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Denise Berg

Professor Batty

English 101

29 May 2018

Sex Trafficking: Enslaved, Alone and Corrupted

Although many will argue that every type of crime is being taken care of by the

authorities, I would like to contend that the particular crime of sex trafficking has, in many cases,

been overlooked as a result of corruption within our country’s government system. Anyone who

is anywhere can be a victim of this disgusting act, but in the U.S, it is the undocumented

immigrants, especially the younger ones, who are a lot more threatened by it for a variety of

factors such as the lack of the English language, family, and most of all, the corruption within the

government system.

In Alex Espinoza’s book ​Still Water Saints,​ the character Rodrigo, a fifteen year old

undocumented immigrant from Michoacan, was a victim of sex trafficking. His story starts out

with him traveling to Tijuana alone, away from the life he knew with his parents. It is there

where he gets a job from Ignacio as a sex worker. Ignacio has his entire club employed by young

boys, who must comply with the customer’s wishes, or else they face the fear of death from

Ignacio himself. It’s then where Dwight steps into the picture and smuggles Rodrigo to

California. His demeanor at first was polite and caring, yet it swiftly changes to violent and short

tempered. He comes to rape Rodrigo, and even hires a man to guard him so that Rodrigo won’t

run away. What many don’t realize today, is that Rodrigo’s circumstance happens to thousands
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of people everyday. And many, like Rodrigo, do not get the happy ending that they deserve as

many lose their fight against sex trafficking.

To start, sex trafficking is the use of physical or verbal threats to make the victim comply

with sexual acts that are against their will. The victims are subject to rape, prostitution, and

forced sex work. According to ​Sex Trafficking ​by PolarisProject.org, “there are approximately

4.5 million people trapped in forced sexual exploitation globally” (Sex Trafficking). About

seventeen to nineteen thousand of them are undocumented immigrants that are within the United

States (Immigration Basics: Human Trafficking). It is a horrible truth to say that these

immigrants have an increased risk of being abducted and enslaved as there is a limited amount of

things they can do to protect themselves. The lack of family in the country, language barriers,

and even border kidnapping all contribute to the increased vulnerability of undocumented

immigrants being sold into sex trafficking. An example of this is shown in ​Still Water Saints​,

when Rodrigo asks Perla, the botanica owner, to teach him more English as he knew only certain

words and phrases (Espinoza 1139). It is assumed that he wants to learn English to maybe avoid

drawing a lot of attention to himself as an immigrant, and to gain more knowledge in case he

must use language to escape from a dangerous situation.

Corruption is the abuse of power for selfish wants. A major reason as to why sex and

human trafficking have been going on for so long is because of corruption within our

government system. It has been reported by the victims themselves that a police officer will turn

the other way if bribed by the victim’s trafficker. The turning away of officers actually increases

the activity of sex trafficking as traffickers can then continue selling victims without a worry that

they will be caught. An even worse circumstance is when an immigrant or any victim calls or
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contacts 911, only to be brought back to their captor. Rodrigo’s story, from ​Still Water Saints,

actually goes over the presence of corruption. Through exact words, “ That’s how it happened

for Rodrigo, how he crossed the border into California. A circuit of men- Border Patrol agents,

cops, coyotes-slip things by… All of them get paid. Ignacio makes sure of it” (Espinoza 3057).

Despite what many may say, I actually think that immigrants have less luck to pursue aid as the

police may have a sense of duty for only citizens and not foreigners.

Everyone should care about sex trafficking and why it is continuing! Everyone can be

affected by it as trafficking can take almost anyone who seems vulnerable. Yet, the most

vulnerable, according to the Sex Trafficking Fact Sheet by EqualityNow.org, are children and

immigrants because most of them don’t have the instinct to know when they are being targeted

(Sex Trafficking Fact Sheet). Other victims can also be men or women. Besides potential victims

themselves and their families, sex trafficking should concern honest police men and government

protection agencies. Innocent people, whether citizens or undocumented immigrants, all have a

right to be protected from crime, especially from sex trafficking. It is the police men’s job to

protect and serve the people, no matter what. Government protection agencies should also be

concerned as they are the ones that will help the victims to get out of their situation and seek help

for the aftermath effects. Without them, many victims will go unhelped and many who got out

will still be inside of the horror. Many get killed, try or do kill themselves to stop the suffering.

Such is shown in ​Still Water Saints, ​where Rodrigo explains to Perla that the cigarette burns

aren’t from Dwight, but from him not wanting to live (Espinoza 3128).

It is a hopeful and proud fact to state that we have some methods in fighting sex

trafficking. The first step is to gain as much knowledge as one can about the problem within our
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society. Knowledge is power and can help someone recognize the signs of abuse. Rodrigo shows

the many signs of abuse, and in particular is shown to have bruises on his face and a sort of fear

if someone comes too close. One scene where this is shown is when he comes to tell Perla his

story of what happened (Espinoza 3128). It is one of the most common signs of abuse if someone

has wounds on their skin or is shown to have signs of psychological trauma. The next step is to

elect policy makers that put an emphasis in stopping the crime. This step also goes to doing your

research to find out if the policy maker did any wrong in the past because if they did, then this

may lead to corruption. The third step is to go to or organize events that help spread awareness of

sex trafficking. They provide a lot of information on what the crime is and how to stop it. The

fourth step is mostly for the government and owners of public places. It is to put surveillance

cameras around the premises and take the extra step of hiring someone to look out for suspicious

footage. This can save someone’s life one day. The fourth step is to make sure that there is a law

passed that ensures everyone is protected, even if they are an undocumented immigrant. The last,

yet most important step of all, is to know that anybody can be affected. Whether it’s you, your

family, neighbor, or friend, the crime of sex trafficking can be inflicted on anyone. Take the

important steps to be prepared for the worst and educate everyone about how to get to safety in

these circumstances.

Sex trafficking is a serious crime within our society. What makes it even worse is that the

people that are supposed to be protecting the innocent are being swayed with bribes and

promises. It is up to us to take the steps to fight this horrendous crime with every chance we get.

Then maybe we can save a lot more lives and finally put an end to sex trafficking.
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Works Cited

Espinoza, Alex. ​Still Water Saints: a Novel​. Picador, 2013.

“Immigration Basics: Human Trafficking | Federation for American Immigration Reform.” ​The

Cost of Illegal Immigration to US Taxpayers | FAIR​,

www.fairus.org/issue/illegal-immigration/immigration-basics-human-trafficking.

“Sex Trafficking.” ​Polaris​, 26 Oct. 2017, polarisproject.org/human-trafficking/sex-trafficking.

“Sex Trafficking Fact Sheet.” ​Equality Now​, 14 Aug. 2017,

www.equalitynow.org/sex-trafficking-fact-sheet.