The Link Between Systemic Racism and Human Trafficking
In the last 6 weeks, we’ve discussed white privilege, racism, bias, and more. At Dressember, our mission is to advocate for the dignity of all people, and we recognize the pain that people of color experience on both a systemic and personal level. In a moment when we’re crying out that Black Lives Matter, we need to push further. It is time to recognize the struggle of minority women and the undeniable link between systemic racism and human trafficking.
The truth is, the structures and systems in our country benefit those with power, position, and privilege. Joe Fegain coined the term systemic racism which he views as the enduring manifestations of a country built on the ownership of black individuals. Legal racism still manifests itself in "each major part of U.S. society—the economy, politics, education, religion, the family." Systemic racism means that the policies, practices, and social norms of our society intentionally exclude and harm minority groups. More often than not, the struggle of people of color is pushed under the radar and out of the public view. Black and minority lives are made invisible by the segregation of cities, brutal over-policing, and overt- and implicit racism.
Furthermore, black and minority women are at an even greater disadvantage because of their gender — a term known as intersectionality. If even the most privileged white women notice patriarchal structures, misogynistic behavior, and the wage gap, then these inequities are certainly compounded by racism.
Fast Facts:
- 40% of U.S. sex trafficking victims are black.
- The average white household has ten times more wealth than the average black home
- The FBI reported that 57.5% of all juvenile prostitution arrests are black children
- Out of 100 cases, 78% of the time the victim themselves was arrested while 22% of the time the buyer was arrested.
According to Free For Life International, 40% of U.S. sex trafficking victims are black. And, in a study by the Urban Institute, traffickers reported that they believed they would receive less jail time for trafficking black women. The disproportionate number of black women and girls who are trafficked are a direct result of local, state, and national governments who refuse to protect the lives of these women, implement policies that harm black bodies, and criminalize rather than assist victims of trafficking and abuse.
A government who does not adequately provide for American communities of color instead exposes them to traffickers who take advantage of those with little to no societal protection. The situations that predispose black and brown people to traffickers stem from a system who has done little to protect, preserve, or benefit their lives.
Here are three systemic factors that contribute to the prevalence of black and minority women as trafficking victims.
Lower socioeconomic status, i.e. black-white wealth gap.
According to the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation’s “Snapshot on the State of Black women and girls: sex trafficking in the U.S.”, socioeconomic status is one of the top contributors in increasing the chances of sex trafficking.
The average white household has ten times more wealth than the average black home, regardless of educational attainment or income earnings. This disparity can be traced throughout history, from the bondage of black Americans to policies like the New Deal and the GI Bill in the 20th century.
The history of wealth attainment is important because it emphasizes the persistent barriers to people of color’s savings; moreover, wealth accumulates over generations. Generational wealth accounts for roughly 4% of a household’s annual income, and it goes largely untaxed by the federal government. This means that more wealth in the past leads to more wealth in the future, and less wealth in the past fuels generational poverty. Generational wealth likewise affects other social benefits such as adequate housing, safe neighborhoods, and good schools. The Brookings Institute notes that an inadequate investment in public goods makes it more difficult to erase past gaps.
Traffickers target women of color with a lower socioeconomic status. Thus, the victimization of black women is intrinsically linked to policies that kept back families poor in the past and continue to limit their opportunities in the present.
2. The abuse to prison pipeline and the justice system
The American penal system targets people of color. Nationally, the rate of incarceration for black women is double that of white women, and the majority of women incriminated for sex trafficking are black.
Specifically, black girls are targeted by the police and routinely arrested for child prostitution. The FBI reported that 57.5% of all juvenile prostitution arrests are black children. These children are under the age of legal consent, and still they are criminalized for their own exploitation. Out of 100 cases, 78% of the time the victim themselves was arrested while 22% of the time the buyer was arrested.
Likewise, girls and women of color are criminalized for their responses to abuse. Girls and women of color are more likely to be abused than their white counterparts, and there is a strong correlation between a history of abuse and incarceration. Women of color are criminalized for behaviors linked to abuse such as running away, substance abuse, and truancy in school. This criminalization is called the abuse to prison pipeline whereby a woman’s behavioral reaction to sexual abuse gets them arrested. Instead of psychological support, women of color are forced behind bars.
The justice system often re-triggers the emotional distress of abuse and leads to further instances of sexual abuse within the detention center. Without proper treatment, women who are released from prison are more likely to continue the behaviors they were arrested for in the first place. In this way, the cycle of criminalization deepens over time. Having a criminal record then limits the opportunity for work, housing, and social benefits, leaving women unprotected and often homeless.
3. Adultification and sexualization of black girls
Women of color face the double-edged sword of hyper criminalization and hyper sexualization. The Center on Poverty and Inequality found that adults viewed black girls as less innocent and more adult-like than white girls. Because black girls are seen as more adult, more independent, and more knowledgeable about adult topics they are sexualized and “adultified.”
Slavery also directly informs the current perception of black girls and women. Black female slaves were routinely, systematically raped by their white owners, and thus black female bodies are exoticized and seen as exploitable. The hyper criminalization and hyper sexualization of black girls has created a racialized stereotype of good girls and bad girls — and usually, black girls are deemed the bad girls. This message is reinforced by music and media.
The bad girl perception extends to efforts to identify victims of trafficking. Often people perceive that black women in the sex trade have chosen prostitution when in reality they are being trafficked. For law enforcement, spotting sex trafficking is much harder due to ingrained, implicit biases against people of color. Moreover, the average white citizen may not report a suspicious situation because of their perceptions of behavior of black women.
From the outset, black and brown people are not protected from traffickers. They lack proper legal protection, adequate housing, targeted social programming, and equal access to healthcare. The lack of these social benefits is what makes black females more likely to be victims of domestic and sexual abuse and to be placed in the foster care system.
The stereotypes perpetuated by systems in the U.S. are designed to breed exclusion by fear in the white majority. Exclusion, or making people of color the outsiders, promotes racial profiling, assumes guilt, and handcuffs the most vulnerable.
If children in the foster care system are at a risk of being trafficked, black children in the foster care system are at an even greater risk. If transgender women and men are forced to sell sex in the underground economy, the risks are compounded for black transgender women and men.
Traffickers are willing to exploit the slightest vulnerability of a person to profit, and traffickers are offered nearly free reign over racialized targets, especially black women, non-white immigrants, and those without a social security number or green card. The people forced underground and under the radar by a white, heteronormative rule of law are dually controlled by laws that offer them no reprieve and actual criminals — traffickers — whose actions costs them their lives.
About the Author
Emma Beavins is from Franklin, Indiana—a mid-sized town in the heart of central Indiana. Emma is an avid reader, caffeinated-beverage consumer, and a firm believer in the pancakes-are-better-than-waffles debate. Emma enjoys running half marathons and spending quality time with friends, preferably over breakfast. Emma is studying English and Spanish at Butler University in Indianapolis, Indiana where she hopes to be able to use her verbal and written communication skills to advocate for various social justice issues.