Human trafficking and sex trafficking are one of the most serious crimes in the world, and also in the United States. Although human trafficking is talked about much less often in the United States than trafficking abroad, it is becoming a bigger problem than ever. As of this writing, approximately 300,000 children in the United States are at risk of becoming victims of trafficking and sexual exploitation; this figure does not even take into account adults at risk or already victims of trafficking. Women and girls are at the highest risk of being involved in sex trafficking. This is due to many sociological factors, including rape culture, the objectification and infantilization of women, male dominance and entitlement, and poverty. Because sex trafficking disproportionately affects women, it is undoubtedly a feminist issue. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay Unfortunately, organizations that strive to offer help to victims of human trafficking and sex trafficking in the United States and around the world are often severely underfunded. This means that women and girls are often turned away from shelters simply because there is not enough space for them and that the services these organizations can provide are too limited. Fortunately, there is a federal fund called the Crime Victims Fund that exists solely to offer help to victims of crimes, including victims of sex trafficking. However, in 2015, in an effort to pass a budget, Congress decided to take $1.5 billion from the Crime Victims Fund to try to pay off some of the national debt. This tactic demonstrates how little the American government cares about its citizens, especially those who are victims of human trafficking, abuse, or other crimes. This is simply unacceptable and Congress must recognize this and put the money back into the Fund. That's why, to put an end to this campaign against sexism, I'm proposing a lobbying campaign to pressure Congress to return the funds. This campaign is called Respect the Fund. I will spread the word about the cuts to the Crime Victims Fund using social media such as Facebook and Twitter using the hashtag #RespectTheFund. So, once awareness is raised, I will encourage people to write letters and call their district and state representatives to pressure them to return the money to the Victim Crimes Fund. Hopefully, with enough pressure, Congress will reverse this flawed decision. The United Nations defines human trafficking as “the recruitment, transportation, transfer, harboring or receipt of persons, through the threat or use of force or other forms of coercion, abduction, fraud, deception, abuse of power or a position of vulnerability or the giving or receiving of payments or benefits to obtain the consent of a person who has control over another person, for the purpose of exploitation" (Clift, 2015). While many Americans tend to think of human trafficking as a problem prevalent in other countries, the truth is that the human trafficking industry is alive and well here in the United States, and sex trafficking is particularly widespread, sex trafficking is currently the industry fastest growing crime, as well as the second largest after drug and illegal weapons trafficking, an estimated 27 million adults and 13 million children are victims of human trafficking, which includes sex trafficking, forced labor and organ harvesting.Of those trafficked into sex trafficking, eighty percent are under the age of 24, and some are as young as 3 (Clift, 2015). An estimated 30,000 victims of sex trafficking die each year due to torture, abuse, neglect and disease. Furthermore, victims are often conditioned to be less resilient through the use of torture, rape, forced drug use, isolation, confinement, and threats to family members. In today's world, there are more human slaves than ever before in history (Clift, 2015). The average age of entry into sex trafficking for American minors is between 12 and 14 years old. According to recent statistics from the Federal Bureau of Investigation, approximately 300,000 children are at risk of trafficking and sexual exploitation each year in the United States (Clift, 2015). The National Human Trafficking Resource Center (NHTRC) compiled a report based on data from December 7, 2007 to December 31, 2012 that compiled data from information the organization received from its hotline. The report, Human Trafficking Trends in the United States, contains data on the most common forms of sex trafficking, victim demographics, and states with the highest number of reported cases. In the time frame from which the data comes, cases of human trafficking were reported in all 50 states and the District of Columbia. The most common form of sex trafficking in the United States is pimp-controlled prostitution, which comprises approximately 42% of reported cases. to the NHTRC. A frequently used process, pimp-controlled prostitution begins when pimps recruit their victims by showing romantic interest in them, but then forcing them into prostitution. In most reports like this one, pimps advertised sexual acts online. Over 60% of sex trafficking cases involving pimp-controlled prostitution involved victims of American citizens (WomenPolice, 2014). Traffickers were most often reported as male U.S. citizens trafficking young adults and underage women. Domestic work accounted for the majority of labor trafficking, at 27%; It is important to note that domestic workers often experience verbal, physical and sexual abuse from the people they live with (WomenPolice, 2014). Eighty-four percent of victims in these cases came from outside the United States, with the most frequently cited countries being Ethiopia, Kenya, Mexico, India, and the Philippines. The five states with the most reported cases are California, with the highest number, followed by Texas, Florida, New York and Illinois. Children were named in 2,668 of the 9,298 unique cases used to compile the report. Children were the reported victims in 20% of labor trafficking cases and 33% of sex trafficking cases (WomenPolice, 2014). You would think that considering that human trafficking and sex trafficking are still such a widespread problem in the United States, law and government officials would do everything in their power to combat it and help its victims. Unfortunately this is not the case. Too often, victims who escape sex trafficking are accused of prostitution, even though they were forced and coerced into this business and have made no profit. This is especially a problem for children escaping sex trafficking. Although international and federal laws require that children involved in sex trafficking be treated as trafficking victims and not as prostitutes, states and localities in the United States do not enforce these laws. Each year, over 1,000 children in the United States are arrested for prostitution, even though most of them are too young to legally consent to sex (Clift, 2015). The Justicefor Victims of Trafficking Act of 2015 initially looked promising. The bill aimed to strengthen law enforcement's ability to prosecute people who buy sex from trafficked girls and women in order to fine them. The fines collected were to be placed in the Crime Victims Fund, which is a collection composed entirely of criminal fines, forfeited bonds and penalties. Originally, the Justice for Victims of Trafficking Act received strong support from both Democrats and Republicans (Clift, 2015). After all, everyone knows that sex trafficking is a despicable practice, so who could vote against such a bill? Unfortunately, congressional Republicans took advantage of this opportunity and inserted anti-abortion language into the bill at the last minute before it was voted on. These additions would have prevented victims from receiving federal aid from the Crime Victims Fund that would have allowed them to terminate pregnancies conceived during trafficking. Senate Democrats fortunately caught these additions before the bill was voted on, and the bill was then blocked. After a month of debate, the bill was passed and became law. However, the compromise found between the two parties still included some anti-abortion provisions. Representatives agreed to include two funding streams in the bill: one that collects fines from traffickers and uses them for survivor services to the exclusion of health care, and one that comes from community health center funds, who are already subject to abortion restrictions ( Bendery, 2015 ). Once again, anti-abortion political rhetoric refuses to treat women and girls as people, even those who are survivors of sex trafficking. The patriarchal society in which we live attributes such a low value to women's lives that cases like the one that happened with the Justice for victims of trafficking occur too often. Misogyny is alive and well in America today, and this is demonstrated by the actions of our elected representatives. Women's rights issues, even those that have nothing to do with abortion, are often co-opted for other purposes or molded into anti-abortion rhetoric, all of which function as oppression for women, whether small or small. large scale. During sex Trafficking is a problem that affects all genders, it is important to note that it overwhelmingly affects women. This makes it a decidedly feminist issue. The objectification of women and their lower status in society make us more susceptible to crimes such as sex trafficking. Women are also more likely than men to live in poverty, which makes a person more susceptible to human trafficking (Shaw & Lee, 2012). Being a women's issue also means that sex trafficking is an issue that receives less media coverage and attention, less funding and even less sympathy than issues that affect both genders equally or issues that affect men more (Danis, 2013). Because of the United States' anti-sex work stance, women who escape sex trafficking often come into question about their motives and circumstances. Too often, victims of sex trafficking are treated like criminals and arrested for prostitution. Blaming also occurs among victims of sex trafficking. Victims of sex trafficking are told that they made bad decisions that forced them into trafficking, that they didn't fight back harshly enough against their traffickers and rapists, that they allowed themselves to be put in their situations. . Their pain and suffering are not taken.