The Trauma Economy: The Demand For Sex Trafficking And The Fight To End It

January is national human trafficking awareness month. With the media’s portrayal of human trafficking moving from an international focus to recognizing the issue in the U.S., numerous organizations are stepping up to the plate to do something about it. Many are beginning to become aware of the issue of sex trafficking, where those often labeled as “prostitutes” are not the offenders but victims of a crime centered on coercion and control. With the average age of entry reportedly being 12 to14 years old, it is apparent that this issue is worthy of urgent response and intervention.
Human trafficking is both a national issue and an economic issue. In any industry, supply and demand are the driving forces. In human trafficking, the demand to purchase sex lies in the hearts and minds of buyers, or “Johns.” Put simply, without demand there would be no supply – there would be no customers for traffickers, thus no need to victimize men, women and children.
Profiting From Trauma
In his book Pimpology: 48 Laws of the Game, street pimp “Pimpin’ Ken” discusses how pimps leverage the art of psychological persuasion and manipulation to control women. With chapters given degrading titles such as “A Ho Without Instruction Is Headed For Self-Destruction” and “Prey on the Weak,” it’s apparent that the life of prostitution controlled by a pimp is far from its often glamorous portrayal in pop culture. Pimps are traffickers, and many have admitted to using psychologist Abraham Maslow’s foundational principles of the hierarchy of needs to coerce women and girls into a life of control and trafficking. Sex trafficking is not just a crime centered on physical and sexual abuse – it is clearly marked by psychological abuse and manipulation.
A 2014 report by the Urban Institute reported the sex trafficking economy generated over $39 million in Denver, Colorado, and over $290 million in Atlanta, Georgia. Though the figures vary from state to state, it is apparent that the economy sustained through sexually and psychologically traumatizing victims is a multibillion-dollar industry, an estimated $28 billion globally.
This economy is costing victims their sense of worth and is severely impacting mental health through trauma. According to the U.S. Department of State, because traffickers objectify victims and use coercive tactics, victims often have obscured views of power, visibility and dignity. Emotional and physical imprisonment, along with the multitude of sexual abuse and exploitative acts endured, can lead to severe emotional and mental wounds which attribute to high levels of trauma and other mental and mood disorders