Hitting Close to Home

Close your eyes and open your mind. I want you to picture two of your best
friends, who are perhaps a little bit older than yourself. The ones that are always
there for you and you know you can have a good time with. Now picture these
same two people completely turning on you. These so called friends move you
interstate to a house where you are forced to sell your adolescent body to grown
men day in and day out, all the while packing your body full of drugs so as to
loosen you up and to ensure you cannot escape. Now open your eyes. That was
the true story of Lynda Marie Oddo (Milkovits, 2015), an American citizen from
New York, who, in 2006, suffered one of the worlds most socially unjustifiable
crimes- human sex trafficking.
Now is the time for the sex trafficking industry to be harshly scrutinised by me,
you and the person sitting next to you, for what it really is; one of the largest
global issues of our time, affecting all corners of the world and not discriminating
against race, gender, sexuality or the like. As the future world leaders, we must
take it upon ourselves to raise awareness about the fact that sex trafficking does
not just occur in developing countries. It occurs everywhere, even in first world
countries like America and certainly, right here in Australia.
Sex trafficking is an abominable criminal business that affects millions of women
and children worldwide, especially in developing nations, where the heart of this
beast beats. Lets begin by stating the obvious - sex trafficking is a violation of
human rights. It tears innocent people, like you, out of their natural environment
and thrusts them into unfamiliar territories where they are forced to endure sex
acts which are derogatory, harmful and psychologically altering (Soroptimist.org,
2015). So why is this monstrous industry digging its claws into almost 800 000
women and children a year worldwide (Soroptimist.org, 2015)!? Well, in
developing nations such as Tanzania in east Africa, sex trafficking is the result of
more ordinary pressures than what you might think; poverty, corruption and lack
of education being the main three. Ninety-six percent of the Tanzanian
population live on less than two dollars a day (Kircher-Allen, 2010), therefore its
people are often forced to commit desperate acts just to survive. This includes
sending their young and vulnerable children away in search of better livelihoods,
where it is easy and common for traffickers to manipulate them into urban areas
or even into foreign countries with promises of high salaries and other benefits
(Lumba, 2015). Unfortunately, this often ends in the child being forced to work as
a sex slave or prostitute (Mwita, 2015). What is more, corruption sees that a
further number of children, especially street children, are harassed, exploited
and sexually assaulted at the hands of security agents including members of the
police force (Mwita, 2015). Moreover, lack of education obviously holds a strong
part of this issue as many people [in Tanzania] dont see buying sex from a
teenager as a serious crime, as stated by Justa Mwaituka, the executive director
of the Kiota Womens Health and Development Organisation located in Tanzania
(Kircher-Allen, 2010). So, with harmful effects like sexually transmitted diseases,
long lasting physical and psychological trauma and substance abuse on the line
(Congresswoman Ann Wagner, 2014) - why cant we just quickly inject an anti-

virus into this sex trafficking disease and be done with it? Why? Because its
already spread to the rest of the globe, including the supposed leader of the free
world - the United States of America.

Although sex trafficking occurs primarily in developing nations, it is wealthy

countries like the US that unfortunately are plagued by an unquenchable
demand for sex slaves and prostitutes through online classified advertising
agencies. Firstly, it is important to note that every sex trafficking survivors
experience is different. However, just type in sex trafficking cases into google
and youll find a whole compilation of horrific experiences that all have at least
one thing in common- all the victims were either sought out and/or exploited by
way of the internet. A recent bust occurring in February this year in Rochester,
New York has highlighted to officials the rise in the use of the internet and how it
is making it easy for traffickers to find and sell their victims (Fuss, 2015). The
case involved seven men and women, now in federal custody, who used social
media as a means of recruiting the victims and then posted online ads on
backpage.com and other sites selling the young women for sex (Fuss, 2015). The
statistics surrounding this crime in America are overwhelmingly appalling, with
the average victim being forced to have sex between twenty to forty-eight times
a day and a pimp being able to make $150 000 to $200 000 per child each yearthe average pimp having four to six girls (Thecoveringhouse.org, 2015). Are
these really figures that we can ignore?
Now youre probably thinking phew! All this sex trafficking nonsense happens in
faraway places like America and Africa, so I dont have to worry my little Aussie
adolescent head about it. Well think again! The travesty that is sex trafficking
DOES occur in Australia, mostly through illegal brothels. And whats sadder than
having one of the worlds most heinous crimes in our very own backyard? The
fact that very few people even know about it. The issue in Australia is that the
illegal sex industry is at large, where regulators cannot protect or monitor
potential sex trafficking victims who may be in peril. The Prostitution Act of 1999
legalised brothel prostitution in Queensland to combat three issues: illegal
prostitution and police corruption, harm to women and street prostitution
(Norma, 2011). However, the Crime and Misconduct Commission has suggested
that 90 percent of prostitution offered in Queensland takes place outside legal
brothels - 90 percent (Hall, 2009)!! Professor Andreas Schloenhardt, a professor
of Criminal Law at the University of Queensland in Brisbane, even stated that
illegal prostitution is a completely unregulated industry [for which] we offer no
protection, no safeguards....and we really dont know the sort of risks associated
with that (Hall, 2009). Meaning that, if there is ever someone trafficked into
Australia and exploited as a prostitute in an illegal brothel, the Prostitution
Licensing Authority would never even know. Seriously, we should be better than
this - it is not alright for us to have this criminal injustice right under our noses
and be doing nothing about it.

But what can we do? What can an average Joe like me do to prevent this social
injustice from occurring? The answer to this is - plenty! Foremostly, sex
trafficking and illegal prostitution in Australia need to become part of all common
household conversations. Bring up these pressing issues to your friends,
teachers, swimming coach and even your pet dog! Collectively we can spread
the word and even use one of the culprits of the issue, online webpages and
social media, to raise awareness of the prevalence of sex trafficking in Australia
and the world. Furthermore, you can even write a letter to your local member of
parliament outlining how the Prostitution Act needs to be revisited in order to
decrease the amount of illegal prostitution that occurs in Australia. Most
importantly, you can visit websites like stopthetraffick.com and fairgirls.org to
learn more about this global issue, to hear stories from real life sex trafficking
victims and to donate to help raise funds for research to combat this odious
crime worldwide. Because if each one of us puts in a little time, money and
effort, we can collectively make an enormous change to the sex trafficking
industry today.
Rachel Love, the general manager of Gold Coast brothel Pentagon Grand,
supports this stance as she told Fairfax media illegal brothels were rampant in
the area due to workers receiving a higher income, however more susceptible to
risks due to lack of regulation.

References
Claudine Ewing, WGRZ. 'Sex Trafficking, A Victim Speaks'. WNY News. N.p., 2015. Web.
28 Feb. 2015.
Congresswoman Ann Wagner,. 'Human Trafficking & Online Prostitution Advertising'. N.p.,
2014. Web. 28 Feb. 2015.
Fairgirls.org,. 'Human Trafficking & Commercial Sexual Exploitation'. N.p., 2015. Web. 28
Feb. 2015.
Fuss, Breanna. 'Several Arrests Made In Connection With Local Human Trafficking Ring'.
TWC News. N.p., 2015. Web. 28 Feb. 2015.
Hall, Jonathan. 'Prostitution Laws 'Failing Sex Workers''. ABC News. N.p., 2009. Web. 28
Feb. 2015.
Kircher-Allen, Eamon. 'Fighting Child Sex Trafficking In Tanzania'. GlobalPost. N.p., 2010.
Web. 28 Feb. 2015.
Lumba, Hildah. 'Zambia: Strengthen Laws Against Human Trafficking'. allAfrica.com. N.p.,
2015. Web. 28 Feb. 2015.

Milkovits, Amanda. 'Fighting For Her Soul: A Sex-Trafficking Victim's Story'.

providencejournal.com. N.p., 2015. Web. 28 Feb. 2015.
Mwita, Sosthenes. 'Tanzania: Needy Children Deserve Better'. allAfrica.com. N.p., 2015.
Web. 28 Feb. 2015.
Norma, Caroline. 'It's Time To Get Serious About Sex Trafficking In Australia'. The Age.
N.p., 2011. Web. 28 Feb. 2015.
Soroptimist.org,. 'Facts On Human Trafficking And Sex Slavery | Soroptimist'. N.p., 2015.
Web. 28 Feb. 2015.
Thecoveringhouse.org,. 'Sex Trafficking Statistics & Source Documentation The
Covering House'. N.p., 2015. Web. 28 Feb. 2015.