Abstract
Existing narratives and collective discourse on the phenomenon of survival sex and sexual exploitation are pervaded by the notion of victimhood, helplessness, vulnerability, and lack of agency. Available statistics on the transgression provide only an approximation of the reality. This is in addition to the fact that the ontological constitution of these practices clearly depicts a scenario of exploitation, harm, and destruction of human dignity not accompanied by concerted effort in its prevention or combat. The multidimensional and dynamic perspective of victim's vulnerability indicates that survival sex and sexual exploitation is not merely a “distant history” taught in school but a geographically and sociologically far-flung subject matter portrayed by the media and the research community culminating into the failure to protect the vulnerable and safeguard their rights. This study, therefore, is an attempt to examine the thesis that neglect and negativity attributed to the victims of this misdemeanor must be recognized as a socio-political problem and subsequently addressed.
TopConceptual Clarifications
There is a great deal of overlap between the concept of sexual exploitation and a crowd of other categories of abuse. In earnest, the definition of sexual exploitation intersects with other concepts, such as sexual abuse, human trafficking, commercial sexual exploitation and sex trafficking (Mitchell et al., 2010).
Key Terms in this Chapter
Forced Child Labor: The term “forced child labor” describes forced labor schemes in which traffickers compel children to work. Traffickers often target children because they are more vulnerable. Although some children may legally engage in certain forms of work, forcing or coercing children to work remains illegal. Forms of slavery or slavery-like practices – including the sale of children, forced or compulsory child labor, and debt bondage and serfdom of children – continue to exist, despite legal prohibitions and widespread condemnation. Some indicators of forced labor of a child include situations in which the child appears to be in the custody of a non-family member and the child’s work financially benefits someone outside the child’s family; or the denial of food, rest, or schooling to a child who is working.
Domestic Servitude: “Domestic servitude” is a form of forced labor in which the trafficker requires a victim to perform work in a private residence. Such circumstances create unique vulnerabilities. Domestic workers are often isolated and may work alone in a house. Their employer often controls their access to food, transportation, and housing. What happens in a private residence is hidden from the world – including from law enforcement and labor inspectors – resulting in barriers to victim identification. Foreign domestic workers are particularly vulnerable to abuse due to language and cultural barriers, as well as a lack of community ties. Some perpetrators use these types of conditions as part of their coercive schemes to compel the labor of domestic workers with little risk of detection.
Debt Bondage: “Debt bondage” is focused on human trafficking crimes in which the trafficker’s primary means of coercion is debt manipulation. Traffickers target some individuals with an initial debt assumed willingly as a condition of future employment, while in certain countries traffickers tell individuals they “inherited” the debt from relatives. Traffickers can also manipulate debts after the economic relationship begins by withholding earnings or forcing the victim to assume debts for expenses like food, housing, or transportation. They can also manipulate debts a victim owes to other people. When traffickers use debts as a means to compel labor or commercial sex, they have committed a crime.
Sex Trafficking: Sex trafficking encompasses the range of activities involved when a trafficker uses force, fraud, or coercion to compel another person to engage in a commercial sex act or causes a child to engage in a commercial sex act. The crime of sex trafficking can also be understood through the “acts,” “means,” and “purpose” framework. All three elements are required to establish a sex trafficking crime except in the case of child sex trafficking where the means are irrelevant. Sex trafficking can take place in private homes, massage parlors, hotels, or brothels, among other locations, as well as on the internet.
Migration: Migration is where a person moves from one country to another. It can be by legal or illegal means, and it can be either voluntary (with the consent of the person migrating) or forced (without their consent), but usually it is voluntary. Displacement of persons and trafficking are examples of forced migration. A migrant is someone who leaves her/his community or country of origin to live, and possibly work and/or marry in another place. “Migrant” is an overarching term that covers many categories of migrants, including refugees, trafficked and undocumented persons and migrants who are in a smuggling situation.