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Nearly every city has its own version. In this place, women and girls stand saucily on darkened streets or wait silently in one-room hovels. Their product is their body, and there is no shortage of takers.
Make no mistake, the sex industry is worldwide big business. The trade of humans ranks as the third-largest criminal enterprise in the world, coming in behind only drugs and weapons. (U.S. Department of State) While statistics on the grim business are difficult to collect and verify, it is safe to say that human trafficking touches every corner of the globe.
The U.S. State Department believes that somewhere between 600,000 to 800,000 people are trafficked across international borders every year. In 2007, British law enforcement expert Josh Dillon told the United Arab Emirates' Gulf News that 75% of international human trafficking cases involve women who are ultimately forced into the sex trade. (Click here for the article.) Again, the U.S. Department of State estimates that up to 50% of the trafficked are minors under the age of 18. And UNICEF puts the number of children in the commercial sex trade at nearly two million.
I've seen the fruits of this rotten seed personally, as I lived in the midst of a large city in southwestern China for two years. There, women light their "massage parlors" or "hair salons" with fluorescent pink lights to let customers know what is really on sale. A Chinese friend, a university student from a small town in rural Sichuan, spoke of the girls from his high school class. Most of them had left the area, pushed by their parents to move to prosperous southeastern China, where a Sichuan mistress is a prestige symbol for wealthy businessmen. The families of his former classmates, my friend said, had new homes: paid for by their daughters' labors.
This tale is told the world over. But there is hope. As Jency and Nathan wrote during their time in India, we are working with some of the people fighting this trade on the front lines. We've written about them before, but we mean it--check out Sari Bari and Freeset to learn more about how something as simple as a bag is helping to free women from bondage.
Make no mistake, the sex industry is worldwide big business. The trade of humans ranks as the third-largest criminal enterprise in the world, coming in behind only drugs and weapons. (U.S. Department of State) While statistics on the grim business are difficult to collect and verify, it is safe to say that human trafficking touches every corner of the globe.
The U.S. State Department believes that somewhere between 600,000 to 800,000 people are trafficked across international borders every year. In 2007, British law enforcement expert Josh Dillon told the United Arab Emirates' Gulf News that 75% of international human trafficking cases involve women who are ultimately forced into the sex trade. (Click here for the article.) Again, the U.S. Department of State estimates that up to 50% of the trafficked are minors under the age of 18. And UNICEF puts the number of children in the commercial sex trade at nearly two million.
I've seen the fruits of this rotten seed personally, as I lived in the midst of a large city in southwestern China for two years. There, women light their "massage parlors" or "hair salons" with fluorescent pink lights to let customers know what is really on sale. A Chinese friend, a university student from a small town in rural Sichuan, spoke of the girls from his high school class. Most of them had left the area, pushed by their parents to move to prosperous southeastern China, where a Sichuan mistress is a prestige symbol for wealthy businessmen. The families of his former classmates, my friend said, had new homes: paid for by their daughters' labors.
This tale is told the world over. But there is hope. As Jency and Nathan wrote during their time in India, we are working with some of the people fighting this trade on the front lines. We've written about them before, but we mean it--check out Sari Bari and Freeset to learn more about how something as simple as a bag is helping to free women from bondage.
Here's a little bit about Freeeset (taken from their website) to whet your appetite:
Our Neighborhood
Freeset is located in Sonagacchi, the largest, most infamous sex district in Kolkata, India. Within a few square miles more than 10,000 women “stand in line” selling their bodies to thousands of men who visit daily. Many are trafficked from Bangladesh, Nepal and rural India. For others poverty has left them without options. The cries of their hungry children drive them to sell their bodies.
Freeset is located in Sonagacchi, the largest, most infamous sex district in Kolkata, India. Within a few square miles more than 10,000 women “stand in line” selling their bodies to thousands of men who visit daily. Many are trafficked from Bangladesh, Nepal and rural India. For others poverty has left them without options. The cries of their hungry children drive them to sell their bodies.
At thirteen, Sonali* was stolen from her village, dragged to the back streets of Sonagacchi and sold into prostitution. Her first customer drugged and raped her unconscious body.
Bashanti*, a daughter of poverty-stricken parents, was sold into the sex trade by her mother, sacrificed so the rest of the family could eat.
In India, prostitution is big business and thrives on exploitation and slavery, robbing the poor of dignity and innocence.
* names changed
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