Is sex slavery the same thing as prostitution?

No. A sex worker, or prostitute, is someone who earns money by providing sexual services. A sex slave is someone who has lost his or her freedom, is sometimes a minor, is forced into prostitution, does not earn money, and ‘belongs’ to his or her ‘owner’ who holds him or her captive.

Why are victims of sex trafficking sometimes referred to as prostitutes?

They often mistaken for prostitutes because customers pay for their sexual services in the same way as they would for a prostitute.

What is sex trafficking?

It is the six-stage process by which someone becomes a sex slave.

1) Girls, boys and women lose their freedom by being tricked or abducted. They fall into the hands of criminals.

2) They are transported long distances, usually across borders, to a foreign land beyond the reach of friends and family.

3) They are raped, beaten and drugged.

4) They are frequently sold to brothel keepers.

5) They are kept prisoner.

6) They are forced to have sex repeatedly with strangers who pay money to their “owner,” but the victims themselves receive none of the money.

Trafficking is a low-risk, high-profit industry that operates through elaborate international criminal networks all over the world. It is one of the fastest growing criminal industries in the world, victimizing millions of people and reaping billions in profits. In Bosnia alone, it is estimated that the sex trade generates seven billion dollars a year in profits – making it the single most profitable industry.
Victims of sex trafficking are often traded like commodities, traded alongside or in exchange for illegal drugs and weapons.

Are there other forms of trafficking?

Yes, trafficking exists in many forms. People are trafficked to become industrial and agricultural laborers, they are sold into domestic servitude as housekeepers and nannies, or even into forced marriages.

Why does STOP focus on sex trafficking?

We believe sex trafficking is the most pernicious of all the various forms of slavery because it affects so many youngsters, because of the extraordinary amount of violence to which victims are subjected, and because the physical and mental effects are so hard to overcome.

When STOP Board Member Jacques Paul Klein was appointed by the United Nations Secretary General to lead the UN Mission in Bosnia and Herzegovina, he made it a priority to ensure that no UN personnel would, in any way, participate in the sex trafficking industry. This included purchasing the services of a sex slave. STOP follows his legacy.

Our team members are experts in the field. With years of on-the-ground experience, our experts understand the complexities and ramifications of the human sex trade.

Why are people trafficked?

Trafficking is a billion dollar business. The traffickers are in it for the quick and easy money. And sadly, they can be very persuasive. They prey on people in countries where economic opportunities are few. They promise employment and improved livelihoods to victims and their families.

Where are people trafficked?

Trafficking is a global problem. Virtually every nation in the world is involved as an origin, transit, or destination country.

How does someone fall victim to sex traffickers?

Most of the victims are promised a better life through a work opportunity, which means more money to help their families. They are told that this wonderful job—waiting tables, working as a nanny or a housekeeper, etc—is in another country, usually a wealthy, developed nation. Other victims are simply kidnapped. These victims are minors, and as virgins, are ‘worth more.’

How do traffickers move their victims?

Traffickers smuggle their victims across borders illegally using counterfeit documents, or by obtaining authentic documents from corrupt officials. Most of the time, traffickers pay for their victims’ travel expenses in order to inflate costs and hold victims captive in debt slavery -- yet another technique to force them into sexual servitude. Traffickers frequently threaten victims that, should they try to escape, their families will be told they are prostitutes.

How do traffickers contorl their victims?

The trafficked victim is stripped of every shred of dignity over a prolonged process, which may include torture, rape, starvation, beatings, drugs and prolonged sexual abuse. This process leaves the victim with a total lack of trust in humanity. She (or he) reaches a point where she fully believes that she no longer matters, that she is worthless and that no one cares about her. This makes her pliable and easy to manipulate.

What happens to victims once they are falsely recruited or kidnapped?

Their passport is confiscated and they are delivered to their new "owner". They are locked in a room and watched by armed guards. They have no idea where they are. They are usually raped on the first night of their emprisonment. They are forced to have sex every night, all night. Sometimes they sere 15-20 clients every 24 hours. If they resist, they may be forced to have sex with animals. They are certainly treated like animals. If they resist, they are beaten and drugged and gang raped again, and again.

One victim was blinded when her ‘owner’ slowly logged a screwdriver into her skull. When one victim became pregnant, her ‘owner’ severely beat her, and then stomped and jumped on her stomach, repeatedly, until she aborted. 

This is their life. Day after day.