US, Sweden Join Forces to Protect Victims from Human Trafficking

by Jim Kouri, CPP The United States and Sweden are teaming up to fight the trafficking of women and girls for sexual exploitation. In a joint effort, the countries are funding the Prevention Project to support frontline non-governmental organizations to combat human trafficking and prostitution in 12 European countries.  The Prevention Project will address the demand for sex trafficking victims, as well as the connection between human trafficking and prostitution as a fundamental part of democracy and human rights. The United States and Sweden are contributing approximately $330,000 each over two years to the project, which will operate in Bulgaria, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Kosovo, Latvia, Lithuania, Moldova, Poland, Russia, Serbia and Montenegro.  Ambassador John R. Miller, director of the State Department’s Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons, called the partnership an important action to reduce the demand for human trafficking. “The US and Sweden share common ground in fighting sex trafficking and addressing violence against [these victims], the demand for sexual exploitation, and the links between prostitution and human trafficking,” Miller said.  “By going after buyers, we can dry up the market for prostitution and the demand for sex trafficking while protecting victims.” The United States opposes legalized or normalized prostitution because it is inherently harmful and dehumanizing and fuels the growth of human trafficking.  Sweden has criminalized the buying of sexual services as an important tool in stamping out sex trafficking and gender inequality.  The United States Government estimates that nearly 70 percent of all victims trafficked across borders are used for commercial sexual exploitation, and women and girls constitute 80 percent of all trafficking victims. Even men are now sexually exploited in this de facto slave trade. US Policy on Sexual Exploitation and Trafficking The US Government adopted a strong position against legalized prostitution in a December 2002 National Security Presidential Directive based on evidence that prostitution is inherently harmful and dehumanizing, and fuels trafficking in persons, a form of modern-day slavery. Prostitution and related activities—including pimping and patronizing or maintaining brothels—fuel the growth of modern-day slavery by providing a façade behind which traffickers for sexual exploitation operate. Where prostitution is legalized or tolerated, there is a greater demand for human trafficking victims and nearly always an increase in the number of women and children trafficked into commercial sex slavery. Of the estimated 600,000 to 800,000 people trafficked across international borders annually, 80 percent of victims are female, and up to 50 percent are minors. Men are not immune to this slave-trade, either. Hundreds of thousands of these people are used in prostitution each year. The vast majority of women in prostitution don’t want to be there. Few seek it out or choose it, and most are desperate to leave it. A 2003 study first published in the scientific Journal of Trauma Practice found that 89 percent of women in prostitution want to escape. And children are also trapped in prostitution -- despite the fact that international covenants and protocols impose upon state parties an obligation to criminalize the commercial sexual exploitation of children. Few activities are as brutal and damaging to people as prostitution. Field research in nine countries concluded that 60-75 percent of women in prostitution were raped, 70-95 percent were physically assaulted, and 68 percent met the criteria for post traumatic stress disorder in the same range as treatment-seeking combat veterans and victims of state-organized torture.   Beyond this shocking abuse, the public health implications of prostitution are devastating and include a myriad of serious and fatal diseases, including HIV/AIDS.A path-breaking, five-country academic study concluded that research on prostitution has overlooked "[t]he burden of physical injuries and illnesses that women in the sex industry sustain from the violence inflicted on them, or from their significantly higher rates of hepatitis B, higher risks of cervical cancer, fertility complications, and psychological trauma." State attempts to regulate prostitution by introducing medical check-ups or licenses don’t address the core problem: the routine abuse and violence that form the prostitution experience and brutally victimize those caught in its netherworld. Prostitution leaves women and children physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually devastated. Recovery takes years, even decades—often, the damage can never be undone. Legalization of prostitution expands the market for commercial sex, opening markets for criminal enterprises and creating a safe haven for criminals who traffic people into prostitution. Organized crime networks do not register with the government, do not pay taxes, and do not protect prostitutes. Legalization simply makes it easier for them to blend in with a purportedly regulated sex sector and makes it more difficult for prosecutors to identify and punish those who are trafficking people. The Swedish Government has found that much of the vast profit generated by the global prostitution industry goes into the pockets of human traffickers. The Swedish Government said, "International trafficking in human beings could not flourish but for the existence of local prostitution markets where men are willing and able to buy and sell women and children for sexual exploitation." To fight human trafficking and promote equality for women, Sweden has aggressively prosecuted customers, pimps, and brothel owners since 1999. As a result, two years after the new policy, there was a 50 percent decrease in women prostituting and a 75 percent decrease in men buying sex. Trafficking for the purposes of sexual exploitation decreased as well.   In contrast, where prostitution has been legalized or tolerated, there is an increase in the demand for sex slaves and the number of victimized foreign women -- many likely victims of human trafficking. Sources: US Department of State, Department of Homeland Security, National Security Institute, National Association of Chiefs of Police Jim Kouri, CPP is currently fifth vice-president of the National Association of Chiefs of Police. He's former chief at a New York City housing project in Washington Heights nicknamed "Crack City" by reporters covering the drug war in the 1980s. He's also served on the National Drug Task Force and trained police and security officers throughout the country. He writes for many police and crime magazines including Chief of Police, Police Times, The Narc Officer, Campus Law Enforcement Journal, and others. He's appeared as on-air commentator for over 100 TV and radio news and talk shows including Oprah, McLaughlin Report, CNN Headline News, MTV, Fox News, etc. His book Assume The Position is available at Amazon.Com, Booksamillion.com, and can be ordered at local bookstores.