Williamson, Celia, and Michael Prior 58). This study concluded that "the arrest and incarceration of victims serves to retraumatize children already traumatized through their trafficking experience" (Williamson, Celia, and Michael Prior 59). Essentially, this seems to reveal a lack of knowledge of the industry and the ignorance of law enforcement towards those entrapped by it. These victims who are incarcerated after their traumatizing trafficking experience are viewed as delinquents, but really the law enforcement didn't take the chance to investigate what may have happened to the individual (Williamson, Celia, and Michael Prior 59). The corruption is spread throughout the different departments of the government, allowing the traffickers to continue their business without running into problems.

It would be difficult to find someone who did not agree that sex trafficking is a problem that needs to be addressed and fixed. Granted, however, there is no simple solution to this problem. Frontline reporter Caroline Reilly focuses on sex trafficking across the US border, and researches and addresses that considering the nature of the situation, that it involves a great deal of corruption, it is even more difficult to prosecute sex traffickers. There are several reasons why this industry is difficult to infiltrate, including that many jobs these workers also fulfill are legal and the victims are legally trapped by their traffickers and are therefore afraid to come forward (Reilly). Yes, it seems that there should be an easy way to prosecute traffickers; after all, it is illegal, but Reilly's investigation proves that the traffickers place their victims in a position where they feel as though they have no other option because if they leave them, they could be charged as an illegal immigrant (Reilly). However, Reilly does also make the claim that there is a gap between departments of the US border control and that by communication between the office of Enforcement and Removal Operations and Homeland security many more immigrants could be saved before they become victims (Reilly). In addition, a major problem for these immigrants who fall into the trap of traffickers is that they rely on them for their visas to stay in the US (Reilly). Coincidentally, all of these problems involved with prosecuting sex traffickers lead back to one thing: corruption among law enforcement and its employees. Yes, it is a difficult area to prosecute, but if employees on the border were not receiving bribes to look the other way and victims were not afraid of the police, efforts to end the sex trafficking business could prove to be much more successful.

The industry of sex trafficking directly correlates to the business of prostitution, where a major question is whether women enter this on their own accord or not. Of those who do, most have a background of sexual abuse, but most women are forced into this industry. However, there is discussion of legalizing prostitution, which could partially legalize sex trafficking as a result. Fuchs makes several arguments as to why prostitution should be legalized, including that it would save a great deal of law enforcement resources for more "important" causes, such as terrorism (Fuchs). In her justification of this, she speaks about law enforcers trying to track down a specific trafficker: " ... they wiretapped 5,000 phone conversations, intercepted 6,000 emails, used surveillance and undercover tactics ... " (Fuchs). This instance proves that law enforcement spent a great deal of time to put a stop to a sex trafficker, which they would not have done if it was not important for public safety, so it would be illogical to suddenly declare that this business is acceptable and should not be pursued as a legal issue. Fuchs also declares that prostitution is a victimless crime, however that claim neglects a very important aspect of women entering this business: women are more often than not brought into this by force. She asserts that "it doesn't make sense to arrest sex workers if they are their own 'victims'" (Fuchs). But, this statement does not account for the women who are not choosing to sell their own bodies, but are coerced and forced into doing so, which would make them victims of this business. One more reason that Fuchs gives to support the proposition to legalize prostitution is that it is not going away and is simply just a part of today's culture. She says, "It's high time to legalize and regulate this part of American life, even if a lot of people have ethical problems with it" (Fuchs). This argument is insufficient to prove her point, as she is simply saying that this is the way things are and there is no use in trying to change it. Rather than using logical reasoning to prove her point, she relies on the fact that it will take longer to change, than to just get used to it. Overall, the argument to legalize prostitution largely ignores the role that it plays in sex trafficking, which is a much larger problem than men buying women's bodies, who may be willing to sell it to them.

Although the sex trafficking industry has been surviving for many, many years, that does not mean the fight to end it should stop. There are many non-government organizations that are continuing to combat against sex trafficking to save victims, and the government could take some of this responsibility and create their own organization or department that is dedicated to this cause. There are safe houses that serve to help survivors such as, The Living Water Center and Wellspring Living, crisis response teams like Polaris Project, and those that help victims find jobs, for example, Not For Sale (Gulledge). To address the problem of corruption within the government, a potential solution could be to create a division to oversee each department and investigate how they are doing their jobs, whether it be through security cameras or tracking devices. In some way the government needs to begin to be more thoroughly regulated in regards to the sex trafficking industry.

In conclusion, the sex trafficking industry is perpetrated by the lack of established laws and corruption within the different departments in the government, including the police force, border control, and the US justice system. This business is run majorly under the radar, and the common person does not know what is going on right in their own neighborhoods, and could affect you or your loved ones. No parent expects to wake up one day and their child be taken from them to be treated as less than a human. By educating the people and calling for action to increase the efforts from the government, defeating sex trafficking can be possible in the future, but it takes initiative.

