Poverty and the Global Sex Trade Essay

As the global economy continues to slide downhill, the global poverty case worsens. Major businesses are forced to shut down, causing more and more people to lose their jobs everyday. People are willing to do anything just to earn money in order for them to put food on their plates. Because of this, many are forced to do things they don’t even want to do. This is the case of the global sex trade. Fueled by the worsening global poverty, more and more people resort to prostitution in order to survive. The culprit: poverty Before we discuss the growing problem of global sex trade, we should focus first on its main cause: poverty. In the 2005 World Bank report on poverty, it is stated that almost half of the world’s total population or more than 3 billion people live on less than two and a half dollars a day (Shah, 2009). Also, around 80% of all humanity lives on less than ten dollars every day (Shah, 2009). With that established, we can say that majority of the people are suffering from poverty, pushing us to doing whatever we can to earn money for our survival. The facts mentioned above were taken even before the global economic crisis that we’re experiencing now. So if we consider it as another factor, it is easy to assume that the global poverty problem even worsened. From what I’ve read, I can say that everyone is affected by the global poverty problem. Even the rich people are shutting down their businesses. But still the ones more affected by the worsening case of poverty are the poor people. They are poor to begin with, so as the poverty problem worsens, their situation also worsens. They’re poor even when they have a job, so when they get fired or laid off because of the global economic crisis, then they’ll be the ones who will be forced to do anything just to earn money. They’re more likely to commit crimes or be involved in prostitution not because they wanted to, but because they have no other choice. The crime: global sex trade We have now established that poverty could push people into doing things they don’t want to do. We now focus on the specific problem of sex trade or sex trafficking. According to Sarah M. Gonzales, as spokesperson of Captive Daughters Organization, sex trade acts â€Å"as the delivery system for prostitution† and that it involves a lot of young, poor women and even under aged girls turning to sex trade and prostitution as that they would be able to provide for themselves and their families because they’re left with no other choice (Gonzales, 2008). What most of us don’t know is that usually, sex trade is a big business, wherein some people are exploiting others for their own profit. It is a big business, coming in second to drug and gun trafficking worldwide. According to the United States government, the profit that criminals make out of the sex trade business can reach up to $9. 5 billion annually. There are efforts to curb this problem, including the arrest of the people behind major sex trade business. But as the poverty problem worsens, more and more people resort to this business despite its illegal, exploitative nature. The trade has continued to grow worldwide, as we continue to suffer more with poverty. In order to address this problem, two aspects should be addressed properly. One is capturing the criminals who orchestrate the sex trade, and the other one is addressing poverty, which is the main reason why sex trafficking continues to proliferate. The victim: the youth For me, I am against sex trade, and with the worsening of its global condition, I firmly believe that we should give our best efforts to solve this problem. In order to further understand why we need to give more focus on this problem, we have to look at the ones who are directly affected by these problems. It isn’t really the middle-aged working class who suffer more from this problem. It’s the youth who bears this burden in their shoulders. At times of need, these young men and women are compelled to risk their bodies and their lives just to earn money to support their family. They’re the ones exploited; the ones who are supposed to be our future would end up getting exploited and abused all because of poverty. This exploitation of the youth in sex trade is not confined to one part of the world only. It affects every corner of the globe, rich and poor countries alike. As long as poverty exists, the youth will continue to be exploited and be a global commodity in the sex trade. According to Stephan Faris, a WEnews correspondent, a foreign prostitute in Italy could make â€Å"far more than Nigeria’s average income of less than a dollar a day† and this could be a very encouraging deal for a girl’s family to send their daughter into sex trafficking (Faris, 2002). When sex trafficking became popular, Nigerian girls were seen as good for making money, though before they were viewed as something dispensable (Faris, 2002). They found their worth only as a source of income for them, so the families are really open to sending their daughters to sex traffickers, not minding where they’re sent. It is a pretty harsh environment for these young women, because their only chance to survive is to sell themselves for sex, and in foreign soil, they have no one else to rely on except themselves. At a very young age, they have to experience such things already, all because of poverty. The adverse effects of Global Sex Trade Another reason why I believe that we should give more attention to worsening case of global sex trade is its adverse effects. These outcomes affect not only those directly involved with the sex trade, but also other people in our society. Probably the most evident effect is the increasing rate of HIV/AIDS prevalence. In a United Nations report made available through the U. N. Wire, it is said that â€Å"the influx of sex workers has sparked fears about the spread of AIDS† in various places including refugee camps, communities, and a lot more (Nuhu, 1999). The situation is worsened because some people, including government officials, lack a sense of commitment to address this problem, and the people living in the community have very limited understand about these diseases. It is also said that with the worsening case of poverty, those who are likely to be affected by HIV/AIDS are the young children who are trying to make a living out of prostitution. Solving the problem For me, I can see this as a challenge to us all. Of course, we have to consider ourselves first before we deal with others, especially in this time of need. But still, there are some things that we can do to help solve this problem. One is through information. We can contribute to the solution by spreading what we know, about the causes, the victims, and the effects of this problem. The people who are able to give or lend a hand should do so, especially if they have some extra money or help that they can spare. Even though we are dealing with the poverty problem ourselves, we could still do something to stop another problem like sex trade from worsening. It does not only protect the young people who engage in the trade, but it also protects the whole community, including us. References: Faris, S. (2002). Italy’s Sex Trade Pulls Teens Pushed by Poverty. Retrieved April 3, 2009, from http://www. womensenews. org/article. cfm/dyn/aid/1005/context/archive Gonzales, S. M. (2008). Poverty & Sex Trafficking. Retrieved April 3, 2009, from http://www. captivedaughters. org/gatesfoundation. htm Nuhu, A. (1999). Poverty Fuels Commercial Sex Trade, HIV/AIDS. Retrieved April 3, 2009, from http://www. unwire. org/unwire/19990618/3267_story. asp Shah, A. (2009). Poverty Facts and Stats. Retrieved April 3, 2009, from http://www. globalissues. org/article/26/poverty-facts-and-stats