Yanwen Wang

Sociology 01
12/14/15
Project 3: Final Paper
One of the biggest humanitarian issues facing the human race is human trafficking.
Human trafficking is considered a crime in the United States but is accepted in other regions in
the world, such as in Asia. Human traffic is a multilayered issue and many young people,
predominantly young girls and women are trafficked for money. Many of these young girls and
women are conned and illegal coerced into becoming modern day sex slaves to appease their
traffickers. Human trafficking can best be explained with the conflict paradigm.
The United States is known for having high rates of human trafficking, especially in
major cities; however, the problem affects industrialized and non-industrialized countries in the
world. Human trafficking is currently a major humanitarian issue because it affects over 14,500
to 17,500 people in the United States and 600,000 and 800,000 people worldwide (Hagen). The
United States and most industrialized nations identify two forms of human trafficking: sex
trafficking and labor trafficking. (NYS DCJS). Sex trafficking differs from labor trafficking due
to a person making a profit off the prostitution of a person. On the other hand, labor trafficking
entails that a person transports another person to perform some form of labor or service by illegal
methods. Many victims of human trafficking are either abducted at a young age, deceived into
performing sexual acts for other men or are forced to perform sexual acts so that they can repay
off some debts. Unfortunately, many young girls and boys are subjected to become trafficked
because of the economic conditions. Currently there are three economic reasons for people being

trafficked in the United States. First, human trafficking is very profitable so traffickers will do
anything to ensure that their girls do not leave them. Second, the restaurant industry does not pay
its workers well, forcing many women to subject themselves to human trafficking to make ends
meet. A third reason is that young girls and women are deceived into accepting lucrative offers
from human traffickers who pose as modeling agents.
One reason that human trafficking is so rampant in the world, is that it is extremely
profitable to the human traffickers or pimps. One of the major points of conflict theory is a battle
between groups of people over resources, which includes monetary resources. As Ashley
Crossman writes, According to conflict theory, inequality exists because those in control of a
disproportionate share of societys resources actively defend their advantages (Crossman).
Human traffickers are known for finding ways to intimidate young women into performing
sexual acts for monetary gain. This is shown by Leif Coorlim who wrote about a young womans
experience as a victim of human trafficking. The young woman tried to leave but was prevented
so by her trafficker who threatened her. Her trafficker didn't care. He made sure she knew
leaving was not an option. "He went into the other room, came back with a gun, and he was like:
'If you go somewhere, we'll see (Coorlim). Conflict theory is shown here because the human
trafficker is making it know that if the young woman named Sacharay leaves, then he will lose
his monetary advantages. Thus his only way to protect his resources is to ensure that they do not
leave so he uses force and intimidation to maintain his power over her.
A second reason that many women turn to sex trafficking is due to the inequality of pay
in the United States. Many women are single mothers and therefore have a harder time
supporting their children. The stress of trying to support their children is difficult to some and
many work multiple jobs; however, for many, this is still not enough to make ends meet. Women

who are subjected to the bad pay of working in restaurant and domestic jobs are target by human
traffickers who promise more pay than those legal jobs. The problem is further impacted by the
sexual harassment that is found in restaurants. The restaurant industry has the highest rates of
sexual harassment of any industry in the United States," says ROC United co-founder Saru
Jayaraman, who argues that this problem is compounded for immigrant workers and trafficked
workers with no rights on the job; in many cases, sexual harassment can lead to sexual assault
(Hagen). Many restaurant workers do not have any rights and are too fearful to speak up about
their harassment due to fear of losing their job so these restaurant owners and traffickers are able
to manipulate women easily.
A third reason that human trafficking is rampant in the United States is that many young
women are told that they can accept lucrative modeling contracts by human traffickers who pose
as modeling agents. However, many of these human traffickers lure women into traps and end up
kidnapping them so that they can be forced to perform illegal sexual acts for profit. This is
shown in the story of 19 year old Miya, a young women who was deceived into becoming a
victim of human trafficking. She was promised with jobs, money, clothing and modeling (ABC
News). However, she was later kidnapped and moved from area to area and eventually went
from her home in Phoenix to a motel in San Francisco where she was able to escape. The reason
she took up the offer from the human trafficker and his accomplice was because she wanted extra
money for college. The social inequality of Miyas story is staggering as she was working 14
hours a day between three jobs to save up money for school (ABC News). If Miya had more
economic opportunities to make money in a legal and safe way, then she would have never been
enticed by the opportunity to take up modeling.

The issue with human trafficking is that it predominantly affects people from low
socioeconomic backgrounds. The inequality in pay that is created by the capitalist nature of the
United States leads to people becoming desperate for money so they can support themselves and
their families. However, this desperation to make money sometimes leads to women becoming
victims of sex trafficking. The United States needs to increase pay for workers, end the tip based
minimum wage in restaurants and find ways to improve education across the nation to end the
horrors of human trafficking.

Works Cited
Coorlim, Leif. Sex trafficking: The new American slavery. Cnn.com. Jul 21, 2015. Turner
Media. Web. Dec 14, 2015. < http://www.cnn.com/2015/07/20/us/sex-trafficking/>
Crossman, Ashley. Conflict Theory. About.com. n.d. About. Web. Dec 14, 2015. <
http://sociology.about.com/od/Sociological-Theory/a/Conflict-Theory.htm>
Hagen, J. Jamie. 5 Things You Didnt Know About Human Trafficking. Rollingstone.com. Aug
19, 2014. Rolling Stone. Web. Dec 14, 2014. < http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/5things-you-didnt-know-about-human-trafficking-20140819>
NYS DCJS: Human Trafficking FAQs. ny.gov. n.d n.p. Web. Dec 14, 2015. <
http://www.criminaljustice.ny.gov/pio/humantrafficking/humantrafficking_faq.htm>
Teen Girls Stories of Sex Trafficking in U.S. Abcnews.com. N.D. ABC Media. Web. Dec 14,
2015. < http://abcnews.go.com/Primetime/story?id=1596778&page=1>