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Abstract
This paper will discuss all the different aspects of sex trafficking and will talk about how to make
the consequences for traffickers much harsher. It talks about sex trafficking in the United States
as a whole then leads into sex trafficking in Virginia and comparing the different states between
the two. After that it talks about the main facts about sex trafficking starting off with the
Trafficking Victims Protection Act. After that it goes into statistics, laws covering sex trafficking
and the current punishments for the traffickers. Lastly, it discusses the terrible things all victims
must go through as the paper tells a few true stories of girls that sadly had to go through such
terrible acts. Leading in right after that it talks about the procedure each victim has to face and
transporting, obtaining, or providing a person and especially a minor for the purpose of
sex ("Sex Trafficking," n.d.). Many states call the National Human Trafficking Resource
Centers hotline but Virginia along with 10 other states that make the most calls. The
majority of the calls come from Northern Virginia. In Northern Virginia it is most
common to see Teen Sex Trafficking, which is defined as the act of using force, fraud or
coercion on anyone under the age of 18 to engage in a sexual act in return for something
of value. Traffickers tend to look for teens that come from a broken home and that seem
the most vulnerable. The traffickers mainly use social media to get their victims, then
once they start to feel comfortable they try and make them part of their family. In
Northern Virginia it is very common for the girls to go to school every day. Then after
school their traffickers pick them up and take them for a few hours everyday, then return
them home that night without anyone suspecting what is actually going on. There are
many other forms then Teen Sex Trafficking that are going on in Northern Virginia. You
can typically find sex trafficking meetups in spas and massage parlors. Another form you
can find in Northern Virginia is labor trafficking, an example of this would be door-to-
door solicitors (magazine sellers) and they only seem to be growing and getting bigger.
The National Human Trafficking Hotline had a total of 465 calls all coming from
Virginia. Of those 465 calls 80 could lead to potential trafficking cases, crisis calls rained
in at 73, and high risk calls came in with a total of 77. More than half of the victims that
called were located in Northern Virginia ("Trafficking in Northern Virginia," n.d.). The
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current laws regarding sex trafficking lacks harsh sentencing by not punishing the
traffickers enough.
The fastest growing criminal enterprise in the world is trafficking women and
children for sexual exploitation. Even though the international law and the laws of 134
countries criminalize sex trafficking, it does not stop people from committing such
terrible acts. Commercial sexual servitude, forced labor and bonded labor are all things
that adults and children are being forced into at 20.9 million people minimum. In the
global commercial sex trade about 2 million children are exploited every year, and
trafficking survivors were 6 in 10 that were trafficked for sexual exploitation.While 98%
of victims of trafficking for sexual exploitation are women and girls. ("Global Sex
The traffickers have a great marketing tool for the young women and girls that
they traffick on the streets in the U.S. and that would be the media. Every time anyone
hears the words sex trafficking people normally assume that it only happens to the
women and children overseas, and that they are being forced into the sex trade or who are
brought into the United States for the sole purpose of sexual exploitation. People don't
usually think that it happens to Americans, why would Americans traffick other
Americans. It does happen, every day and people don't even realize it when they are just
simply coming home from work or an event they attended. Many people mistake them
for a prostitute with their short dresses and spiked heels but that is not the case. When
you see them you quickly look away not realizing that they are actually being forced to
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be out in the street. The most common thing for someone to think of when they see this is
they would not be out there if they didn't want to be. It must just be easier for people to
think that instead realizing the terrible truth about child sexual abuse, physical and mental
abuse, and the horrific people that prey on the poor innocent young women and girls.
People need to realize that they have to open their minds and forget everything that they
have seen on TV and in movies to really understand sex trafficking in the United States.
There is serious violence going on within the streets with women and it's not all
butterflies and rainbows like media portrays it to be. These girls are abused and taken
advantage of everyday, and are too scared to say anything so if people need to learn to see
All fifty states have laws against human trafficking but there are some that need to
get more involved in the fight to make it end for good. The Polaris Project is an anti-
slavery organization that is trying to end trafficking. Polaris did a ranking to see which
states need to improve their trafficking laws. North Dakota is ranked in the bottom third
tier according Polariss four-tier rating system, and along with five other states. North
Dakota was only awarded four for its laws against human trafficking out of 12 possible
points. The state also does not provide enough assistance or compensation for victims,
nor does it have a hotline or task force, but North Dakota does have sex and labor
trafficking legal provisions, and provides some investigative tools to its law enforcement,
and has a lower burden of proof for crimes victimizing minors. Another state that has just
four points out of 12 is Arizona but fortunately Governor Janice Brewer has created a
trafficking task force by Executive Order and Polaris is working closely with Senator
IT COULD HAPPEN TO YOU 6
John McCain and his wife to make improvements. Utah does not lift prostitution charges
from sex trafficking victims, it has a lower burden of proof for victimized minors, and
victim assistance, damages compensation, and finally it lacks a human trafficking hotline.
Which is why Utah is at a Tier 3 state and because of all these problems they do not have
enough support of their victims. Colorado is at a Tier 3 state with only four points
because along with a few other states it does not lift prostitution charges from sex
trafficking victims. Delaware on the other hand does have a few good things, they make
it a bit easier to convict criminals who have trafficked minors, and it does have sex and
labor trafficking provisions with some investigative tools. Those being the only good
things about the state is lacks about any other thing to fight against trafficking. New
Hampshire is also a Tier 3 state because the only thing that benefits human trafficking in
this state is the legislature has made to fight the issue. With that in mind New Hampshire
has the second-lowest score in the whole country, with just three points. South Dakota
scored just two points for its lack of sex and labor trafficking legal provisions, and for
that they come in dead last as the number one worst state for the fight to end human
trafficking, making it the only state in the most critical category Tier 4. ("Fight Against
The Trafficking Victims Protection Act (TVPA) was passed by the United States
in October 2000 as the foundation of its efforts to combat human trafficking and forced
labour (Burke, M. C. 2013). The act establishes human trafficking and related offenses as
federal crimes, and attaches severe penalties to them. It also requires the return of money
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starting the Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons. Which is required to
publish a Trafficking In Persons report each year. The report describes and ranks the
efforts of countries to combat human trafficking. The act also established the Interagency
Task Force to Monitor and Combat Trafficking, which continues in the accomplishments
of the Trafficking Victims Protection Act. Victims of human trafficking, and their
families are able to become temporary U.S. residents and eligible to become permanent
residents after three years thanks to the help of the TVPA that protects victims and
survivors of human trafficking by establishing the T visa ("Current Federal Laws," 2016).
There have been multiple changes to this act but the most recent act was
reauthorized in 2013. The Violence Against Women Act was passed in 2013 as the The
Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act of 2013, and it makes sure that
ensure that U.S. citizens do not purchase any products made by the people being
trafficked. Within the State Department it also puts an emergency response provision out
so people that are more vulnerable to trafficking or any crisis can get helped faster. The
state and local law enforcement has also become easier to charge and prosecute
Statistics
Violence, threats, lies, debt bondage, and other forms of coercion are all things
sex traffickers do to force adults and children to participate in commercial sex acts
against their will. Any minor under the age of 18 years involved in commercial sex is a
victim of sex trafficking according to the U.S. federal law. Even if the trafficker didn't use
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force, fraud, or coercion. Every situation involving a sex trafficking victim is different in
every case. Some victims get manipulated into prostitution because they have become
romantically involved with someone who has promised them a better life. While other
girls are taken in with false promises of a job, such as modeling or dancing. Most people
find this hard to believe but some are actually forced to sell their bodies by their own
parents or other family members. With every victim they might only be involved in
trafficking for a few weeks but unfortunately other girls could remain in the same
trafficking situation for years. Sex trafficking does not mean just women and young girls.
Anyone can be a victim of sex trafficking, it could be a U.S. citizen, foreign nationals,
women, men, children, and LGBTQ individuals. Certain locations are much more
vulnerable than other locations and are frequently targeted by traffickers, which include
runaway and homeless youth, as well as victims of domestic violence, sexual assault. The
most common places for sex trafficking to occur is in fake massage businesses, on the
street, at truck stops, or at hotels and motels. The National Human Trafficking Hotline is
operated by Polaris and since 2007 it has received reports of 14,588 sex trafficking cases
in the United States. In 2014, one in six endangered runaways were reported to the
National Center for Missing & Exploited Children and estimated that they were likely to
be sex trafficking victims. There are 4.5 million people trapped in forced sexual
exploitation globally according to the International Labor Organization. Also in 2014 the
Urban Institute predicted that the underground sex economy ranged from $39.9 million in
person. The specific conditions are the use of force, fraud, or coercion, or
conduct involving persons under the age of 18. The punishment for
punishment for conduct that involves a victim between the ages of 14 and
18 is 40 years. (2014)
conviction requires that the victim be held against his/her will by actual
climate of fear through the use of force, the threat of force, or the threat
of legal coercion [i.e., If you dont work, Ill call the immigration
(2014)
There are certain countries that are ranked at Tier 1 and those countries fully
comply with minimum standards in the U.S. State Department 2013 Trafficking in
Persons Report. Four countries in particular, first one being Poland has established
sentences with ranges such as 1-15 years, Nicaragua with 10-14 years, Colombia with 13-
23 years, and finally Ireland with a maximum of life imprisonment. People should be
well aware that the offence of sex trafficking of an individual under the age of eighteen
including the age of the victim as a factor ("Penalties for Sex Traffickers," 2012). In the
United States people get a minimum of three to eight years with having an involvement
in human trafficking. There are many different circumstances that the courts have to
consider for example, people get a four year minimum sentence if the person was
involved with a minor. People get three to eight years in prison if rape is involved
according to section 264, and people get five to nine years if rape in concert was
involved, section 246.1. Between three and eleven years will occur if kidnapping was
involved, section 208, and here will be a five year minimum if the person kidnapped was
under the age of 14, and finally section 209 imposes a life imprisonment sentence with
the possibility of parole if kidnapping to commit sexual crimes was involved ("Human
The three girls were kept in an apartment and being forced to work as prostitutes.
The girls were only fourteen ,fifteen and sixteen years of age. The man and women
keeping them against their will were twenty and twenty-one. Thankfully they were
IT COULD HAPPEN TO YOU 11
unsuccessful in getting the girls to work as prostitutes. Unfortunately, since they all
resisted they were pistol-whipped repeatedly for refusing. While they were out at a local
prostitution area one of the girls was able to get a phone from someone and call a relative,
the relative then proceeded to call the police. After the police got the information from
the relative they went over to the apartment to find all three of the girls there including
the man and women keeping them there. The police took all the girls and arrested the
man and women for suspected kidnapping and human trafficking. After the girls were
questioned they were released to their parents. This story is one of the better ones because
the girls were able to go home in the end and that is rarely the case (Harris, 2016).
Another story is about a girl named Anya. She came from a very poor country and
there were very few opportunities for a good career. When she turned seventeen, her
friend told her she could get a waitress job in Europe and go into training for becoming a
hairdresser with receiving great pay. Everything was taken care of, her travel costs and
her passport by an agent she met through her friend. She was flown into an Irish airport
on the weekend which meant there was not a lot of security. She was met at the airport by
a man she did not know at all, he took her passport and then proceeded to bring her to a
house with two other women already there. Shortly after this she quickly realized that she
was brought there is perform sexual services for men 24/7. She immediately tried to get
out of it and run but unfortunately the man holding her hostage caught her, beat her, and
then began to rape her repeatedly until she stopped fighting. Then he told her that he was
keeping her passport and not giving it back any time soon. She then had to work for this
man because he had her passport and he kept telling her that she owed him because he
paid for her plane ticket. Some of the men that she had to work with would use
IT COULD HAPPEN TO YOU 12
violence with her and at times she was seriously injured. The man in charge of Anya gave
her a mobile phone and she had hoped that she could call her friend to come help her, but
unfortunately it could only receive calls from men that wanted to work with her. When
she was out looking for work she was still too scared to talk or to get help from anybody.
She mostly was ashamed and continued to blame herself for what has happened to her,
not realizing that none of this was her fault. Anya has become completely damaged at a
psychological level and is now in a very depressed state. She has also become aware that
she has been infected with HIV/AIDS as a result of unprotected sex. Anya now finds
herself still trapped not physically, but mentally and emotionally and feels that she is
imprisoned by her fear and by being cut off from any help. She believes that she has been
silenced forever and with no way of escaping. Stories like these are exactly why sex
trafficking needs to come to a complete end. We need to stop reading about these stories
and doing nothing but feel bad for these girls that are affected in ways we can not even
This last story that is about a woman who asked that her name not be mentioned
for her safety. When she was only seventeen she was taken by a man and forced into
doing things no one wants to do. Before she was taken she had a pretty normal life, she
was brought up in a good family but when she got into high school she soon realized that
her mother had been embezzling money from her company, and would be sentenced to
seven years in prison. When that happened it turned her world upside down and it was all
downhill from there. After everything happened she grew apart from her father so when a
man on social media started reaching out to her when she was at such a vulnerable state
she fell for him. He told her everything she wanted to hear and more. After she graduated
IT COULD HAPPEN TO YOU 13
high school, the two decided to meet. She bought a bus ticket to go see him and was
going to spend a week with him. When they met upon her surprise he was seven year
older than her and right when she arrived he told her she needed her to make him some
money. Four days she worked for him by going to an area for commercial sex. Shortly
after that another man approached her, promising to give her a better life. She stayed with
him for a few months until returning home to see her mother released from prison, after
two years instead of seven. Soon after that another man reached out to her on social
media asking her to join him in Texas, he was also a trafficker. Unknowing at the time
this man was involved in a traffick ring and was just the bait to lure her in. The girl and
seven others were taken all over the united states and forced to strip and have commercial
sex. She remembers going to Colorado, Arizona, Indiana, Pennsylvania, and Maryland.
Finally when she arrived to Baltimore, Maryland, she realized that she had enough.
Unfortunately, if anyone tried to run away, the girls and the men were tasked with
stopping them. She was also not allowed to have a phone and couldnt be on any social
media. The FBI had actually been investigating the ring for two years and soon broke the
ring up. When they broke it up she felt as if she were an offender, she thought she was the
one getting in trouble not the people that kept her hostage and she didn't feel like she was
being saved at all. This is not how the victims of sex trafficking should feel when they are
being rescued. They should feel that all the pain is now over and they can try and go back
People constantly see stories in the media of all the women and children that get
rescued from sex trafficking but what you don't see is the reality of what actual happens
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to the victims behind the spotlight. Dr. Mehlman-Orozco was able to see first hand how
everything unravels after they rescue a person from sex trafficking. Dr. Mehlman-Orozco
became very close with a certain victim once she rescued her, she uses the name Jessica
when she speaks of the victim. Sadly Dr. Mehlman-Orozco witnessed Jessica being
abused in front of a suburban mall in the middle of the afternoon in Virginia but she was
able to rescue her from her trafficker on Aug. 21, 2015. Jessica had been shot in the leg,
raped, beaten, and mentally abused on and off for fifteen years. Her trafficker was on
pretrial release for a charge against another sex trafficking victim in Virginia while
prostituting her on the streets. Dr. Mehlman-Orozco had served on two different anti-
trafficking task forces and has a decade of experience in the anti-trafficking field, but it
was still very hard for her to find the right care for Jessica. There are centers for human
trafficking victims but unfortunately they all had very long waiting lists and the fact that
she was not a minor or that she did not live in Virginia held her back. Between domestic
violence shelters, mental health facility, hotels paid for from the discretionary funds of
anti-trafficking organizations, and homeless shelters Jessica had been to them all. Dr.
Mehlman-Orozco was able to get Jessica some help such as dental, medical, and mental
health but sadly this wasn't the correct care she needed and the law enforcement couldn't
keep an eye out on her trafficker the entire time. Roughly six months after her rescue, she
went back to her trafficker. It is not uncommon at all for victims like Jessica to go back to
their victimizer. After she went back to her trafficker he went back to doing all the same
things he did to her before, such as abusing her, so that made her seek help once again.
Dr. Mehlman-Orozco was able to get her into another residential placement and obtained
a scholarship for her vocational training, but she is still in the process of recovering.
IT COULD HAPPEN TO YOU 15
Jessica was able to get her record cleared but unfortunately her trafficker still remains
free. He was able to get off because the other women he was trafficking didn't show up
for court and the charges against him from Jessica have yet to be filed. Another agent that
is close with Jessica as well said it was because they are waiting until she is emotionally
stronger. While they are waiting he continues to traffick more and more women each
day. Hopefully Jessica will be healthy soon so she can personally take him down for what
he did to her and countless other women. People still don't realize that sex trafficking as
shown in the media conveys and completely different picture than what actually goes on
with each victim. These victims are normally viewed as a less credible witness because of
the things they have done in the past, such as drug use and maybe previous charge against
them. The victims are usually convicted of their sex trafficking crimes while their
offender may be arrested but nothing is garnetted for them. Getting a sex trafficking
victim to services does not mean that they are safe or that the services were even
provided correctly. That goes along with arresting the trafficker that doesn't mean that
they are being held accountable for their crimes. For something to actual change we need
to face the harsh reality regarding the space between anti-trafficking policy and action.
We need to make action happen. Not just talk about it and hope everything gets better but
Conclusion
Sex trafficking is a very serious thing that people do not take serious enough.
Millions of people suffer every year and are too scared to come forward to get the help
they need. Everyone needs to learn how to look for the signs of sex trafficking and not
just ignore what you see but actually do something about it. Every time someone ignores
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what they see that victim continues to hurt more and more. There also needs to be harsher
punishments for the traffickers, hopefully by enforcing this people will find another way
to make their money and for the traffickers that must show this example they deserve
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