Sex Trafficking — Personal Stories
#StopTheTraffick
Many sex traffickers who survived the ordeal of forced commercial sex work, now become an outspoken advocate against human trafficking by sharing their story to the world.
An example is Karla, now a 23 year old girl, who shares her harsh past of forced prostitution (1). She was raped 43,200 times during that 4 years of her life, which she considered hell. Karla’s story is just one of the many heart wrenching cases that highlights the brutal realities of sex trafficking in Mexico and the United States, a secret underworld where lucrative trade known as human trafficking takes place. This has ever since ruined the lives of tens of thousands of Mexican girls like Karla.
At a tender age of 12, a man who used kinds words, spent extravagantly on her and drove a lavishly looking fast car managed to capture Karla’s heart and ultimately, lured her into the secret underworld (1).
Throughout that 4 years, she was forced to have sex with 30 men a day, seven days a week. (1). She would be sent to brothels, roadside motels, streets that are notoriously famous for prostitution and even homes where she would be forced to provide service to men.
At the age of 15, Karla had to go through unwanted pregnancy and gave birth to a baby girl fathered by one of the men whom she had sex with. The man would threaten to beat her up or to kill the baby if Karla did not obey his orders.
Now, let’s take a moment to empathize with Karla’s detailed account of her tormenting experience as a sex trafficked victim. We must know that her story is just one of the many victims who suffered this ordeal. Indeed, there are a lot of unreported sex trafficked cases given the secrecy of this global phenomenon.
In many Indian cities, girls as young as 8 or 9 years old are sold at auctions. (2). The majority of sex trafficking in India is fueled by commercial sex purposes, and over 60% of those trafficked into sex work are adolescent girls of ages 12 to 16 (2). In Nepal, there are about 100,000 girls forced to engaged in sex work in Indian brothels and an estimated 5000 to 7000 Nepali girls are trafficked yearly to India (2).
How can we help to end sex trafficking, a form of modern slavery? Sex trafficking is a growing concern that affects virtually every country and yet, there are very few convictions or actions taken to control it.
What do you think are some ways that you can do on an individual level to help raise awareness or to end sex trafficking? And what do you think the government should do to stop sex trafficking?
References
(1) Human trafficking survivor: I was raped 43,200 times. CNN, November 2015. Available from: http://edition.cnn.com/2015/11/10/americas/freedom-project-mexico-trafficking-survivor/
(2) Huda S. Sex trafficking in South Asia. International journal of gynecology & obstetrics. 2006 Sep 30;94(3):374–81.
Featured image: On Eagles Wings Ministries. 2014. CP Politics.
