Caffie 1

Hailey Caffie
Professor Mary Hays
Rhetoric 105 Writing and Research
12 October 2015
SexTrafficking:ModernDaySlaveryInDisguise:ResearchProposal
ThetopicIamgoingtoresearchissextrafficking.Inordertomakemytopic
moreexigent,IhavedecidedtofocusmyresearchonSoutheastAsia.Iaminterestedin
thistopicbecausemymotherisfromthePhilippines,aSoutheastAsiancountry.Itis
hardtoimaginethatslaverystillexistsintheworld.WhenvisitingthePhilippines,I
couldhaveeasilybeenkidnappedandsoldforsexinbrothels.Iwilladmit,Idonotknow
muchaboutthistopic.However,IwatchedadocumentaryonViceNewsaboutsex
traffickinginBangladesh.Girlsasyoungas10yearsoldarekidnappedorsoldbytheir
familymembersatayoungagetothesexindustryandtrappedintoworkingtheirwhole
livestopayoffthedebtoffood,shelter,andmedicalexpenses(contraceptivesand
abortiveprocedures).ThistopicisimportantbecausenotmanypeoplehereinAmerica
knowtheharshdetailsoftheindustry.Myresearchquestioniswhyissextraffickingstill
prevalentinSoutheastAsia,despiteitbeingillegal?MyworkingthesisisAlthough
many global anti-sex trafficking laws exist, the sex trafficking industry still thrives in
poverty-stricken Southeast Asia due to legislation and corruption, poverty and cultural
constraints.
Tostartoffmyresearchplan,Iwilllookattherootcausesofwhythesex
traffickingindustryisbooming.Iwilllookatbooks,magazinesanddocumentarieson
SoutheasternAsiansexculture,personalbiographiesofsexworkersandtheirowners,
andthesextourismindustry.Iwillalsolookatscholarlyresearchstudiesthatexamine

Caffie 2
thecausesofsextrafficking.Icanlookonlineonthelibrarydatabaseforthesearticles
andbooks.Fortheresearchstudies,IcanalsolookonGoogleScholar.Icouldusethe
searchterms:processofsextrafficking,sextourism,causesofsextrafficking,and
poverty.
AchallengethatmyresearchcouldfaceisfindingtheamountofsourcesIneed
becausesextourismisstillatabooissuetotalkaboutinSoutheastAsia.Findingpersonal
biographieswillbeachallengebecauseretellingtheirstoriescouldbedifficulttothe
victims.Also,notmanyvictimsfindtheirwayoutoftheindustry.Icanovercomethese
challengesbylookingatmorescholarlyarticlesandseeingwhatsourcestheyusedas
references.AnotherchallengeImayfaceisnarrowingtheamountofcausestoafew.I
couldovercomethischallengebyusingmygutinstinctincombinationwithpublished
statisticstonarrowdownthecauses.

Caffie 3
Hailey Caffie
Professor Mary Hays
Rhetoric 105 Writing and Research
12 October 2015

Working Thesis: Although many global anti-sex trafficking laws exist, the sex
trafficking industry still thrives in poverty-stricken Southeast Asia because of corruption
in legislation and corruption, poverty, and cultural constraints.

Sex Trafficking: Modern-Day Slavery In Disguise

An Annotated Bibliography
Beeks, Karen, and Delila Amir. Trafficking and the Global Sex Industry. Lanham, MD:
Lexington, 2006. Print.
This source focuses on organized crime in the sex trafficking industry
globally. It also discusses the corruption of Southeast Asia and the struggle to
create laws to minimize the sex trafficking industry. The book argues that
government policies that protect those who have migrated to become sex workers
are not protecting them at all. In fact, the book argues that the laws are expanding
the sex trafficking industry. The author supports his thesis by documenting the
responses of the new anti-trafficking laws with statistics, and by word-of-mouth.
The printed source uses a wide variety of sources from different authors to
support its thesis. It is a reliable source because of its various contributors such as
Arun Kumar Acharya, Carolina S. Ruiz-Austria and many others whose main

Caffie 4
focus of work is researching human trafficking. Furthermore, the book uses
citations to support its opinions and ideas. Therefore, this source is scholarly. I
can use this source to support my thesis because it mentions conflicts of antitrafficking laws in a large number of countries. These conflicts include
programmed responses and vague definitions of sex trafficking in bills and laws.

Curtis, Lisa, and Olivia Enos. "Combating Human Trafficking in Asia Requires U.S.
Leadership." Backgrounder (2015): n. pag. The Heritage Foundation. 26 Feb.
2015. Web. 9 Oct. 2015.
This source argues that combating human trafficking around the world
requires U.S. involvement. The authors believe that in order to halt human
trafficking, U.S. leadership must partner up with Asian governments and nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) to improve local law enforcement and
judicial systems. The authors support their thesis by providing evidence of U.S.
influence on foreign policy in Asia on other issues. The article concludes with in
detail solutions on how the U.S. can improve foreign relations. The article also
mentions what the U.S. should focus on (i.e. encouraging regional organizations,
creating aid resources)
This article is a reliable source because it comes from a journal, the
Backgrounder. The Backgrounder is a journal published by the Heritage
Foundation. Although the Heritage Foundations goal is to formulate and
promote conservative policies, the article provides citations from reliable sources
to back up their thesis. The currency of this article is beneficial to my paper

Caffie 5
because it provides recent examples of the United States involvement in foreign
policy. This article will be used as a rebuttal to my paper because my thesis states
that human trafficking still exists because of internal issues such as sexual culture
and corruption. I do not argue that the lack of United States involvement is the
reason why sex tourism still thrives in Asia.
Kempadoo,Kamala,JyotiSanghera,andBandanaPattanaik.TraffickingandProstitution
Reconsidered:NewPerspectivesonMigration,SexWork,andHumanRights.
Boulder,CO:Paradigm,2012.Print.
Thissourcediscussesthenewantitraffickinglegislationunderthe
influenceoftheObamaadministration.Thisbookalsoexplainsthefeminist
movementworkingtoeradicatesextourismaroundtheworldincludingwork
withUnitedNations.
Thissourceisreliablebecauseitsauthorsobtainedprimaryresearchby
workingundercoverasUNHumanRightscommissionerstomonitorthe
effectivenessofthenewantitraffickingpolicies.KamalaKempadooalso
researchedandwrotemultiplebooksonsextraffickingasaprofessorinsocial
scienceatYorkUniversity.Becausetheauthorhasexperienceandeducationin
thesextraffickingfield,thissourcewouldbeclassifiedasascholarlysource.The
firsthandundercoverportionofthebookcanhelpenhancemythesisbylooking
attheproblemsofthecurrentlawsclosely.

Micollier, Evelyne. Sexual Cultures in East Asia: The Social Construction of Sexuality
and Sexual Risk in a Time of AIDS. London: RoutledgeCurzon, 2004. Print.

Caffie 6
This source discusses the social construction of sexual identity and the
social stigma attached to the HIV/AIDS epidemic in East Asia. The book also
discusses how philosophical theories such as Taoist and Communist beliefs are
related to sexual identity in East Asia. The book is centered on the idea of
contradictory consciousness, where a persons consciousness depends on both
inherited consciousness from the past and practical consciousness that fits in with
the transforming world. She believes that the inherited consciousness of many
people in Asia drives the desire for sex, and the HIV/AIDS epidemic.
Evelyn Micollier, the author of this book, is an Affliated Research Fellow
of the International Institute of Asian Studies, proficient in the sex trafficking
subject matter. Because of the authors background in the field and her use of
citations, this book is a scholarly source. Although this book is not as current as
the others, the link between sexual culture and HIV/AIDS still exists. Also, I
would use the history of prostitution and sex trafficking in China and other East
Asian countries as support for my thesis. I will borrow her concept of
contradictory consciousness to support my thesis in that old cultural constraints
such as the courtesan professions drive the sex trafficking industry.

Molland,S.2011.TheTraffickingofScarceEliteCommodities:SocialChangeand
CommodificationofVirginityalongtheMekong.TheAsiaPacificJournalof
Anthropology12(2):129145.
Thissourcesthesissaysthatthebuyingandsellingofvirginsalongthe
MekongRiverisanelitecommodityinthesextraffickingindustry.Inorderto

Caffie 7
provehisthesis,theauthorandhiscolleaguesgointothefieldattheThaiLao
borderandobtaininformationfrominformantssuchassexworkers,venue
ownersandclients.Theconclusionofthepaperwasrecruitment,valueand
exchangearesociallyandculturallyembeddedpractices.
Thissourceisclassifiedasascholarlysourcebecauseofthecitationsused
tosupportitsthesis.Furthermore,thisresearchwasreviewedandpublishedby
theAsiaPacificJournalofAnthropology.Thissourcewouldsupportmythesis
becauseitdescribesvirginityasasocialandculturalpreferenceinsextrafficking
clients.Theclientsassumevirginitycomeswithunderagegirlsandsextraffickers
kidnapyoungergirlsfortheirbusinesses.

Sex,Slavery,andDrugsinBangladesh.Perf.TaniaRashid.VICENews,15May2015.
Web.
Thissourcearguesthatthepopularityofdrugsandalcoholinpoverty
strickenBanglasdeshisoneofthereasonswhyhumantraffickingexists.The
interviewerTaniaRashidtravelstoBangladeshandrecordshowpowerful,non
prescribeddrugscanalterthejudgmentsofsextouristsinBangladesh.
Additionally,theinterviewerarguesthatlackofeducationinBangladeshisa
primarycauseofsextraffickinguniversally.Becausethisvideocontains
interviewsfromsexworkersandtheirclientelefirsthand,thissourcehasreliable
supportforitsthesis.

Caffie 8
Whilethissourceisnotascholarlysource,itiscurrentsourcethatcould
bebeneficialtomypaper.Thisvideoisacombinationofaprimarysourceand
secondarysource.Rashidtakesfactsfromothersourcestomoldherargument,yet
shediscoversnewfactsinthevideoitself.Thissourcewillsupportmythesis
becauseitarguesthatthedrugcultureinBangladeshisthereasonwhysex
traffickingexists.
UnitedNationsOfficeonDrugsandCrime,GlobalReportonTraffickingInPersons.
NewYork:UnitedNationsOfficeonDrugsandCrime,2014.Web.
Thissourceisawrittenrecordofmanystatisticsrelatingtoglobalsex
trafficking.Thisarticlearguesthatlegislationisnoteffectiveinthereductionof
thesextraffickingindustry.Furthermore,thearticlearguesthatthegovernment
mustenforcetheirlawsandfindawaytoprovetotheirconstituentsthatsex
traffickingisnottoleratedintheeyesofthelaw.Thearticlesupportsthe
ineffectivenessofthesystembymentioningstatisticsoftheexistingsexindustry
inmanycountriesincludingThailandandevensomecountriesinEurope.
Thissourceisascholarlysourcebecauseitcontainscitationsandprimary
researchtosupportitsthesis.Thisismostrecentglobalsextraffickingreportthe
UnitedNationsOfficeonDrugsandCrimehaspublished.Therefore,thecurrency
ofthearticlewillbebeneficialtomypaper.
UnitedNationsOfficeonDrugsandCrime,TheRoleofCorruptioninTraffickingin
Persons.Vienna:UnitedNationsOfficeonDrugsandCrime,2011.Web.

Caffie 9
Thissourceillustratestherelationshipbetweencorruptionandthesex
traffickingindustry.Itarguesthatcorruptivebehavioroflawenforcershelp
traffickerstorecruit,transport,andexploittheirvictims.Theauthorevenargues
thatperceivedcorruptionorassumedcorruptioninonescountrycanthreatena
sextraffickingvictimintostayingintheindustry.Thesourcesupportsitsthesis
byrecordingtheresultsofcorruptivebehaviorsinthesextraffickingindustryas
wellascorruptivepatternsspecifictosextrafficking.
Becausethissourceissocurrent,thelegislativeportionsofthepapercan
beusedtosupportmythesis.ThissourceisascholarlysourcefromtheUnited
NationsOfficeofDrugsandCrime,becauseitcontainscitations.Thesourceuses
interviewsconductedbytheUnitedNationsandothersourcesasreliablesupport.