How Society Promotes Human Trafficking
How can I write objectively, when the stories I hear are not hard, cold facts?
How can I stay quiet, when the words “it was easier to let it happen than to stop it” ring in my ears?
How can I not cry, when their hollow voice tells me it was their fault; that they should have known better?
Why have “no” and “stop” lost their definite meaning?
Why is the push away met with a shove?
Why is unconsciousness—in innocent sleep—disturbed by the hands?
How are we, as a society, turning a blind eye to the realities of rape culture?
How can we be so ignorant to degrade the severity of such repulsive acts with “it was just a joke” and “I didn’t mean it”?
How is our normalization of violation leading to desensitization to —even promotion of — the existence of modern-day slavery?
How do we take back the dignity that was lost, reestablish the boundaries that have been crossed, and come together united in seeking justice for the heinous?
We must do our part in owning up to and understanding the link between rape culture and human trafficking so that we can apply what we learn and disrupt this accepted norm of dehumanizing objectification.
Coined in the 1970s, the term “rape culture” defines a sociological context in which rape and sexual violence are prevalent. The normalization, excusing, and even condoning of such behavior is found in the attitudes, practices, and media around us today. Rationalizing victim-blaming, trivializing rape, and tolerating sexual objectification and harassment are just a few of the many ways in which rape culture is bred in society. Rather than teaching young boys and girls “to not rape”, they are being taught “how to not be raped”, as a means of preventing sexual violation.
As a result of this accepted culture, every 73 seconds, an American is sexually assaulted, with a victim being a child every 9 minutes; yet, only 5 of every 1,000 perpetrators will end up in prison.
In this presented scenario, the 5 resulting incarcerations come from a group of 46 arrested reports, which are from a pool of 230 perpetrators that were initially reported to the police. With only 230—of 1,000 cases—being reported to the police, roughly ¾ of assaults go unnoticed. Given this statistic, the chance that you know someone who has been affected by sexual violence is greater than you may think. To be able to help others process through what they’ve experienced, understanding why they haven’t come forth with their encounter is critical in listening and providing comfort.
A primary reason why those who have been sexually assaulted don’t come forward with their assault is shame. Shame frequently causes victims to blame themselves, adding to feelings of guilt, helplessness, and disbelief. Additionally, fear plays a significant role in a victim’s choice to report. Frequently, the pattern of “victim-blaming” is seen, furthering the point that rape culture normalizes the behavior of the perpetrator and ostracizes the innocent through the consequences that they face alone.
If someone chooses to open up to you about what they have experienced, listen to them. Hear what they have to say, leaving any judgment or bias at the door. It can take victims months, even years, to disclose what they have been through; understand, empathize, and encourage them, as they let you in on all that they have felt!
Although context and situations differ, the act of violation remains at the core of both sexual assault and sexual exploitation. Sexual exploitation is a form of human trafficking, estimated to make up 19% of modern-day slavery, according to a 2017 report from the International Labor Organization and Walk Free Foundation. While only 19% of victims are trafficked for sex, this sector of the criminal industry makes up 66% of the global profits of human trafficking, generating $99 billion of the $150 billion made a year. In 2018, the top three types of sex trafficking cases within the United States were escort services, which are essentially organizations that send victims or arrange for buyers to come to a “workplace”; residential-based, which are informal underground businesses operating in residential or non-commercial areas; and pornography.
Pornography has been pronounced as the “new drug", the go-to fix for loneliness, curiosity. This drug sickens the heart, poisoning innocence and killing love. Even though studies have been done, over and over, to prove that the consumption of pornography significantly increases the intent to rape, be aggressive—both physically and verbally—, and sexually abuse in the context of domestic violence, a nationally representative survey found that 64% of young people, ages 13 - 24, actively seek out porn weekly or more often. A sample in a survey found that among college males, 49% first encountered pornography before the age of 13.
Society is addicted to this disgusting, dehumanizing visual virus. In “learning” that sex is easily obtainable, the compassion and definition of love in the eyes of the consumer have been eroding. This erosion leads to the dehumanizing objectification so pervasively found in rape culture. Although porn is not the sole factor in the forming of rape culture, it is a factor that provides clear evidence as to how society has degraded the concept of intimacy between individuals, normalizing the mistreatment and abuse found in sexual misconduct.
The dehumanization found in rape culture runs deeper than the tangible cases of injustice that we see. The cases not brought to light, the truth never spoken of; those held captive to the chains of modern-day slavery, whether it be in the form of sexual exploitation or forced labor. As a society, we have become desensitized to the existence of modern-day slavery because we so quickly incorporate it into our normalized paradigm of rape culture.
To be unconventional in any form of conventionality is challenging. Changing a culture is no different; however, when society stands together, and a unified front is formed, it becomes easier to take steps in the right direction. Learning about the reality of rape culture and the ways it is implemented into daily life—whether it be through sexually explicit jokes or scrutinizing the way someone of a designated gender is dressed—is the first step to changing an accepted norm. Following that, changing the levels of tolerance to misogynistic language or the objectification of any human is a way to directly go against the “flow” of this culture. Over time, with the repetition of these two steps, more and more individuals will join this front to “re-humanization”. With greater exposure to compassion and empathy, dignified levels of respect—which may be lacking at the present time—will grow, and the jaded walls blocking the ignorance of what is unjust, specifically in the context of human trafficking, will begin to break down. Take heart and be bold in your beliefs! Stand up for those whose stories go unheard; together, our voices can speak louder than ever before.
About the Author
Rachel Koh is a coffee obsessed, sunrise chasing, and people loving girl from Northern Virginia. She loves to spend time with her friends and family when she’s not working as a preschool teacher or serving her church on the weekends. As a freshman in college, she hopes that her studies in social work will help her to pursue a career in which she can directly care for those who have been affected by the injustices of human trafficking.