Contemporary Issues in Criminology: Trafficking and Sex Trade

This report discusses the contemporary issue of trafficking and sex trade in criminology. It explores the effects of these crimes, their relation to freedom and security, and suggests changes in government policies. The report also provides examples and sources for further information.

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Contemporary Issues in Criminology: Trafficking and Sex Trade

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Introduction: Trafficking and Sex Trades
Crimes are increasing in the contemporary era in an alarming rate. The crimes against property,
animals and human beings have become scattered in every country across the globe. In order to
curb this, various statutes, acts, rules and regulations have been passed by the legislative organs
of different countries in the world (Wahab and Panichelli, 2013). Some crimes are detected well
and the offenders are penalized according to the provisions of law for the time being in force.
But some crimes, in fact, most of them go undetected and the criminals move smoothly
everywhere, without being punished. This is due to prevalence of the loop holes present in the
current systems of law around the world (Snajdr, 2013).
Among the crimes, which are prevalent in the contemporary era, trafficking and trades relating to
sex have become very common. Trafficking of human beings have become more, especially for
women and children. Trafficking of human beings incorporates in itself the capturing of the
liberty of the men, women and children under severe compulsion, to get them involved into illicit
sexual activities, and for the benefit of an illegal industrious act (Weitzer, 2014). According to
the reports of the World Criminal Investigation Bureau, there are about 5.5 million victims
affected by this heinous crime of trafficking with the years 2017 to 2018. Trafficking involves
the kidnapping and the abduction of both adults and minors, so that they can further be engaged
into other unlawful and hated activities. Some of these unlawful and hated activities include,
slavery, begging and destitution, sex workers and the like. The victims usually suffer from both
mental and physical compulsion, which creates utmost discomfort for them. They are tortured
and forced into other brutal activities in case of their non cooperation (Zimmerman, 2013). This
results in various health hazards to the poor victims. Often, this mechanism is commenced
through the most camouflaged ways of fraud, undue influencing and misrepresentation. Coercion
is also another common method to aggravate the institution of trafficking among adults and
children. Sex trafficking is one of the most common part of trafficking. Sex trafficking involves
the forcing of women and children to engage in the commercial sexual activities. The victims are
sold for their bodies and are physically used for commercial purposes (Segrave and Pickering,
2012). The victims are abused physically and mentally, threatened for severe attacks in the body

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parts and even penalized without any reason. It amounts to the exploitation of their dignities and
their self respect. They become sex slaves as they are bought by the influential people. Their
rights and freedoms are lost completely (Roe-Sepowitz et al., 2014).
The purpose of this report is to throw light upon the effects of trafficking and sex trade as a
contemporary issue under the arena of criminology and the criminal justice system. It states the
relation of trafficking and sex trades with freedom, self governance, othering, responsibilities,
risk management, freedom and security. Certain examples are given of this sort and the
references of these issues are also stated. Various suggestions are also given for the alterations in
the government arena, for its betterment.
Contemporary Issues in Criminology, Social Control and Criminal Justice System
The increasing of trafficking and sex trades and implemented the awareness among the policy
makers and the people who research. But these practices are often disturbed due to the lack of
proper mechanism or the accumulation of data. There are various attempts taken under the
criminal justice system for the proper understanding of the issues in the most appropriate way.
The social control at the macro level would also be enhanced while dealing with trafficking and
sex trades under criminology, social control and under the criminal justice system.
Etymologically speaking, the terms social control signifies the implementation of control in the
society, by the society (Ottisova et al., 2016). This can be accompanied with the current social
norms and laws of the state. The issue identified under social control through the establishment
of the relationship between the sexual trade openness and the increase in the trafficking. The
most crucial objective of the social control implies at the regulation of those activities which help
in the promotion of the trafficking and the sex related trades. The primary method under social
control deals with stringent vigilance and scrutiny. Especially in the immigration sites, for the
prevention of the trafficking of human beings for commercial purpose, the social control theory
plays a crucial role (Molland, 2012). The functionaries of the courts of the respective states are to
employed with efficient training for this purpose. They should play a more active role for the
prevention of the commission of trafficking and sex trades among the human beings.

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It can thus be stated that the higher the amount of social control in a state, the lower would be
crime rates. In this case, it is trafficking and sex trades. The more complex are the means of
social control, the lesser would be the chances of the commission of the crime. To add to this, the
offenders must be penalized heavily under the criminal justice system. The investigation should
be committed by trained officers and with utmost care (McCarthy, 2014). These can be the most
efficient ways in the controlling of trafficking and sex trades under the criminal justice system
through the social control.
Relation of Trafficking and Sex Trades with the following:
a. Freedom:
When the heinous acts of trafficking and sex trades occurs to a person, it is a crime against the
freedom of the liberty of the person. Trafficking and sex trades implies the deprivation of person
liberty a freedom, torturing him/her to commit such unlawful tasks which against the law and
under compulsion. The victims are punished severely and tortured. They become the slave of the
offenders. All their fundamental rights are disappeared into vain. They lose their freedom
completely and forget the happenings across the world. They lead a life much worse than the
normal citizens across the globe (Hoyle, Bosworth and Dempsey, 2011). All the freedom of
these victims are destroyed under trafficking and sex trade, as the victims are coerced and bound
to follow the commands of the offenders.
b. Security:
The offence of trafficking and sex related activities lake place across the globe due to lack of
appropriate securities by the functionaries of the courts. They either fail to comply with all the
actions of their duties or there are the presence of so many loop holes in the existing system, that
it becomes easier to evade them and capture the innocent women and children especially to ruin
their lives. The security of the nation should be made more strict so that the offenders cannot go
away with. There should be improved security at the ports and other trade points accompanied
with thorough scrutiny and checking (Johnston, Friedman and Sobel, 2015). The baggage should
always be inspected well on account of the prevention of trafficking and sex related trades.

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c. Risk Management:
With the improvement of the various statutes, acts, rules and regulations going on across the
different states of the world, it is necessary that the federal government as well as the state
government should opt for steps referring to management of risks. The more there is
management of risks in the market for the adopting of the new policies for the prohibition of
trafficking and sex related crimes against the adults and the minors, the better would be the
improvements. This is so, because the management of risks provide an experience of handling
the tough situations under great pressure by the higher authorities (Gozdiak, 2011). There is
acclimatization of the handling of pressure is equivalent to the handling of the offenders in the
real times.
d. Othering:
The term othering refers to the various implications from different individuals. Every opinion of
every person counts, since there is the right of prevalence of freedom of speech and expression
across the globe. Every opinion in relation to the trafficking and sex related trades should be
taken. But the best of all should be proceeded with. In this way, there is involvement of the
people of the managing diverse affairs across the state (Agustin, 2013). Othering helps in the
prevention of trafficking and sex related trades across the world in the most efficient manner.
e. Self Governance:
Self governance is termed as governing oneself from the ill effects of the society. It also implies
the protecting of oneself from the horrendous acts of the offenders living in the society and
making the world polluted. With the appropriate self governing skills, every individual can
become wise and protective about oneself. They become vigilant from the ill affairs happening
across the globe and themselves conscious. In case, this process is not employed, the people
become open to the prey of the hunters across the globe (Altink, 2013). While establishing the
relationship between self governance and trafficking and sex trades, it can be rightly stated that
self governance is the mutual understanding and mutual protection of himself/herself in the
society.

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f. Responsibilisation:
After coming across the dreadful effects of trafficking and sex related trades across the globe, it
becomes the duty of the federal governments and the responsibility of the state governments to
undertake the situation at hand and protect the people who are already suffering from trafficking
and sex related trades on one hand, and protecting those who are on the verge of being victims of
trafficking and sex related trades on the other hand. It is high time that the responsibilities should
be undertaken in the most effective way and the people across the globe are benefitted at large.
In this way the society possesses a responsibility against everybody. Everyone should participate
in not only self defence, but everyone should aim at the protection of all (Gerassi, 2015). This
would increase the unity of the particular place and the ultimate result of this pact would be the
freedom from crimes.
Key criminological topics in relation to the issues
The most important criminological activities in relation to the trafficking and sex trades, is the
undercover exchange of information about the victims of trafficking and sex trades. The victims
are stalked so that they can be abducted or kidnapped without difficulty. This helps in the
fulfilling of all conditions of the commission of trafficking and sex related trades. This also
implies the evading of the laws of the state presently in force. It also includes the arresting of the
fundamental rights of another and rupturing the liberty of the same person (Gallaghar, 2011).
These are the key criminological topics in relation to the present issue of trafficking and sex
related trades.
Substantive Examples in relation to the Trafficking and Sex Trades
The substantive examples in relation to the trafficking and the sex trades in the state, include the
kidnapping and the abduction of the victims from their native places. It is followed by the
deportation or transmission of such victim without the consent of such individual making them
perform illegal acts for commercial purposes. It is the torturing them to do activities which is
under compulsion and against their will (Androff, 2011). Slavery, sex slavery, trading of sex for
commercial purposes, the buying and the selling of individuals are the substantive examples of
trafficking and sex related trades across the globe.

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Suggestion for changes in the government in relation to the topic
For the improvement of the situation of the government for tackling the issues, it is important
that the government undertakes certain changes in its normal functioning. In order to curb the
malpractices of trafficking and sex trades, it is important that the government should adopt to
more stringent rules and regulations. The free transmission of goods in the borders and the ports
should be checked. There should be proper scrutiny of the goods getting exported and imported.
The duties of the functionaries of the court should be given more pressure to perform their tasks
well. they should be trained to become more vigilant in their actions (Choi, 2015).
The working hours and the salaries of the functionaries of the court should be in collaboration
with each other. This would help in the widespread prevention of the corruption and stop the
malpractices at the roots. All the punishments and the rules with regard to the trafficking and sex
trades should be made more stringent. The investigation procedure should be accurate and the
offenders should be punished in deterrent way. This would help in the prevention of the
commission of the future crimes of the same sort (Elrod, 2015). Thus, bringing about these
changes in the policies of the government would bring about wellness and welfare among the
people of the society.
Suggesting of sources for further information
The suggestion of the important sources for the acquiring of further information includes the
following:
International Social Work by Androff D.K. in 2011
Social and Legal Studies by Hoyle, Bosworth and Dempsey in 2011
Framing an emerging issue: A journal on human trafficking by Johnstone, Friedman and Sobel in
2015
Filling the gap: Refining sex trafficking legislation to address the problem of pimping. A journal
on Trafficking and sex trades by Elrod in 2015
The conundrum of women’s agency: Migration and the sex industry. A book on sex trades of
women compelled to do so, by Agustin in 2013

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Official government websites of different states for gathering information about the statistical
data
Conclusion
After a close perusal of the all topics contained in the report, in relation to the contemporary
issue of crime of trafficking and sex related trades, it can be concluded that trafficking and sex
related trade is one of the most heinous of all crimes. it possesses detrimental impacts and the
lives of the victims can be destroyed completely. The methods of social control can be very
effective in handling the issues of trafficking and sex trades. The enhancement of the powers of
the functionaries of the court for the benefit of the society and saving them from crimes are
largely benefitted. To add to this, the relationship of the contemporary criminal issue of
trafficking and sex trades with security, freedom, risk management, self governance,
responsibilities and othering are relevant in the contemporary times. This is so, because the
relationship with each of the following aspects, defines the present scenario with that regard. The
current status can be deciphered from those matters. From the sources provided, relevant
information can be extracted and further research can be conducted. The researches which were
left incomplete due to the lack of accumulation of data, can now be completed with the aid of the
above resources. To add to this, various strategies have been provided for the government
undergoing this heinous crime, to implement for the benefit of the nation and protecting the
citizens. The alterations would be welcome changes for the establishment of a world devoid of
harshness, brutality and other crimes affecting the welfare of the human beings.

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References
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Altink, S., 2013. Stolen lives: Trading women into sex and slavery.7th ed. Abingdon:: Routledge.
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Choi, K.R., 2015. Risk factors for domestic minor sex trafficking in the United States: A
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Elrod, J., 2015. Filling the gap: Refining sex trafficking legislation to address the problem of
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