How is Sex Trafficking perceived as a Criminal Justice Issue in the United States?

 

Literature Review

According to the research conducted by Le et al. (2018), the United States government perceives sex trafficking as a serious criminal justice issue that has caused civil unrest issues ever since the advent of human civilization and the attainment of modernity. Hence, sex trafficking is conceptualized as a criminal activity that requires substantive legal attention not only by the American judicial community but also the world at large. Hence, the initiative of battling with the criminal issue is to make it a capital offense and prosecute the offenders to the full extent of the law. The victims of sex trafficking are always sexually and physically abused by the sex trafficking organizations, and this is deeply rooted in the sense of justification that they are dominated and controlled without their consent (Middleton et al., 2018). Sex trafficking in the United States affects both American citizens and immigrants, and the solution to the criminal issue of sex trafficking requires a closure look by the American government to find modalities and approaches of mitigating the phenomenon of sex trafficking. The core underlying issue that results in the incidences of sex trafficking is poverty and the sense of belief that living in American society provides an individual economic advantage of living the American Dream.

Puerto (2020) observes in his article that the immigrants are enticed and lured by the sex trafficking offenders to offer them lucrative job opportunities, and the moment they land in the American society, their travel documents are taken, and they are forced to take part of prostitution. Also, the young American girls are being swayed into the system of sex trafficking through the ideological orientation of finding opportunities to sustain their lifestyle. As a result, the United States government has always perceived the sense of perception to provide resources and medical assistance to the survivors of sex trafficking as shows of good faith to enable them to get their lives together. The victims of sex trafficking have a history of experiencing traumatizing incidents that are characterized by symptoms of anxiety disorders (Miller-Perrin & Wurtele, 2017). Hence, the establishment of medical and mental healthcare facilities for the survivors of sex trafficking and the popularization of the awareness of the existence of forced prostitution are considered as potential solutions to meeting the challenge that women and young girls faced in the present age.

Based on the information presented by Sobel (2016), the offenders of sex trafficking in the United States enforce the victims in both physical and sexual abuse, and this is founded on the reasoning that whatever they were promised does not always seem to be embraced by the people who lure them by facilitating their travels in America. The United Nations Convention considers the act of organizing a transfer of women and young girls into the United States to take part in prostitution as a criminal offense. Hence, the initiative of failing to provide decent jobs, economic opportunities, and appropriate shelter is perceived as an act of fraud and failing to embrace the sentimental value regarding the civil rights of humanity, particularly women and young girls living in the United States (Austin & Farrell, 2017). The failure and the difficulty in classifying the victims of sex trafficking as potential criminals involved in the business of sex trafficking denote why the law enforcement officers find it a challenge to recruit the survivors of the sex trafficking in the investigation process. Survivors of sex trafficking may find difficulty in helping the United States law enforcement department based on the obligation to meet their basic needs and residents of American society. Besides, the sense of justification based on the fear of being deported back to their home country and the possibility of being humiliated in public makes it very challenging for law enforcement officers to identify the perpetrators of sex trafficking as an organized criminal activity.

The United States judicial community perceives sex trafficking as a criminal issue that compromises public safety. In this context, the victims of sex trafficking are always engaged in forced labor and sexual abuse and make them feel frustrated. Hence, the sense of perception that the American young girls and women are living in fear through the existence of the outlawed groups, such as sex traffickers, denotes the reasoning why the issue of commercializing sex needs through enticing and coercing needs to be considered as a serious criminal justice issue that affects health and the security of the citizenry (Lorenz, 2017). The initiative of understanding sex trafficking in the United States as a criminal activity needs to focus on the interests of and aspirations of the victims. For instance, taking

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