Just for fun, I looked up some stuff on human trafficking.

1. The average age of a victim on human trafficking is 27.
2. Most victims of human trafficking are 19-30.
3. Any time a person under 18 participates in commercial sex work, it is considered “human trafficking.”

My point being that I’m not so sure whether “human trafficking” is actually on the rise, or whether they just changed the definition of what constitutes “human trafficking.”

They really started this whole human trafficking awareness 5–6 years ago...

And I feel like the goal was to make people stop thinking of ppl as “illegal aliens” & instead consider them “victims of human trafficking.”

Human trafficking victim has a way nicer ring to it than “Mexican prostitute.”

Heck, my 15yo wasnt even aware prostitution was illegal.

As in, my 15yo thought it crazy that a woman could be arrested for prostitution. She thought only the “pimp” could be guilty, as it would of course be him who was manipulating her into the situation.

Which...may be true in many if not most cases.

But when I was a kid,

Prostitution was a crime. People who did it were considered not good people.

That’s really changed.

Not saying this is good or bad. It just is.

As for the immigration issue—foreign born people who have been trafficked are eligible for federal assistance, including both healthcare and immigration assistance, and they cannot be deported back to their home country.

So...definitions matter.

Oh, & when I say anyone under 18 who participates in “commercial sex work” has, by definition, been “trafficked”—they do not have to be paid in money.

If they exchange sex for drugs or for a place to stay, that counts as close enough to prostitution to be trafficking.

Here’s a quote from a ridiculously biased public health white paper on trafficking.

“Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACES) can increase the likelihood of risk-taking behavior that could predispose a person to a trafficking situation. “ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK430910/

In other words...the people involved were taking risks that directly resulted in their situation.

We can’t think of it as a “choice,” per se.

I guess a 27 year old from El Salvador really is as helpless as a 10 year old cobalt miner in Congo, huh?