Human Trafficking

       

    

               WHAT DOES HUMAN TRAFFICKING MEAN?                    

                

         The United States Department of Homeland Security states that "Human trafficking involves the use of force, fraud, or coercion to obtain some type of labor or commercial sex act." (Department of Homeland Security, 2022)

       The United States Department of Justice states that "Human trafficking, also known as trafficking in persons or modern-day slavery, is a crime that involves compelling or coercing a person to provide labor or services, or to engage in commercial sex acts. The coercion can be subtle or overt, physical or psychological." (Department of Justice, 2020)

In a broader definition, the United Nations defines sex trafficking as “The recruitment, transportation, transfer, harboring or receipt of persons, by means of the threat or use of force or other forms of coercion, of abduction, of fraud, of deception, of the abuse of power or of a position of vulnerability or of the giving or receiving of payments or benefits to achieve the consent of a person having control over another person, for the purpose of exploitation.” All three of these definitions ultimately mean the same thing. An innocent woman, man, or child is being exploited in some way form which can ultimately lead to their death, mental instability, etc. . When an individual hears about human trafficking they often limit it to just sex trafficking however, this isn't always the case. Human trafficking covers the exploitation of labor as well as domestic servitude. It also includes debt bondage meaning that you are exploited for your debts. 

HUMAN TRAFFICKING STATISTICS

    According to the International Labour Organization or ILO which is a specialized organization within the United Nations, there are about 40.3 million individuals worldwide currently being human trafficked.

                                                                        

WHO IS AFFECTED AND HOW

Anyone can be affected and it can happen in any community regardless of the victim's age, race, gender, or nationality but people of color, indigenous communities, immigrants, people who identify as LGBTQ+ and people living in poverty or foster care or are struggling with addiction, trauma, abuse, and unstable housing are at a comparatively higher risk for trafficking. (UT Health Houston, 2021)

These individuals are at a higher risk as some individuals don't have a family to look after them so it goes unnoticed when they are missing. Individuals who are poor don't have the means to get necessities which is how they are bribed with job offers that are subtly used by traffickers. Racial disparity is also a thing that results in people of color and indigenous communities being trafficked more due to the inequality and prejudice against them.

The video above is the story of Rebecca Bender who is a human trafficking survivor                                               

THE SIGNS AND HOW TO SPOT THEM

• The individual has no contact with friends or family 
• Individuals whose communication and movements are being monitored
• Workers who have long hours and are unpaid or paid very little 
• Having zero access to money or personal documents
• Being branded with tattoos 
• Having a controlling partner or friend 
• The individual is not allowed to be alone  
• Has bruises or signs of physical injury
• Lack of personal possessions 
• Young children working in places such as restaurants 
• Avoiding eye contact or social interaction 
• Living with a large group of people

The video above is a TedTalk on a physician who eventually learned how to spot victims                        

WHAT IS CIVIC ENGAGEMENT?

According to Youth, "Civic engagement involves “working to make a difference in the civic life of one’s community and developing the combination of knowledge, skills, values, and motivation to make that difference. It means promoting the quality of life in a community, through both political and non-political processes. (Youth, 2020 )

The Institute For Local Government states "This is an extremely broad term that includes the many ways that community residents involve themselves in the civic and political life of their community. It encompasses volunteering as a local Little League coach, attending neighborhood or community-wide meetings, helping to build a community playground, joining a city or county clean-up effort, becoming a member of a neighborhood watch group or local commission – and much more." (Institute For Local Government, 2012)

Both of these definitions are close to mine as I define civic engagement as a society working together to accomplish a goal that will help the community whether it's having a community clean-up or volunteering at an event such as a food drive. 

Spreading awareness and having educational events on Human trafficking can make a difference in society. 

WAYS TO HELP

• Know the signs
• Does the individual seem to have monitored communications and movements? 
• Report a Tip
• Contact the National Human Trafficking Hotline regarding a trafficking situation. Call 1-888-373-7888, text HELP to BEFREE (233733), or email help@humantraffickinghotline.org
• Spread the word 
• Educate yourself on human trafficking red flags and indicators so you can spread awareness
• Volunteer 
• There are local anti-trafficking organizations and programs that offer services to victims and survivors 
• The link below will allow you to find an organization near you
• Referral Directory | National Human Trafficking Hotline 
• Register for Training
• The National Human Trafficking and Technical Assistance Center provides access to training and technical assistance to advise and increase the public health response to human trafficking
• The link below will allow you to contact the National Human Trafficking and Technical Assistance Center if you are interested in training and technical assistance
• Training and Technical Assistance | The Administration for Children and Families (hhs.gov)

WHY DID I WRITE ABOUT THIS TOPIC?

    I wrote about this social issue because I think it's important to spread awareness. I feel like people never speak about human trafficking even though it's a huge issue. I strongly believe this is a topic that needs to be discussed so individuals can be better educated allowing room for preventative measures. 

       "You may choose to look the other way but you can never say again that you did not know"

                                                    - William Wilberforce

                                            

                                              WORKS CITED

What is human trafficking? What Is Human Trafficking? | Homeland Security. (n.d.). Retrieved April 18, 2022, from https://www.dhs.gov/blue-campaign/what-human-trafficking

What is human trafficking? The United States Department of Justice. (2020, October 13). Retrieved April 18, 2022, from https://www.justice.gov/humantrafficking/what-is-human-trafficking

The scale of human trafficking. STOP THE TRAFFIK. (n.d.). Retrieved April 19, 2022, from https://www.stopthetraffik.org/about-human-trafficking/the-scale-of-human-trafficking/

Civic engagement. Civic Engagement | Youth.gov. (n.d.). Retrieved April 19, 2022, from https://youth.gov/youth-topics/civic-engagement-and-volunteering

What is public engagement? - ca-ilg.org. (n.d.). Retrieved April 19, 2022, from https://www.ca-ilg.org/sites/main/files/file-attachments/what_is_public_engagement_jan_2012_1.pdf?1395852191

School, M. G. M. (2021, January 15). Human trafficking...what is it, who does it affect, where is it happening. Louis A. Faillace, MD, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences. Retrieved April 19, 2022, from https://med.uth.edu/psychiatry/2021/01/15/human-traffickingwhat-is-it-who-does-it-affect-where-is-it-happening/

10 ways you can help end trafficking. The Administration for Children and Families. (n.d.). Retrieved April 19, 2022, from https://www.acf.hhs.gov/otip/about/ways-endtrafficking

                                        

 Gender Inequality

What is Gender Inequality?

    Gender inequality is a result of discrimination against a gender or sex to the point where the other gender(s) or sex(es) is getting more recognition, special treatment, or prioritized over the other. Gender inequality can happen to any person no matter the sex or gender of them. Gender inequality has always been a big issue all around the world and so many people have experienced it at some point in their life.

What can gender inequality affect?

    According to UN Women, gender inequality can have an affect in poverty, education, employment, decision-making, maternal health, violence, sexual health, and environmental sustainability. Personally, I think it has the biggest impact on employment and education. We tend to see it a lot in the workplace and many people have experienced it hands on, myself included. Gender inequality can take a lot on a person mentally as well. It is hard knowing that no matter how hard you work, if a male will do it just the same as you, they are more likely to get the more praise than if a woman would.

Gender Pay Gap

    Our World in Data states that "The gender pay gap (or the gender wage gap) is a metric that tells us the difference in pay (or wages, or income) between women and men". Gender pay gap is a big issue everywhere especially here in America and throughout Asia. Most of the time, white males are the ones who usually make the most money and hold higher positions out of everyone. I think this has a lot to do because usually the people hiring are older white males so it just will continuously domino effect until someone, such as a a woman of color, can help break that cycle. Women tend to make a significantly lower amount than men because a lot of the older generation believe that woman are not capable of doing everything a man does, which is certainly not the case. Plus, it should be fair that women are paid equally to men. Globally, only about 19% of females hold a manager person in a firm(Our World Data, 2019). 

 

Personal Connection

        Personally, I felt like I have definitely had some issues with gender inequality and sexism in the work place versus a pay gap. I work as a reverse logistics expert in the company Target. Reverse logistics is essentially receiving vendors(Pepsi, Frito Lay, Coke, etc.) and making sure I have the correct quantity as well as the right product coming in as well as making sure that the backroom is running smoothly. A majority of these vendors and truck drivers that I work with are males. They need to ask me if it is okay to bring things in or what to bring. But there is a couple of vendors that will treat me completely different than compared to my other male colleagues at work. One in particular always happens to come on days where I am not there so they have to talk to one of the men that are in the back. I have told him countless times that he needs to come in earlier when I am there but he just says okay, rolls his eyes, then I don’t see him again for a long time. When he talks to the other guys he always asks them the questions that he is supposed to be asking me but he chooses not to talk to me. I even feel this way about the higher management because you can just tell sometimes by the way they talk to other women there comparatively to the other men. It can be extremely bothersome at times but I cant seem to do anything about it. 

Fast Facts

• In 2015 there were only 21 female heads of state in the entire world.
• Over 150 countries have at least one actively sexist law.
• In most countries, women only earn between 60 and 75% of men’s wages - for the same work.
• There are approximately 781 million illiterate adults worldwide – two-thirds of whom are women.

Works Cited

Ortiz-Ospina, Esteban, and Max Roser. “Economic Inequality by Gender.” Our World in Data, 21 Mar. 2018, https://ourworldindata.org/economic-inequality-by-gender.

“In Focus.” UN Women – Headquarters, https://www.unwomen.org/en/news/in-focus.

        YosolaYosola. “7 Shocking Facts about Gender Inequality around the World.”         Global Citizen, https://www.globalcitizen.org/en/content/shocking-facts-gender-inequality-international-wom/.

 

The Struggles of an Immigrant

 

    

There are people in the world who are looking for better lives for themselves or for their families. When they hear of a place full of opportunities, they must leave almost everything behind to get ahold of this opportunity for a chance to live better. But of course, most undocumented immigrants that arrive to the U.S. are not usually welcomed happily by some people and are met with prejudice. When arriving undocumented immigrants are not expecting for everything to go their way, they know that must work harder than anyone else to make sure they have enough for a roof over their heads and at least for some food on their plates.

            When arriving to the U.S. there are many hardships that undocumented immigrants must overcome one way or another to be able to live comfortably in the United States. These challenges that are presented to undocumented immigrants when arriving are troublesome since they are issues that are temporary issues that can lead to becoming permanent problems if they are not taken care of right away. Some of these challenges are stuff like the language barrier, the lack of employment options/opportunities, Housing, and raising children to name a few. Now let’s talk more about these issues.

·         Language Barrier

We all know how hard it can be to learn a new language so to come from other places where the English language will most likely be needed it then of course becomes a problem for the people that want to come over to the U.S. since English would be the most common language that the people would be speaking. The country from which a person resides may not need the use of the English language since most likely most if not every person that would reside in the country would not be speaking English therefore English education may be lacking or not have any sort of English education. The lack of English for undocumented immigrants puts a big stop on most of the things that could be achieved if immigrants knew the language and because of the lack of English certain things that could be achieved is in this case lost. Being able to understand and speak English is important since knowing and understanding the language can help undocumented immigrants be able to gain more opportunities when getting a job since a job is important for everyone, without a job people wouldn’t be able to get and without money there would be no food, housing, or any other items that would be needed for everyday use. Knowing English can really make a difference with the types of jobs that you can get and by knowing and understanding the language can help get a job that pays better than others. Also, if they know English they can be of better help to their children when it come to the language or even with schoolwork. With all the issues that they already must go through with finding a job and providing family they already have a lot of stuff going on in their lives that most of the time they don’t have the time to study and learn the English language. Nowadays some undocumented immigrants know some English or at least understand what someone is saying when speaking English is saying. Now let’s move on and talk about the lack of employment options/opportunities

·         Lack of employment options/opportunities

For an undocumented immigrant that has just arrive to the U.S. finding a job is very crucial since obtaining a job will be the way you are able to get food as well as other necessities that are needed. Of course, finding a job for an immigrant is not all that easy. Many undocumented immigrants when looking for a job are met with prejudice because they are not born in the U.S., they are usually not hired for a job but there are cases where they are hired but do not get paid a lot or enough. Not only that but also many who hire immigrants do it for their own benefit. According to The Quinn Law Firm “Many work in low-paying or dangerous occupations, such as domestic work, construction, agriculture, and food service. These jobs often complement white-collar positions, but employers may take advantage of their undocumented status.” (2022). In these cases, undocumented workers would be forced to work longer periods of times but unlike others they may not be paid for the extra time they put in the work or would not even be paid minimum wage. If anything, the job that hires them may not even give them the benefits that workers should be getting. Undocumented workers have it very tough but they most likely can’t complain and can’t quit because the job is needed and not a lot of people would hire them and could also be threatened by other ways for example cutting down their wages even more and even saying that could call immigration authorities. As it is stated by Vickerstaff Law Office "Newcomers to America often face such barriers as difficulty speaking the language of their employers and co-workers, and not understanding employment laws that protect employees. They may also be afraid that they will be disciplined if they stand up for their rights. As a result, many employers take advantage of immigrants, particularly those who are not in the country legally. Often, immigrants do not receive minimum wage or are denied payment for working overtime. Their employers may deny them breaks for meals or going to the restroom. They might not be given training or safety equipment that can make their jobs safer". Now let’s move on and talk about housing.

·         Housing

For an undocumented immigrant and their family housing just like everything else is a big deal. For a person that is undocumented can’t really get and find a home immediately because they don’t have the money yet to rent let alone buy a house because they may not have a job yet to get said money and also because the price of renting a house is not exactly cheap. For a person coming to the U.S., they may have family already in the U.S. and are able to live with them for the time being while they find a job and pay rent for living with family to pay them back for letting them stay in their home until they have enough to rent a place of their own. But of course, not everyone has family already living in the U.S. for
others they may have to rent a house with many other undocumented immigrants to be able to pay for the rent of a house or apartment but not everyone would be willing to rent out a house or apartment to immigrants. According to youthvoices.live “Housing for immigrants is hard because people talk unacceptable about Immigrants and landlords are making an impediment so they don’t rent to immigrants. That is something that happens a lot because people talk awful about Immigrants.” (Dec 1, 2019).

·         Raising children

For immigrant parents to have to raise children would be considered difficult. With all the problems that they already must go through and with not being so financially stable it could prove to be a challenge for them. If they don’t make that much money but have enough to buy their necessities, then
they should be able to live just fine by only buying what is necessary. With a child there are many things that are needed for them to be taken care of like food and toys for the child and other forms of entertainment for them would be needed and a lot more money is used so that at least everyone has enough to eat, and the child has toys to play with and clothing to wear. In these cases, most immigrant parents give up on their own dreams and start working extra hard for their child to have everything they need. The parents start working not for their own future but for their child’s future so that they can accomplish their own hopes and dreams and for them to have a future where they themselves don’t have to struggle to get by. Of course with people disliking immigrants and wanting them to go back to their country whether it be willingly or by force the children also have that to worry about since if for example ICE were to go to someone's and a family member of there's away and the child or anyone in the household saw this they would of course be distraught by the situation that just occurred and could leave them them scared and worried and could lead to a child being mentally scarred. According to the American Immigration Council

• A 2020 study found that the detention or deportation of a family member was associated with significantly higher rates of suicidal thought, alcohol use, and aggression among Latino adolescents in Atlanta, Georgia.
• A 2020 study examined the impact on children, families, and communities of worksite raids in Ohio, Texas, and Mississippi. The study found that many of the children of workers swept up in the raids exhibited signs of PTSD, including difficulty sleeping, frequent crying, and heightened fear. 
• Even before birth, immigration enforcement can put a child’s health at risk. The 2008 worksite raid in Postville, Iowa (the largest single-site immigration raid in U.S. history) was tied to premature and underweight births—complications that put babies at risk for infant death or long-term health problems. Researchers found that babies born to Latina mothers in Iowa within 37 weeks of the raid were 24 percent more likely to be underweight compared to births over the same amount of time one year earlier. This increased risk was not evident in babies born to non-Latina white mothers in Iowa.

These types of situations can to a family struggling because of fear and that fear has now instantly taken over their lives. Because a family ends up struggling in these situations they know that they could not go back to being the same as before.

I decided to talk about this issue because my family, my friend’s families, and other relatives of mine have struggled with these sorts of issues that I have mentioned. My family comes from Mexico and came over to Los Angeles, I have talked to them and asked them about the struggles that they faced when arriving to the U.S. and have also asked my friends whose families where in the same situation. They told me that some of their families have struggled with these similar issues. I was told by my uncle that even now most people that come to the U.S. still struggle with these issues. I was told that from the start when my family first arrived to California they were working to have enough money for themselves but mainly for me so that I could get a good education and that hopefully in the future I could get a job that I like and don’t have to struggle with work like they have and I want to show them that all the hardships that they had to go through was not for nothing and I feel like that would be the same for many children of immigrant parents.

Work Cited

American Immigration Council. “U.S. Citizen Children Impacted by Immigration Enforcement.” American Immigration Council, 24 June 2021, https://www.americanimmigrationcouncil.org/research/us-citizen-children-impacted-immigration-enforcement.

“Author Victor, Victor, and Victor. “Why Is Hard for Immigrants to Find Housing?” Youth Voices Site Wide Activity RSS, 18 Feb. 2020, https://www.youthvoices.live/why-is-hard-for-immigrants-to-find-housing/.

How Are Undocumented Immigrants Often Treated Unfairly at Work?: John Vickerstaff: Louisville.” Vickerstaff Law Office, PSC, https://www.vickerstafflaw.com/articles/how-are-undocumented-immigrants-often-treated-unfairly-at-work/.

The Quinn Law Firm. “How Serious Are Employment Challenges for Immigrants?” The Quinn Law Firm, https://www.thequinnlawfirm.com/articles/how-serious-are-employment-challenges-for-immigrants/.

Vickerstaff Law Office. “How Are Undocumented Immigrants Often Treated Unfairly at Work?: John Vickerstaff: Louisville.” Vickerstaff Law Office, PSC, https://www.vickerstafflaw.com/articles/how-are-undocumented-immigrants-often-treated-unfairly-at-work/.

Decriminalize Sex Workers

What is a sex worker?

A sex worker is an individual who receives money or good in exchange for consensual sexual activities or erotic performances, either regularly or occasionally. In other words, most people use the word prostitute or prostitution; a person who engages in sexual activities with someone to get a payment. 

The Word Decriminalization 

Decriminalization refers to the action or procedure of suppressing something as illegal or as a criminal offense.

The reduction of illegal activities for "marketing" (either buying or selling) sexual deception, especially organized as prostitution.

Prostitution is extraordinarily dangerous for the women (mostly) involved because it leads to sex/human trafficking, sexual assault, physical abuse, forcibly drug addiction, and rarely death or for the individual (sex worker) to have post-traumatic stress disorder.

Why Is It Important To Address This Problem?

• Employees” have been robbed, beaten, and/or raped

• Missing women/children/men

• Humans have been murdered due to being a prostitute or sex trafficked

• Minors are forced child labor

• Separate victims from their family members and members

• Threatening to shame victims by revealing their businesses/circumstances to their family

• Transmitted diseases

  Young adolescents and children are being exposed to inappropriate women in the street. Prostitution is seen as a modern-day slavery. Which plenty of the victims are either abused or raped. Relating to sex/human trafficking, minors are being forced to children labor or sexually abuse. This is important because it creates normalizing violence and prostitutes are being objectified.

  
  

  Why Prostitution Should Become Illegal?

  Countries with legalized prostitution are associated with higher human trafficking inflows than countries where prostitution is prohibited. The scale effect of legalizing prostitution, i.e. expansion of the market, outweighs the substitution effect, where legal sex workers are favored over illegal workers. On average, countries with legalized prostitution report a greater incidence of human trafficking inflows (Harvard Law School 2014). 

  
  

  This illustrates that if the U.S. and other countries were to legalize prostitution it will lead to an enlargement of marketing prostitution along with increasing the cases of human and/or sex trafficking. Prostitution will become a sex/human trafficking movement causing an individual to be endangered. Majority are being forced to do these sexual activities with either men or females. These individuals are being sold to others and losing their dignity, which affects their psychological trauma, physical health, and mental health tribulations, such as depression and suicide. 

  
  

  Do Sex Workers Have A High Chance Of Going Through Sex Assault? 

  There are no comprehensive, up-to-date statistics on how many sex workers in the U.S. have experienced sexual violence. One systematic review of research found that globally, sex workers have a 45% to 75% chance of experiencing sexual violence on the job (Samantha Cooney 2018).  There’s a high percentage of sex workers being sexually assaulted due to “their job.” In other words, prostitutes get sexually assaulted because the consumer(s) believe it’s okay for them to be treated this way due to them selling their “bodies or themselves.” This doesn’t justify for sex workers to be treated this way, although sex workers' “job” is to please the buyer.

  This is important because this reason either way doesn’t justify a sex worker being sexually assaulted. It is important to understand although the sex worker's profession is to please the consumer, the perpetrator is the one to take the fault. The sex worker isn’t responsible for the sexual violence happening, the perpetrator (consumer) should understand if the sex worker isn’t comfortable with doing any action they’re being told or a simple no is enough. Actions like this can further cause rape, physical harm, psychological trauma, or even for the sex worker to die. 

  
  

  Prostitution Makes An Individual Prone to Physical Abuse

  As adults in prostitution, 82% had been physically assaulted; 83% had been threatened with a weapon; 68% had been raped while working as prostitutes (Farley M. and Barkan H. 1998).  The quote illustrates a sufficient amount of sex workers have either been physically abused or abused with weapons, including the amount of sex workers who’ve been raped. Prostitution is violent! That is to say, sex workers are prone to physical abuse, clearly, violence is brutality and normally for women who are sex workers. They often go through rape, verbal abuse, physical abuse, harassment, and thrash or torture.

  
  

  Substance Abuse & Prostitution 

  It is not clear whether substance abuse is one of the factors that pushed these women into prostitution (as noted earlier, 55% of the subjects reported being addicted prior to their prostitution involvement) or whether it was prostitution that caused their drug involvement (30% became addicted following and 15% concurrently with their prostitution involvement) (Silbert M. H., Pines A. M., Lynch T 1982).  Most sex workers have been addicted to using drugs while “working” after, or before. They may use drugs to either cope with their lifestyle, deal with physical and emotional stress, improve their experience with clients (consumers), and increase their confidence and energy level. Which have a negative consequence on the sex worker because it can lead to mental and physical health diminishing.

  
  

  Why Do People Murder Prostitutes?

  The main reason prostitutes get killed is probably because they are uniquely vulnerable, which means that their killers may have a better chance of escaping justice…They’re like runaways and street people, in the sense that nobody will miss them if they disappear. These are marginalized people who tend to steer clear of the police and their disappearance is therefore unlikely to be reported (Health24 2015).  The quote is trying to say that sex workers get killed because the individual is likely to be on the street often and nobody will notice if they’re missing or has disappeared. This is important because it’s a very serious issue for someone to be murdered and not be noticed. That is to say, prostitution should be prohibited because sex workers are dying to get paid to “sell themselves.” The outcome of this is tragic and devastating to know that there are individuals missing due to giving someone contentment and getting profit, to end up dead.

  
  

  Transmitted Diseases Are More Rapidly Spread By “Sex Money”

  Persons who exchange sex are at increased risk of getting or transmitting HIV and other sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) because they are more likely to engage in risky sexual behaviors (e.g., sex without a condom, sex with multiple partners) and substance use (CDC 2022). 

  
  

  People who are involved with prostitution or prostitutes can get a sexually transmitted disease if they both don’t use protection. HIV and STD are very dangerous, STD is a serious illness that can be treated with antibiotics, unlike HIV which can't be treated or cured and can cause death if the illness is too serious or impacted by the individual. It is transmitted through sexual orientation and can spread if one or another has it. That is to say, prostitution should be illegal. 

  

  
  

  What Could Be Done To Solve This Problem? 

  I. Focus on aressting and prosecuting the purchasers of commercial sex II. Report @National Human Trafficking Hotline (1-888-373-7888), if you see something III. Seen prostitutes out in the street can get a ticket. Also, customers IV. Illegalize prostitution in U.S. V. Sex/Human Trafficking awaerness VI. Educate communities VII. An anti-trafficking organization & Fundraiser VIII. Suspend driver’s license of customers IX. Petition of illegaling prostitutes X. Seen prostitutes in the street can get a ticket, including customers

  
  

  Neighborhoods are being exposed to too many prostitutes out on the street. There are half-naked women on the street doing sexual activities with people for money. These few solutions can prevent sellers from getting away from the crime. Also, will prevent victims from getting taken away or going through rough trauma. In addition, it’ll prevent sexual diseases from spreading. Furthermore, most importantly children are growing up and witnessing in their neighborhood women being “sold” out to the community for having a sexual orientation with others and making these innocent children believe it’s okay to do this kind of action. Therefore, we should decriminalize sex workers. 

  References: 

  Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (March 16, 2022). Sex Workers.

  https://www.cdc.gov/hiv/group/sexworkers.html  

  Cooney, Samantha. (February 13, 2018). Sex Workers Say They're Being Left Out of the

  #MeToo Movement https://time.com/5104951/sex-workers-me-too-movement/

  Harvard Law and International Development Society. (September 09, 2014). Does Legalized

  Prostitution Increase Human Trafficking?

  https://orgs.law.harvard.edu/lids/2014/06/12/does-legalized-prostitution-increase-human-trafficking/

  Health24. (n.d.). Why Men Murder Prostitutes

  https://www.news24.com/health24/columnists/why-men-murder-prostitutes-20150825

  Libaires. (March 25, 2016). 9.4 Prostitution- Social Problems.

  https://open.lib.umn.edu/socialproblems/chapter/9-4-prostitution/

  National Injustices of Justices. (August 31, 2016). Initatives to Reduce for Prostitution and Sex

  Trafficking in the U.S.

  https://nij.ojp.gov/topics/articles/initiatives-reduce-demand-prostitution-and-sex-trafficking-us

  United States Department of States. (January 31, 2020). 20 Ways You Can Help Fight Human

  Trafficking in 2020.

  https://www.state.gov/20-ways-you-can-help-fight-human-trafficking/

  Women & Health. (n.d.). Prostitution, Violence, and Posttraumatic Stress Disorder.

  https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/9698636/

  Youth.gov. (n.d.). Human Trafficking: The Problem.

  https://youth.gov/youth-topics/trafficking-of-youth/the-problem