Intro - Chapter 2: Issue Investigator

There are many, many issues facing sex trafficking and underage prostitution. We don’t think of this as a problem in America, but there are said to be approximately 3 million women and children that are forced into some type of sex trafficking or selling their bodies in unwilling ways all over the world. Illegal trafficking of minors and young children are seen mostly in the poor countries including Pakistan, Cambodia, Malaysia, even China and India, have a huge problem with sex trafficking. It is seen different in their countries: since men don’t marry until around thirty, they need to let out their sexual frustrations other ways - and that involves prostitutes. Young girls make the most money for the brothels. The traffickers promise these girls a new life and a job with income, but bring them to pay their debts by taking customers for sex. These girls have no other means of income and sometimes have to care for their families so without knowing get themselves thrown into a brothel and treated unfairly. They are given addictive drugs so that even if the girls escaped, they would come back willingly because of the drug addictions. It also makes the girls appear happy to make it worthwhile to the customer. Sometimes the brothel customers don’t use condoms, or can pay extra to go without. This is why disease spreads among these countries. These unfortunate girls see so many customers, and without the proper protection can contract a disease that could kill them. We saw this example in our reading, dealing with Srey Neth, and her husband Sothea. Neth had possibly contracted HIV from lack of protection, but with the miracle of her child that didn’t seem to be the case. It didn’t spread to her husband, but this isn’t always the situation. Medical help is scarce, and these girls usually can’t get help from law enforcement (if they escape to do so) because the police are paid to turn their backs on the trafficking by the brothel owners. If laws get stricter, police will require more money to not do anything about it. Until then, the trend of sex trafficking will continue throughout the world.