Tragic Lives of Sex Slaves

By Alexiane Knaub ZIS Grade 8 English J8 Summit 2012

Everyone has heard the saying, Lifes not fair, but we still have it better than some people. Women and teenage girls from all over the world, but especially from poor backgrounds are an example of these people. The trafficking of humans involves more than 800,000 people and it is estimated that 80% of them are women or girls (Leuchtag). Due to the lack of education and need for money, many women and girls end up as prostitutes, enslaved under terrible conditions with threats and force by monstrosities people. Women stuck in poverty, taking jobs in modern countries in the hope of a better life do not know that it is often a trap. Women from Eastern Europe and South-East Asia are often offered jobs in countries like UK and Australia. It is estimated that 4,000 sex slaves exist in the UK alone (Blackburn). More stories are emerging of young Asian women being lured on false promises, only to end working as sex slaves in a strange land, with little English, no passports and no freedom (Lamont 128). They are desperate for money and quick to sign on, so they are easier for the pimps to get and less resistant when they find out what is really going on than locales. The girls are told that they had to work somewhere between 350-500 hours to off their debt (Lamont 129). In developed countries there are fewer brothels and more pimps use houses or apartments, which means when the police arrests pimp, fewer slaves can be saved. Women sign up for jobs as maids or waitresses in modern countries and end up stuck as a sex slave, permanently. Once they become slaves escape is nearly impossible. The women are not only physically trapped but mentally too. They give up on escaping after a while, for they realize that there is no hope. Even if they escape, in certain countries, they can end up in jail or even kick out of the county for prostitution (which is illegal in some countries) or, having narcotics, etc. The pimps addict these girls to narcotics to keep them sane and from committing suicide. When women first arrive they can get beaten, both as a punishment or a preventive measure. Beyond the abuse of being raped up to 20 times, the women can get stabbed in legs, arms, beaten and more (Blackburn). After some time the women stop trying to run away, believing they can leave if they pay off their debts. They are told that if they arent picky they can pay it off somewhere between three months to a year. It makes them have a goal an amount of money to earn and believe that if they stomach the abuse they will be released this is called debt bondage. I felt totally trapped and unable to think of a way to escape (Johnson). The women are completely imprisoned in dreadful conditions.

The main difference between sex slaves and the prostitutes is the circumstances which they are treated. In some cases they are given 20$ for food a week, if they dont work they will starve (Thompson). They keep them under feed with the pretense of not letting the girls get fat when they really do not want the girls to have enough strength to rebel or run away. The women are not just raped but also used as punching bags. The kinds of clients that use these women are often sadist and necrophiles; they enjoy hurting the women psychically and mentally. Sadist, about 10% of the population, they take pleasure in other peoples fear, pain and even humiliation. Hurting people who cannot stop them is their most intense and pleasurable form of control (Parker). These women, these slaves, fit their needs exactly so many of the slaves clients are sadist. Necrophiles take pleasure in something similar and just as terrible, they enjoy degradation and destruction. They get turned on by broken minds and bodies, they like the fact that the people they rape may afterwards self-destruct in addiction, or even commit suicide (Parker). The girls are hurt and get little money which they save up to pay back their debt. The damage to the girls is so bad, that pimp charge money for damage. Others do not know the girls are enslaved and believe the money they pay goes to the girls rather than the pimps. These clients, called often as Johns, do not really care if they hurt someone and more interested in get their need fulfilled even at someone elses expense. The women are under terrible conditions on top of everything else. These women who were just looking for money to support their families ended up enslaved for sex by horrible people. Then they are treated like caged animals, abused and neglected by their owner and clients. This issue of major human rights violations deals with everyone, for it is about a $10.5 billion business that may be taking place right outside your doorstep (Leuchtag). It is a growing business that has taken roots, even throughout civilized countries like the United States, Australia and United Kingdom.

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