The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime says the most common form
of human trafficking is for sexual exploitation. In a recent report
on modern slavery, the UN says that about 79 percent of people enslaved
each year are coerced into prostitution. Some experts believe the best
solution is to focus on decreasing the demand.
Human
trafficking for sexual exploitation is a growing problem worldwide,
according to experts. The victims are mostly women and girls.
In conflict zones in eastern Africa, many women have been abducted for sex.
But the United Nations reports 20 percent of all trafficking victims are children. Some are forced to be child soldiers.
Are men driving problem?
Swanee Hunt is a former US diplomat and an expert on the trafficking of women and girls.
"This is a travesty and this policy community is not recognizing it, and we need to be involved," Hunt said.
At
a panel discussion recently in Washington, Hunt said the slave trade is
the fastest growing criminal industry and it will surpass the drug
trade in less than five years.
Journalist Victor Malarek said men are driving the enslavement for sex.
"Men
hold the key to putting the breaks on this sexual insanity because
unlike the millions of women entrapped in the flesh-trade, men have a
choice," he said.
Some victims just trying to survive
In regions of extreme poverty, many women become trafficking victims as a means of survival, according to experts.
Mark
Lagon, the director of a non profit group that advocates against human
trafficking, says the economic crisis could make the problem
worse.
"I do think the vulnerability of people to become
trafficking victims remains intense because economic desperation, while
not the singular cause of human trafficking, is an important one,"
Lagon said.
Awareness campaign encouraged
Lagon said more needs to be done to raise awareness, specifically among young boys.
"We
just need to think that the degradation of women, to think of them as
objects, objects think about it, something which might be worthy of
being sold, as opposed to treating them like human beings not eligible
for sale, is a place to begin," he said.
Lagon hopes people who
previously were involved in the sex trade will speak out and draw
attention to the issue around the world.
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