D.G.: D.G.
Sex trafficking in sexually focused companies in Oblinger's article is a well-documented presentation in modern times of the truth regarding sexually oriented enterprises and in different types.
Number of Victims of Sex Trafficking
The article reports that the number of victims of human sex trafficking is in the millions, according to the Fédéral Bureau of Investigation (FBI) (Oblinger, 130). This is the most prevalent type of slavery of modern times. This criminal enterprise.
The Definition of Sex Trafficking
Sex trafficking is defined as a variety of individuals, which defines the value of victims in the execution of sexual acts on account of income. In a 2012 report, the United Nations Office of Drug Control approximated that human trafficking for sex accounted for 56 percent of the overall number of trafficking cases globally (Oblinger, 131).
Sex Trafficking as a Complex Business
Sex trafficking is a complex business which is continuing to grow bigger and bigger each day. It’s the fastest growing enterprise in organized crimes with revenues being measured in billions. Criminal investigators and policymakers are usually intimidated by the size and the scope of social and global factors which facilitates sex trading. The sex trafficking enterprise has developed to the extent of inventing its language which can be understood by the stakeholders of the enterprise (Oblinger, 131). Therefore, for a person to understand how to dismantle this criminal enterprise, an individual has to understand the practice of prostitution, modern sex trafficking practices, and how sexually oriented business operates.
Traditional Prostitution Ring
In a traditional prostitution ring setting, clients known in the enterprise as johns would solicit sexual acts from prostitutes working the street. These prostitutes are always being managed by a pimp who offers them protection and collects the cash for their services. The pimps can control sex workers in their area through various acts of violence and intimidation. Freelance prostitution in such a setting is dangerous to the sex worker because of violence and threats they get from their clients and pimps in the area. The traditional model of prostitution had many flaws such as time wastage. However, with the availability of the internet, the traditional model has been upgraded to a high-tech version. Sex workers can post their advertisement on the internet and attract clients while reducing the risks associated with walking the street such as rape and mugging. The pimps have also gained greater control of the business because they can create and edit posts for the sex workers they manage and at the same time monitor communication between their workers and the clients (Oblinger, 132).
Blade Model of Prostitution
Another form of modern-day prostitution is known as a blade. In this model a pimp can advertise their services in different cities and booking is done in advance. The pimp in this model usually works with a stable of prostitutes taking them on tour to lucrative locations. The role of the pimp is to ensure that the business runs smoothly by establishing a method or recruiting and training prostitutes, collecting the payments, protecting the assets of the enterprise, arranging liaisons with the clients, and harbouring and transporting the sex workers. In a more advanced level, the pimp delegates the duties to a manager who is usually an experienced sex worker that has a close relationship with the pimp. The use of the manager known in the industry language as a bottom girl provides a buffer to the pimp which protects him from legal jeopardy (Oblinger, 132-133).
Recruitment Process and Violence
The recruitment process for this enterprise relies on violence and degradation for the prostitute. A freelancing sex worker is exposed to various dangers. A pimp exploits these dangers by responding to their advertisement to recruit these independent workers. Studies show that the most frequent victims of assault, rape, and robbery are prostitutes. The nature of violence comes from the industry and is meant to control the sex workers. This violence in some cases results in premature unnatural deaths and homicide. However, the prostitutes cannot report these cases to the police since they are engaging in an illegal activity (Oblinger, 132).
Sexually Oriented Businesses
Sexually oriented businesses are a special kind of prostitution where commercialized sex is provided in an enterprise that is legal per se. These businesses provide and advertise services which are of sexual or romantic nature. In investigating sex trafficking, it is important to understand how these businesses exploit sex workers for money in their establishment. Some of the common sexually oriented businesses include massage parlors, escort services, and strip clubs.
Massage Parlors
In a massage parlor, the massage therapists offer professional and therapeutic massages to clients needing relaxation and health benefits. The claim of professional therapy being offered is used to cover the acts of sex for hire that take place within the establishment. Workers in the massage parlor usually have some documentation showing that they trained in massage therapy either domestically or in their country of origin since most of these workers are foreigners (Oblinger, 136). A massage parlor offering commercialized sex insist of male clientele who pay using cash. To maintain a sense of legitimacy, the clients receive massage for the most of the time in their visit but he his informed that sexual acts are available when desired.
Strip Clubs
A strip club is an entertainment bar where patrons are entertained by women dancing in various stages of undressing. The common industry name for these establishments is gentlemen’s club. These establishments have female strippers and exotic dancers who are used to generate revenue for the club. In a restrictive legal environment, the club tends to discourage sex within the premise but redirects the act to a nearby motel. Although some of these exotic dancers may not engage in prostitution, the sexual enticement that they provide is part of an act to encourage sex for hire. The role of the pimps in this legal environment is offered by the doormen, managers, wait staff, and house rules in the club.
Escort Services
Lastly, the escort services is another sexually oriented business with a legal status. The business and its employees are all licensed and regulated by the local jurisdiction. The role of escort is to accompany a client when going out. The companions are paid to accompany the client, however, if any sexual act occurs there is an exchange of value hence it becomes prostitution. The escort services defend itself by claiming that the money paid to the escort is for the actual accompaniment of the client. In all these sexually oriented businesses, sex trafficking victims provide ideal employees as a result of their vulnerability, unfamiliarity with the surrounding environment, and their illegal residence status (Oblinger, 135).
Investigation Techniques
An international trafficking ring will be geographically dispersed which makes it challenging for investigations. Therefore, law enforcement officers in collaboration with other agencies available both domestically and internationally can use different investigation techniques to prosecute these prostitution and sex trafficking rings. The investigation of these rings requires a complex plan for collecting information by the officers. Some of the techniques that can be used for investigation include patron debriefs, routine business checks for license compliance, buy-busts, reverses, and sneak-and-peak (Oblinger, 139).
Patron Debriefs
In using the patron debrief technique, investigator identifies likely patrons during surveillance then follow them away from the business where they can simply be requested for information (Oblinger, 140).
Routine Business Checks for License Compliance
In routine business check for license compliance, uniformed officers can enter the establishment in the pretence of checking the license and gain insight of the operations taking place.
Buy-Bust Technique
The buy-bust technique involves using undercover officers to enter the business posing as potential clients. Once a deal is made between the sex worker and the officer an act of prostitution has occurred, and the officer has insights of the process.
Reverses Buy-Bust
Reverses buy-bust, investigators usually female officers pose as sellers of the illegal goods. In this case, the officer poses as a prostitute and when a pimp tries to recruit her into his ring for human sex trafficking, a prosecution case can be developed.
Sneak-and-Peek Techniques
Lastly, the sneak-and-peek techniques are more advanced and involve wiretapping and surveillance video of the suspected establishments. These surveillance permits the investigator to remotely witness the acts of prostitution in real-time (Oblinger, 143).
Challenges in Investigation
The biggest challenge to the investigation is the relationship between the police officers and the sex workers. Sex workers rarely cooperative with the investigation due to the violence that they are exposed to within the enterprise. Furthermore, some of the victims are afraid of the police officers hence they are slow to trust and provide critical information to the investigation or even act as witnesses for the prosecution case (Oblinger, 144). Therefore, tackling sex trafficking in sexually oriented businesses requires a good investigation that can take time to build and develop a relationship with the victims in the hopes that they will cooperate and provide the investigators with all the essential details of the enterprise operations.
Impact of Technological Developments
After reading this chapter by D. G. Oblinger, I got a better understanding of how technological developments have impacted in the society's way of life. Traditional sex for hire enterprise involved walking the street or the curbside. There were many dangers associated with this traditional model. However, the advancement in technology has made internet to be widely available which has, in turn, facilitated the growth and complexity of prostitution. The safer environment and shortening of the time wasted in walking the street has encouraged many sex workers to be involved in the business. Furthermore, pimps can be able to book dates for their employees in other cities in advance. The changing nature of the enterprise due to the internet makes it difficult to investigate the crime (Oblinger, 130). The current society relies on technology in most of its activities. Currently, a person can be able to access various services through the use of the internet. As a result, the normal interaction between people in the society has been replaced by the advent of the technology. Sex trafficking has adapted to these changes in the society mode of communication and transaction by embracing the use of the internet to advertise and arrange liaisons between the sex worker and the clients.
Interpersonal Relationships and Language
Additionally, my understanding of the interpersonal relationship that exists between various people in the society is also illuminated in this chapter. Society is made up of people from various backgrounds. The nature of business of a certain group of people determines how they relate to each other. For instance, the youth are more likely to have a good relationship within themselves as compared to a relationship between the youth and an older person. Every group of people in society have a certain way of communicating with only them can understand hence building their relationship. In this chapter, sex workers enterprise has developed its language (Oblinger, 131). Terms such as a pimp, johns, bottom girl, and whores are part of the language used in the sex enterprise. Individuals within the industry understand these terms, but when used with people outside the sex trafficking enterprise, most of these words have a different meaning. In that case, for a person to develop a relationship with these people they have to understand and appreciate this language. In the same way, for people in the society to have a good relationship, they have to embrace their difference by studying the languages used by others so that they can develop an efficient means of communication.
Cultural and Ethnic Perspectives
Another issue that is illuminated in the chapter is the issue of cultural and ethnic perspectives and stereotyping in the society. In every society, certain stereotypes exist for a certain group. As discussed in classes, stereotypes in the society tend to hinder the efficient relationship between various groups of people in the society. In sex trafficking, the society has developed a certain stereotype that is usually associated with the sex workers. In most cases, individuals from the minority group tend to work as prostitutes. This is the case due to the increase in sex trafficking whereby a young female can be transported from Cambodia to the United States to work as a prostitute. The illegal status of these workers makes it difficult for them to avoid getting involved in the enterprise. The society perspective and stereotypes about sex workers also make it impossible for some of these individuals to abandon the sex for hire enterprise as they are not sure they will be accepted by other people in the society. The negative stereotypic judgment that the society passes against sex workers makes it impossible for them to co-exist and develop a relationship with others. For instance, in the chapter, Oblinger notes that one of the challenges that police officers face when investigating sex trafficking and prostitution rings is lack of cooperation from the victims (Oblinger, 144). The victims of these crimes have a negative perception of the way the society view them. These victims believe that the police officers have no intention of helping them hence they decide not to provide information to the investigators.
Leadership and Social Rules
I have also found out that just like any other organizations in the society, the enterprise of sex for hire also has a leader who aims to maintain control of all the activities. In every society, there is a system that maintains the people in the community by overseeing their activities. In the same way, in the sex for hire enterprise, some people maintain control and balance of the industry. Pimps use violence and degradation of the prostitutes to control them while at the same time they use violence to protect these sex workers from clients who want to abuse them (Oblinger, 133). A freelance prostitute operates in an environment that is not controlled. As a result, freelancing poses several dangers to the worker. An individual in the society who operates outside the created rules that govern and maintain an optimal balance in the community is exposed to suffer injustice and mistreatment. In sexually oriented businesses, the establishments have rules which the managers have to ensure that every individual observes. In a massage parlor, an individual has to get a massage first before agreeing for any sexual act with the female worker.
Ethnic Profiling and Social Rules
I have also found put that ethnic profiling exists even in the sexually oriented businesses. The current society identifies certain jobs with a particular group of people in the community. For instance, jobs such as massaging are secluded for female workers. As a result of the need for females employees in workplaces such as massage parlor, strip clubs, and escort services, sex trafficking always involves female. The creation of the perception that sex workers are only females can be blamed for the increase in sex trafficking against women. However, in services such as escort services, there are male employees who also work there and are paid for sex. Furthermore, in many societies especially in the United States, the ethnic minorities are predominantly considered to be in the country illegally, and most of them work in sexually oriented businesses. For instance, massage parlor which offers sex-for-hire is usually Asian theme (Oblinger, 136). As a result, sexually oriented posting on the internet are usually Asian themed so that the clients can be able to identify. Many Latin-Americans work as exotic dancers in the gentlemen's club.
Challenges in Prosecution
Lastly, I found out that the social rule in the community can at times hinder the delivery of justice. The activities in society are governed by particular rules that are set. However, organized crimes such as sex trafficking do not adhere to these rules and regulations set by the community. As a result, finding justice for the victims of these crimes is difficult. The police officers and investigators have to use legal techniques in investigating these crimes while the perpetrators operate above the law. The sex trafficking businesses are complex such that when the police conduct arrests only the victims of these end up being arrest while their pimps remain within the society. The process of conducting investigation involves the collection of information which takes up a lot of time due to the legal obstacles (Oblinger, 144). Therefore, the rules that govern a society at times act to prevent delivery of justice in the community.
Conclusion
To conclude, Oblinger's chapter provides detailed information regarding sex trafficking in a sexually oriented business. The chapter objectively discusses how sex trafficking occurs in the society and the various factors that facilitate and maintain control of the enterprise. Furthermore, the chapter illustrates various forms of sexually oriented businesses in our current society and how these business shelter sex-for-hire activities in their establishments. Oblinger further discusses how the investigators can obtain information about these crimes to be used for prosecution. The details that Oblinger discusses in this chapter reflects how the society works.
References
Oblinger, D. G. (2014). Sex Trafficking in Sexually Oriented Businesses. In M. J. Palmiotto (Ed.), Combating Human Trafficking: A Multidisciplinary Approach (pp.129- 147). Boca Raton: CRC Press.
