Asian Sex Slaves: a Culture of Servitude and Deception

Asian Sex Slaves: A Culture of Servitude and Deception

WGS 110 – Professor Richards

As with any other business, slavery has progressed and changed with the times. It has gone from commonly practiced and legally protected and regulated to a taboo topic. A topic, which is rightly so, now commonly associated with black markets, drug dealers, and abduction. The laws regarding human trafficking have also changed accordingly. The shift of concern from local or nation-specific laws legalizing the practice, to a global force rallied against human trafficking and other forms of slave labor. Another sign of progress is the expansion of what is deemed as slavery or human trafficking. The modern term encompasses all forms of slave labor, forced prostitution, and manual labor being the two such forms that will be of primary focus in this paper (UNODC). Globalization is both the cause of the spread of human trafficking and also the means by which it will be stopped. Human trafficking is a business that has managed to survive many hundreds of years, different nations, races, genders, and many different attempts by governments to limit or eradicate it. However, as with all businesses, human trafficking is subject to the whims of supply and demand. And as long as there is a demand for cheap or free labor of any type, human trafficking will supply the typically unwilling or deceived victims (Di Andrea).

The economic gain, even as minimal as it may be in our minds, is very real. Recent research has shown that the sex slave industry produces over $9 billion annually. This is certainly enough for millions of families in Asia to sell off their children (primarily young daughters who are unable to carry on the family name) into both forced manual and sexual labor (Ronchetti). The “family before yourself” mentality of Asian culture has undoubtedly played a role in this trend. Family members will decide that one child should be sold in order to pay for different needs as basic as...