The Economics Behind Sex Trafficking

http://thesamaritanwomen.org

Many of us, including me, wonder why horrible things happen to people, for example sex trafficking. Why are the women and children of the world being sold for their bodies? It’s hard to understand why this has continued to go on, but once exploring the economy of the sex trafficking business, it is clear that that the revenue from this form of slavery is the reason women have continued to be exploited. In this blog post, I argue that the economy of sex trafficking is growing because their is revenue made for the hotel rooms needed, the drivers necessary, and the women’s bodies. According to an interview on PBS, a national non-profit news organization, “the underground sex market in each of seven U.S. cities generates between $40 million to almost $300 million a year.” As you can see, this high profit is a reason why this sext market is only growing.

Imagine flying into Atlanta, Georgia to watch the Atlanta Thrashers play the Blackhawks in a hockey game. You are alone and female. Once you arrive you are suddenly kidnapped into the sex market. You get into a cab, dropped off at a hotel, and are rushed into a hotel room and then controlled by a man. During this process, transactions are being made by the cab, hotel room, and the person that’s making the one transaction for sex and for money. But this isn’t just happening to the woman arriving in Atlanta for the hockey game, but it’s happening to thousands of people in Atlanta alone and is the reason why they brought in about $290 million from the sex market in 2007, according to a study done by The Urban Institute discussed in the PBS interview.

Unfortunately, sex trafficking has become like a small business structure. This inhumane form of slavery is done out of the greed for economic revenue. And as of now, this trade will continue to go on, especially with access to the internet. Now 50% of pimps use the help of the internet to maximize their profits. It sickens me that this horrifying trade goes on, it undermines women and makes them feel powerless. I wonder why anyone would treat a woman so poorly and not out of the respect she deserves, but men are drawn by their own greediness especially after seeing that sex markets draw in hundreds of millions of dollars a year in every major city. 

FUTURE RESEARCH: In my next blog post I plan on researching the Psychology behind the sex trafficking market.