human trafficking

So a few months ago I joined all the groups that supported anti-trafficking work, but I did voice reservations I had with some of them. A girl today sent me a message. In responding to her I did a great job of briefly summing up what I thought about anti-trafficking efforts and what they should be. Since it's very important to me I thought I would also post them here.

Hi Callista, I was intrigued by your post on the CCAT facebook group website, I know my response is six months too late I just had not noticed it until today. I did not want the group in anyway to perpetuate the myth that human trafficking is only sex trafficking. I am well aware that trafficking includes all types of "modern day slavery" forced labor, child soldiers, domestic servitude, etc...I am actually going to work on forced labor issues on the Mexican border this March with some other law students.

Thanks for posting to clarify. I had added a bunch of sites that were about different types of trafficking...While the US State Department recognizes the difference b/t sex work and trafficking it makes a clear distinction that children under the age of 18 can never take place in "sex work," & that these young women are indeed "sexually exploited" and trafficked for all intensive purposes. prostitution is real problem in US cities & the average age of an American prostitute is 12. I have trouble considering these young girls "working" they are in 99% of cases being exploited/trafficked by much older men, beaten regularly, abused by law enforcement & making absolutly no $.

So where as I concur with you that there are many types of trafficking and that unfortunately HT is happening all over the United States as well as in other countries. I hesistate to agree that sex trafficking is not a big deal. I believe that it is much more pervasive than people want to believe.

I am very familiar with the State Dept's definition of human trafficking. Unfortunately it is well accepted in many organizations and activists work that the definition was stretched in ways due to political pressure. The forces to end trafficking in the United States are dominated by older, predominately white Women's Organizations, and Christian organizations. I am member of some of these women's groups, and I admire much of thier work. But the discussion on trafficking in the U.S focuses on sex trafficking, at the exlusion of other forms of trafficking.

The recent effort to ensure the continued lawfulllness of the Trafficking Victims Protection Act contained suggested language by Republican lawmakers that would have made taking anyone across state lines for the purpose of prostitution human trafficking. These would have meant that what little money the US government spends on ending trafficking would have gone to stopping pimping of Americans by Americans. I found this completely dissapointing. Most women who are trafficking into the US, even those that testify agaisnt their traffickers, are not given services, they are instead deported. The US has a very poor record in ending organized trafficking rings. I think it's obvious that what little money we spend is not going to protect victims and end trafficking, but to pursue a political and moral crusade against prostitution.

The effort to end human trafficking and the effort to end prostitution should not be the same thing.

Half of all trafficking in the US occurs in shadow industries and unregulated sectors of labor. In the agricultural fields, in maid service at hotels, in people's home, in restaraunts who are run by and for non English speakers. If the US really wants to stop trafficking, we need to devote reasources to these sectors. Education, monitoring, making resources availble to victims, and sustained efforts to break up the rings of people who bring victims here.

This is not happening and won't happen until we can change the focus of trafficking to the ROOT causes. Poverty in the country of origin, unregulated labor in the United States, organized international crime rings, the fear and lack of services for immigrant communities here in our country, etc.

I agree that anyone under the age of 18 is not voluntarily working in prostitution, anywhere in the world. I also agree that many women working in prostitution do not feel free to leave it, and that it's often an abusive, horrible situation. I don't really need to be reminded of that fact. (I would very heavily disagree with the statistic that the average age of a prostituted women in the US is 12, I would like to know where you got that information. I have been at events with law enforcement agents on trafficking and have never heard anything like that before.) You feel like many American don't understand how pervasive trafficking and forced sex work is in the United States. I agree with you. But I do understand how pervasive it is. I have been working on trafficking issues for some time now.

What I would recommend is that you educate yourself about what human trafficking is really all about. I think some people find they only ever want to care about sex trafficking, that is the approach of groups like IJM for example. I personally want to force the United States to end human trafficking, and that means more then just rescuing abused women. It means rescuing them, as well as all the other victims of trafficking, and creating a society in which it is much more difficult to trafficking anyone into the United States for forced labor. It means dealing with our economy and trade policies, which have left other nations in poverty around the world. It also means seperating myself from many people's efforts to end prostitution. That is the work of law enforcement, not the work of politically motivated anti-trafficking activists.

Also, I am atheist. I just add this because I know many Christians in anti-trafficking work who are motivated to end forced sex work. I appreciate thier dedication and efforts. But at the same time I distrust them. I am very socially progressive, and it's hard to appreciate people who want to end forced sex work, but also prostitution, as well as forbid gay marriage, reproductive rights and a host of other social freedoms that I value. I think this viewpoint of mine does come into my writing and reasoning, so it's important to mention. There are some Christians in anti-trafficking who will never agree to a more balanced progressive attitude toward ending trafficking, we just won't see eye to eye.

Thank you for your calm note and openess to dialogue
Callista