The demand for sex in exchange for money is thriving, and its illegal status in most of the world makes it a shady, unsafe zone for the solicitors of sex.
According to a global report on human trafficking by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, 79% of global human trafficking activities is related to sexual exploitation, and victims are predominantly women and girls.
Women and girls make up a particularly vulnerable group, as they are often excluded from mainstream socioeconomic systems including education, employment and property ownership, says a recent report by the Women’s Aid Organisation (WAO).
This makes them prime targets for traffickers who lure and trap them into exploitative work, including sex work and prostitution.
In addition, there’s a new kind of sex that has sprung forth together with the advancement of the Internet and digital age – cybersex trafficking, for which the International Justice Mission (IJM) believes the Philippines is a major hub.
This type of trafficking involves the live-streaming of the sexual exploitation of victims, many of whom include children. The IJM estimates that paedophiles and predators pay anything between US$20 and US$150 per “sex show” broadcast online.
Cybersex trafficking is especially dangerous because victims can be moved from location to location without the authorities suspecting anything, as all transactions are done online.
The sex trade is an extremely lucrative business opportunity, particularly for agents or pimps in charge of the supply. In Malaysia, the International Labour Organisation (ILO) estimates that the average annual profit per sex worker comes up to about US$23,500. The demand appears insatiable and probably won’t disappear anytime soon.
WAO said, “The high demand for commercial sex results in its profitability, particularly when supplied by trafficked labour that comes at low or no cost to the trafficker. A recent estimate by the UN International Labour Office indicates that profits from sex trafficking is on average six times higher than that of other forms of forced labour, such as domestic work.”
Figures suggest that there are around 142,000 sex workers in Malaysia, of which between 8,000 and 10,000 are located in Kuala Lumpur.
Most of these workers, who are mainly women, can be found in massage parlours, spas, karaoke bars, pubs or restaurants.
WAO also believes that some organised crime gangs are responsible for the trafficking of these women, and that they “disingenuously lure women into the country by offering them legal employment or education opportunities, even processing their travel documents and visas”.
Most of the women trafficked into the sex trade in Malaysia come from Southeast Asia, but there are also others from South Asia, the Middle East and Russia.
But it isn’t just women who are in danger – WAO says there has been increasing reports of children, including young boys, being trafficked as prostitutes. In the Klang Valley alone, there are an estimated 5,000 children involved in sex work.
Nearly all the case studies presented by WAO revealed some type of involvement with sex work, whether it was through deception, coercion or straight-out abuse.
These are real, human testimonies to the horrors of being trafficked and held against one’s will to be taken advantage of and used as a product. Their experiences result in mental and physical trauma, and they struggle with feelings of guilt, anger, disempowerment, and worst of all, shame.
Shame is a powerful feeling that stops many victims from speaking out or standing up for themselves. They need to be taught that they didn’t deserve what happened to them, no matter how they got into those situations.