Last week’s lecture by guest speaker Sgt. Holly Joshi brought up some crucial points regarding human trafficking, particularly in the sphere of prostitution. To be honest, prior to this lecture my opinion on this issue was similar to the one that Sergeant had before her service in the human trafficking department: prosecution of the adults consenting to exchange money for sexual services should not be the priority of police. Activities like drug dealing seem to bring way greater negative externalities for the society, such as illegal distribution of guns and rise of violent crimes as a consequence of it. Thus, police should be concentrating on investigation and prevention of activities that cause greater public disorder and not spending their time on what seems to be a harmless market exchange from the first sight.
However, Sergeant has managed to draw some great distinctions between prostitution as a voluntary exchange of services for money and human trafficking as a control over person through force, fraud for labour or services (including sexual). Her examples of ‘pimps’ taking control over 13 year old girls and persuading (forcing) them to get involved in sexual work in the exchange for food and breaking away from their parents, clearly illustrate that all types of prostitution cannot be treated in the same manner. Human trafficking is surely a better term for the characterisation of cases described by Sergeant. The instances that involve coercion of women by the third-party (‘pimp’) cannot be considered to be a voluntary market exchange and have to be investigated by the police.
Another point made by Sergeant that was particularly of interest was about the use of social media and modern technologies by ‘pimps’ as a tool for the recruitment and advertisement. CNN reported last week about a 22 year old woman Devin Miller who is suspected in procuring two underaged girls and offering their services via ads on several websites in Florida. Investigation determined that one of the girls was 16 and had been reported missing. Interview of one of the girls revealed that they have often robbed men at gunpoint when they arrived. However, none of these robberies were reported as Miller threatened men to tell the police that they came to her house to get sex services. According to this report, besides the prostitution and robberies, drug use has also occurred in that house. It was a tip submitted to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children regarding these internet ads that brought attention of the Sheriff’s office to this case. This report illustrates how many criminal activities can be hidden behind what seems to be a voluntary market exchange. It also confirms the necessity of monitoring over the websites and social networks by the police and civil society for the prevention of human trafficking crimes.
Sources:
http://www.cnn.com/2014/04/09/justice/florida-teen-prostitution-robbery-lure/
Lecture on ‘Human Trafficking’ by Sgt. Holly Joshi
I think one of the most compelling statistics she offered was the idea that human trafficking was the 2nd largest crime in the US.
ReplyDeleteThat came as a shock to me, and I'm sure it did to most of the class.
The other notable fact that came as a surprise to me was the dropping of criminal liability to all of those who solicit underage sex. The strict liability standard for underage sex is set, to force the criminal actor to incur all residual cost, by lifting it from strict liability to criminal negligence, you incentivize the behavior by not giving the criminal actor criminal incentives against it.
All-in-all, it seemed that Sergeant Joshi touched on another running topic of the course, this consistent disregard to women-related crimes, which seems to run parallel to the culture of police.
Which seems almost irrespective of diversity.
-Mark Sheppard
I’m happy that after the presentation we as a class are all MUCH more informed about what is going on with human trafficking. I think many individuals are also under the false notion that prostitution is a “harmless market exchange,” when in fact women of all colors and creeds risk their lives turning tricks as a way to support themselves and whatever other liabilities they may bear. It is important for us to culturally reconsider the how we frame prostitution; adolescents under the age of eighteen in this line of work are often seen as immoral and face a lack of personal, emotional, and legal protection. I do want to emphasize your use of the term “voluntary legal exchange”. I am not sure if this is how you personally view the acts, but I think it is important to realize that the large majority of women do not go into prostitution enthusiastically. Many are forced into the line of work as a result of chemical dependency, lack of economic funds, and/or no seemingly real alternative professions. Great post Alex! - Chelsea Goddard
ReplyDeleteI’ve never been particularly bothered by prostitution. I always figured it was a “victimless crime” a free exchange of services. If the woman (or man) consented to this action, this is didn’t hurt anyone. While I had known about sex trafficking in the abstract, I never really associated it with prostitution in the way that Sgt. Joshi informed us. This is very troubling. On the one hand, I still have the same view on prostitution as before. The “Happy Sex Workers” should be able to continue their work, however their needs to be something done to help the victims of sex trafficking. Sgt. Joshi made an excellent point in saying that the reason they are able to effectively prosecute “pimps” and protect young girls and women who are victims of sex trafficking is because prostitution is illegal. If it was ever to become legal, there would need to be some very carefully considered and worded laws that will still allow the protection of women who are victims of sex trafficking, while not criminalizing the “Happy Sex Workers.” One way of doing this could be to copy Sweden, in that it is illegal to buy sexual services but not to sell them. I think this is a good first step in protecting people who are consenting and willing to be sex workers while still providing protection for those who are being forced into it.
ReplyDelete~BriAnne Lynn
Madeleine McGlade
ReplyDeleteI think this blog post raises the important issue of the problematic nature of categorising prostitution as a ‘harmless market exchange.’ It is crucial to interrogate the underlying conditions to do with patriarchal power relations/segmented labor markets etc. embedded in our society, which compel women into desperate situations. Disadvantaged women with limited alternative sources of employment may find themselves pushed towards prostitution, and once entering this labor market it is apparent that there are limited viable options for leaving. It is important to interrogate whether prostitution can ever be regarded as a choice.
Alexander, You provide a fully accurate overview of Sergeant Joshi's move away from the prostitution framing to articulating a domestic perspective of human trafficking. Also, you illustrate nicely how social media is used to support such trafficking.
ReplyDeleteThank you for the interesting post Alexander. Sergeant Joshi definitely opened my eyes to the diverse danger associated with prostitution. So often does the media portray prostitution as a woman's sole choice to sell her body, it seems most of society perceives this "occupation" as harmless. You've expanded the danger to not only pimps practicing human trafficking by hunting down and gathering vulnerable girls and exploiting them to the market, but also to the prostitutes committing crimes themselves by taking advantage of their clients (despite the illegal activity by clients themselves).
ReplyDelete-June Shin
Thank you for the article. Sergeant Joshi's presentation also brought this issue into my perspective as well. I did not realize that just a few cities away, there was such a sophisticated operation like this going on. It is scary to me so I can imagine how scary it is for the girls that get involved in this crime. ~Shari Gray~
ReplyDeleteIt is interesting that along with Sergeant Joshi, you also did not see prostitution as priority for the police. I say that it is interesting because I think it is a very common view. Sgt. Joshi's presentation was extremely eye opening and the issue resonated with me. Human trafficking is happening in our neighborhoods and it is a serious problem that needs to be solved. I think your point about human trafficking masking other criminal activity is accurate and also very important to analyze and think about. Human trafficking clearly has a lot to do with power and control, which is a factor in many major crimes. Hopefully this issue becomes more well known as something serious, so something can be done about it. -Brooke Arthur
ReplyDeleteI agree with everyone's comments. Much of the information that Sergeant Joshi presented was quite shocking. Though prostitution might seem (at least before this lecture) like it's not that big of a deal, we can now see that there are many crimes involved. Talking about these issues is key in creating an informed society. This should also be applied to other crimes that might seem small because they could actually be hiding other criminal activity.
ReplyDeleteI really liked this post. Sgt. Joshi's lecture was extremely interesting and I found myself thinking about her comments regularly. The part of your post that I am particularly interested in is the use of social media by pimps. I find it so interesting that ever-changing technologies can contribute to human trafficking in such a powerful way. Social media is shaping our world and it seems as though the possibilities are endless for its use. I just find it sad that it has such a major impact on the trafficking world. These sites infiltrate communities everywhere and it seems as though it is difficult to regulate such behavior online. I'm worried for the future generations as technology makes other strides.
ReplyDelete-Kim Newton
I think that prostitution should not be a top priority of what an officer goes after, but I disagree that they should ignore it. I mean could you tell if a woman is prostituting out of need or if she's a sex slave and perhaps the only way of knowing is arresting her. Because if voluntary prostitution is overlooked I feel that police officers will easily overlook cases where it appears a grown woman is selling her own body but in reality it's human trafficking and sex slavery. I do agree with Sergeant Yoshi, the men should be prosecuted and the women decriminalized.
ReplyDeleteLiliana Guerrero
I particularly like your post because it reflected on Sgt. Holly Joshi's guest lecture. Like you, I too had a similar view of prostitution to the sergeant's before she became involved in that area: I did not see anything wrong with people trading sex for money voluntarily. It was only until Sgt. Joshi delineated human trafficking from prostitution that I actually realized there are two realms of the same occupation, one of voluntary participation ("happy sex workers," as she called them) and those who are forced into the business. And though there is a delineation between the two now, it still seems that there are potential intersections everywhere. For example, how the sergeant described "trunking" where pimps take pictures of girls on the streets that they want to work for them, then send a car out to kidnap them by forcing them into the trunk. There are dangers of human trafficking even for the "happy sex workers" that believe they are in control of their situation.
ReplyDelete- Chey Iwamoto
One of the thing that Sergeant Josie mentioned was that we need to approach the problem by focusing not only on the pimps and prostitutes, but also the men/women who are buying their services. Because demand for a particular goods or services creates its supply and distribution, this means that less buyers for prostitution will reduce the overall market size.
ReplyDeleteSome of the specific policies that local governments have put into place make it difficult for men to solicit the service of sex workers. For instance, reverse sting operations involve setting up decoy prostitutes to lure out and arrest Johns. A number of jurisdiction have adopted shaming policies such as sending “Dear John” letters and publicizing the identities of men caught seeking prostitutes. Those who are arrested may also have their vehicle or driver license confiscated if they were used in the commission of the crime. Lastly, certain offenders may be required to attend John schools, a diversion program, that educates offenders on the experiences and harms of prostitution. Most of these demand-reduction policies cost little and some even generates fee-based revenue.
- Jessica N. Siah
COOL POST!
ReplyDeleteI am a huge fan of sergeant Joshi. I also didn't think of prostitution as a big deal in America because the media always makes it seem as though prostitutes, in a sense, are the bad guys, or girls. Prostitutes in the media are portrayed as "poisonous fruit" and as women who CHOSE to be deviant from the norm and exercise a great deal of promiscuity. As Joshi showed us, prostitutes are often times forced to do what they do and they don't have a choice as to whether or not they want to engage in that behavior. Its kind of sad because due to the media representations of prostitutes, victims of sex trafficking are not getting the help that they deserve. Prostitution is like a gang in a sense, once you are, it is very hard to escape if you are being coerced to work at the hands of a pimp.
Tiarra Pittman
I was also very moved by Sgt. Joshi's presentation in class, as I had no idea that human trafficking is occurring in my own local community. You bring up a good point about how this industry uses social media websites to support this growing business. I remember when Sgt. Joshi told us how the pimp's use fake Facebook accounts and have the young girls working for them add other girls they can recruit to work for them. I think with the amount of surveillance power corporate companies like Facebook have, they should be more aware of these sort of fake accounts. This may be one step in working to fight this type of crime.
ReplyDelete-Michaela Acebedo
I found Sgt, Joshi's presentation very enlightening. Before her presentation I didn't know that human trafficking existed in our community or that it was one of the top crimes in our community. You bring up a good point of how some crimes can be hidden and no one will know about them because they think it is a voluntary exchange. I also like how you gave examples of real life stories that occurred. I disagree that the police should ignore this crime, this should be one their top priorities. For example, just like the Sgt. Joshi talked about that their are some 13 year old girls that are working on the streets and nobody even notices them.
ReplyDeleteMandeep Thind
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ReplyDeleteAs with most of the replies to this post, I found Sergeant Joshi's presentation exceptional. Prior to her presentation, prostitution did not seem like a big deal to me because I had always assumed that these women were just trying to get by. When she revealed to us the down and dirty about how pimps get underaged girls into the business, I was genuinely shocked. People should be more educated on human trafficking as well as prostitution because it is not a problem that will go away on its own especially when the girls in the business are as young as 13. These women are being treated inhumanely, and not even keeping the money that they make. Not only are the women being beaten and disrespected, they are being threatened with their own lives if they even consider leaving the business. While there is no immediate solution to this problem, it is important to realize that this is something that should not be disregarded and it should be considered a top priority.
ReplyDeleteErica Au
I also considered prostitution as a victimless crime before viewing it through the lens of human trafficking. It is extremely tragic that the young women being coerced by pimps to perform sexual activities, are reluctant to reveal the identities of their pimps. Although prostitution may be performed in a consensual fashion, young women's emotions are being manipulated. I find it very informative to emphasize the concept of adults toying with minors' emotional state in order to get them to do something they would not do otherwise. Consent may be given during a sexual transaction in prostitution, but according to Sgt. Joshi it is definitely not informed, which is not actual consent.
ReplyDelete-Alex Rose