Running head: “SEX TRAFFICKING ” 1

Sex Trafficking

DeeDee Brown

Professor Kathy S. Faw RN, MSN

Bon Secours Memorial College of Nursing

NUR 3113

March 12, 2017

Honor Code “I pledge”

SEX TRAFFICKING 2

No one can deny that 35 billion dollars is a large amount of money; this figure represents

the combined annual profits of the NFL, the NBA, MLS, MLB and the NHL and yet, according

to the International Labor Organization, it is only a third of the annual profits generated by the

sex-trafficking industry (Statistics on Forced Labor) . The U.S. Homeland Security office defines

sex-trafficking as, ”Modern day slavery that involves use of force, fraud or coercion to obtain

some type of sex act.” Sex-trafficking is a booming industry and each year, this vulnerable

population made up of over 20 million women and girls, are bought and sold worldwide into

commercial sexual servitude. In this paper I will speak to the social determinants that make this

population vulnerable, evidenced based interventions addressing the health needs of this group as

well as the importance of meeting the Millennium Development Goals in order to improve health

outcomes for sex-trafficked individuals.

The World Health Organization defines social determinants of health as “The conditions

in which people are born, grow, live, work and age. These circumstances are shaped by the

distribution of money, power and resources at global, national and local levels.” Many studies of

the sex-trafficking industry have found several key determinants that make a child vulnerable to

poor physical health as well as being trafficked: childhood sexual abuse, family dysfunction, and

exposure to violence in the home. Once in the industry, sex-trafficked individuals face dire

health outcomes. Most victims in the industry and those who have been rescued are no longer

being trafficked face poor outcomes in areas of mental health, physical issues, addiction and

sexually transmitted diseases, HIV/AIDS and poverty (Muftic, 2013). It is necessary not only to

understand what makes this population vulnerable to sex-trafficking but also to have proper

prevention strategies in place across the globe in order to protect those most vulnerable.
SEX TRAFFICKING 3

The United Nations Millennium Development Goals were eight goals that all 189 UN

Member States have agreed to try to achieve by the year 2015. The United Nations Millennium

Declaration, signed in September 2000, committed world leaders to combat poverty, hunger,

disease, illiteracy, environmental degradation, and discrimination against women. The MDGs

were derived from this Declaration, and had specific targets and indicators. The MDGs have

been superseded by the Sustainable Development Goals, a set of 17 integrated and indivisible

goals that build on the achievements of the MDGs but are broader, deeper and far more

ambitious in scope (Millennium Development Goals). There is a strong connection between the

MDGs and human trafficking. It has been shown that lack of education and poverty are

conditions that strongly contribute to one’s vulnerability to being trafficked. Discrimination

against women contributes to not only being vulnerable to trafficking, but also the acceptance

and promotion of this type of abuse. In order to reverse this growing industry, there must be

continued efforts to achieve the MDG’s and practices in place to assist those who have survived

the sex-trafficking industry.

Because the efforts to identify and assist those who have been trafficked are fairly new,

there is limited research to identify best practices to serve this population. Developing best

practices is a work in progress but there are some procedures in place for sexual assault,

domestic violence victims, and mental health treatments that have served as foundations in which

to learn and build proper response systems for victims of sex-trafficking. Some areas do have the

evidence based practice research. For example, cognitive-behavioral therapy has shown to be

effective for those who suffer from PTSD, anxiety and mood disorders and is being implemented

for those who have been sex-trafficked (Human Trafficking).

SEX TRAFFICKING 4

Sex-trafficking is a global problem that requires a global solution. Asha-Rose Migiro,

Deputy Secretary-General of the United Nations said, “Human Trafficking affects us all, whether

we live in countries of origin, transit or destination. Preventing and combating it requires a

comprehensive international approach. We must act together to stop a crime in our midst that

deprives countless victims of their liberty, dignity and human rights.” The United Nations has

started a program called UN.GIFT to fight human trafficking with the focus of raising awareness,

strengthening prevention, reducing demand, supporting and protecting victims and improving

law enforcement. There is sufficient evidence showing health outcomes for those who are

trafficked but other evidence shows that sex-trafficking is a global issue. Studies show increased

transmission of sexually transmitted diseases as well as HIV. “The wide range of negative health

outcomes, and the threat of increased HIV transmission, suggests that sex trafficking is a public

health issue of global concern” (Konstantopoulos et al., 2013). Efforts by countries to combat

sex-trafficking have begun to have an impact on that industry. More than 38 countries have

established extraterritorial laws allowing citizens guilty of sex-trafficking to be extradited and

prosecuted in their home country. Many countries have increased time served for those convicted

of sex-trafficking. The medical community plays an important role in that they are often the

public worker that comes into contact with victims who end up in emergency rooms seeking help

with STDs, physical trauma and pregnancy. There are international efforts to train and equip

medical care workers to first recognize the signs of sex-trafficking and then to provide help.

This paper shows the social determinants that put women and children at risk of being

sex trafficked and how those determinants lead to poor health outcomes. The Millennium

Development Goals point us in the direction of seeking health and equality for women and girls

worldwide. When the barriers to health are realized there will be a significant reduction in sex-
SEX TRAFFICKING 5

trafficking. Sex-trafficking is a pervasive form of gender based violence. Global awareness and

global efforts to eradicate sex-trafficking are quickly having an impact on this industry..
SEX TRAFFICKING 6

Works Cited

Konstantopoulos, W. M., Ahn, R., Alpert, E. J., Cafferty, E., Mcgahan, A., Williams, T. P., . . .

Burke, T. F. (2013). An International Comparative Public Health Analysis of Sex

Trafficking of Women and Girls in Eight Cities: Achieving a More Effective Health

Sector Response.Journal of Urban Health,90(6), 1194-1204. doi:10.1007/s11524-013-

9837-4

Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). (n.d.). Retrieved April 04, 2017, from

http://www.who.int/topics/millennium_development_goals/en/

Muftić, L. R., & Finn, M. A. (2013). Health Outcomes Among Women Trafficked for Sex in the

United States.Journal of Interpersonal Violence,28(9), 1859-1885.

doi:10.1177/0886260512469102

Office for Victims of Crime Training and Technical Assistance Center: Human Trafficking.

http://www.ncdsv.org/images/OVCTTAC_HumanTraffickingResourcePaper_2012.pdf[P

amphlet]. (n.d.).

Statistics on Forced Labor, Modern Slavery and Human Trafficking

http://www.ilo.org/global/topics/forced-labour/statistics/lang--en/index.htm
SEX TRAFFICKING 7