Op-Ed by B. Huth, Haley Doran, Lena Bannavong, and Sharon Bassette
When you think about sex trafficking you likely picture big cities on either coast, certainly not the midwest. People might think that sex trafficking is done by strangers and that it can’t happen to yourself, right?
Wrong. Sex trafficking is a local problem. More often than not, the victims of sex trafficking know their abuser. Everyone is at risk to be sex trafficked – no matter your sex or age. Sioux City is a part of four major sex trafficking rings due to the interstate and highway system, and in the past 15 years, there was even a local Morningside student who was trafficked during her time here, and many years after.
While sex trafficking might not be your reality, it is the reality of many people, even those you know. Although that may be hard to hear, it is the truth. In Des Moines, Iowa, Marlin Santana Thomas trafficked seven victims, including one minor, and he had 11 other victims that were not trafficked. He was convicted at the end of 2021, but his case was not highly publicized.
In order to decrease the amount of sex trafficking, this case stresses that the topic needs to be discussed.
One reason individuals might have misleading ideas about sex trafficking is that many individuals have a “belief in a just world”, which is the idea that good things happen to good people and bad things happen to bad people.
This concept also plays into the ideas of victim-blaming as well as the willingness to believe victims. Furthermore, the way people feel about the victims of sex trafficking is affected by cognitive stereotypes about prostitution. This mental shortcut affects the views of people by comparing victims to a general stereotype, and can cause a person to assume sex trafficking victims are like prostitutes.
This is a problem as it impedes the opportunity to decrease the problem of sex trafficking by misunderstanding the issue from the beginning.
A study done last year examined common misconceptions about sex trafficking victims by looking at frequent stereotypes. The results showed that our society holds general stereotypes of sex trafficking victims. The results also indicated victims might not come forward due to re–victimization while going through the legal process. As previously mentioned, stereotypes might be responsible for this.
A second study revealed that a third of participants believe in common misconceptions of human trafficking. For example, 3 in 10 participants put at least some blame on the victim. Similarly, 23% of the participants even indicated strong doubt in human trafficking overall.
This research is in line with research done that shows men were more likely to participate in victim-blaming than women. Furthermore, male sex trafficking victims are more likely to be blamed for their situation than female sex trafficking victims, as people hold the belief in a just world. Belief in a just world can be a strong influence, thus resulting in misconceptions of sex trafficking.
If you put this data into the context of the real world, it shows people might not believe how evident and complex of an issue human trafficking is. Due to inaccurate stereotypes and the belief in a just world, we should work to give people the correct information about sex trafficking.
Sex trafficking is a preventable crime with the biggest component being advocacy. According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, sex trafficking can be prevented through proper education and spreading awareness.
By spreading awareness for sex trafficking victims, and combating the misconceptions of sex trafficking you, too, can help prevent sex trafficking. We make it our goal to educate Morningside students in order to reduce the overall amount of misinformation on campus.
National Human Trafficking Hotline at 1(888) 373-7888
Iowa Human Trafficking Hotline at 1-800-770-1650 or text “IOWAHELP” to 20121.
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