Lack of opportunity may be one of the most misunderstood aspects of human trafficking because from the outside, it may appear that the victim is choosing a lifestyle in the sex trade.
“If they didn’t want to be in the sex industry, they could just do something else!” is a common assumption.
The UN Office on Drugs and Crime’s 2020 Global Trafficking in Persons Report indicates that 51 percent of world-wide trafficking cases are driven by the pre-existing factor of economic need. Traffickers identify the lack of resources in income and employment in other individuals and manipulate that need for their own financial gain.
Opportunity is a “set of circumstances that makes it possible to do something.”
This “set of circumstances” may not be readily available to everyone. Consider how possible it would be to find employment without education/training to qualify for work, without connections or a social safety net to support you through transitions and provide you with advantageous introductions, with no reliable transportation to get you to your job, or even health so you can keep and maintain employment. It's easy to take “opportunity” for granted if one has never had to struggle with having those advantageous circumstances that are needed to allow for choice.
It is at this crossroads of “survival” and “lack of options” that individuals often find themselves victimized through the sex trade.
Consider the story of one girl who received care and support from Beginnings Foundation in Thailand. Her parents were separated and her mother was too sick to fully provide for the family. She was sent to Bangkok to get a job and ended up working in the sex industry, the only job that would pay what she needed. “I was just 17 and felt uncomfortable working there and did not at all like it. I wished there was something else I could do besides having to ‘go with men,’ but I finished only grade 9.” This is a common narrative for those without resources, educational opportunity and options.
This happens here in the United States as well. Natasha, a trafficking survivor in Virginia, was impacted by poverty, loss of a parent at an early age, and familial abuse. She and a friend needed work and was presented with an “opportunity” for a great job in New York City so they left Virginia to start a new life. However, when they arrived in New York, they were beaten, raped, and then forced to work as escorts and serve up to 100 clients a night. Natasha willingly went to New York for a job, but once there, was unable to escape for two years because she was controlled by a trafficker who used force, fraud, and coercion to maintain control over her movements. Oftentimes, like Natasha, individuals who are in high risk situations but have limited resources and no safety nets are more vulnerable to offers that appear to meet their needs and provide for their families but instead, are exploitative situations.
Ultimately, very few people actually “choose” a life of providing sex to multiple people each day.
Opportunities provide options and options allow for choice. If one is in a situation that is void of options in order to survive and stay alive, choice is never a factor. Freedom 4/24 aims to educate our communities about this aspect of trafficking so that a greater understanding and compassion can be applied to situations where it appears that victims are choosing to engage in a life of prostitution.