The Hard Truth | Supply & Demand

Written by a passionate college student who wants to see a different world.


There is a demand for sex in our world and a mother, daughter, son, brother, and sister is the supply. Geoff Rogers stated, “Human trafficking is the number one consumer of sex worldwide.


We are driving the demand as a society.” According to Fortune.com, “human trafficking is a

multi billion dollar company.” The number one buyer is American men.


American men buy sex more than anyone else in the world. 1 in 5 men in the U.S. today have bought sex at least once. American men are purchasing sex in greater numbers than people from any other nation in the world. This demand causes a never ending cycle in the U.S and the suppliers are coming from within the nation.


It is believed that foreigners are to blame for this disheartening activity happening within the U.S., but data says different. In 2018, the U.S Department of Justice released a statistic report of criminal defendants of human trafficking who were convicted in 2015. Table 5

(Characteristics of human-trafficking defendants in cases charged in U.S. district court,

2015) in the report, explains the characteristics of the criminal defendants who were convicted for human trafficking in 2015:

  • U.S Citizens: 93.9%

  • Legal Aliens: 2.9%

  • Illegal Aliens: 3.1%


Human trafficking is happening right now without a trace and the thought of it hurts us all. Our women and children are being targeted and sexualized and we as a community must act. The demand for human trafficking is growing and as the internet is becoming more advanced, predators are becoming even more creative.


This is not meant to shame anyone, but rather cast a light on the fact that there would not be a supply of minor domestic victims of trafficking if there weren't a demand. In order to eradicate sex trafficking in America, we have to acknowledge the entire problem and start to create pathways for change. Of course, we need more victim services, but we also need to establish more opportunities for buyers to understand the issue and receive help. Only a multi-pronged approach will ultimately end the cycle of sexual violence in America.


#DemandAnEnd #TheMoreYouKnow #everyONEmatters


Sources:

● https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2019/02/04/trump-claims-wall-is-needed-stop-human-trafficking-no-data-back-up-his-claim/?utm_term=.0e0d239dba12

● https://www.nytimes.com/2018/01/19/opinion/getting-tough-on-sex-traffickers.html

● http://fortune.com/2019/04/14/human-sex-trafficking-us-slavery/

● https://www.bjs.gov/content/pub/pdf/fphtc15.pdf