Humans for Sale or Rent

That was the message of Baylor assistant professor of social work Dr. Kim Kotrla when she led a seminar at Baylor's Next Big Idea Conference, held on February 9-11.

Kotrla told the Baylor Line that the biggest misconception about human trafficking is the idea that it happens only in foreign countries or—if it happens here—only to foreign nationals. "The latest research on sex trafficking in this country indicates that it is American youth who are most at risk for becoming victims of sex trafficking," she said.

Kotrla also talked to the Big Idea Conference crowd about a culture of tolerance that has crept into the United States. "Abercrombie & Fitch took a lot of flack for marketing thong underwear to girls ages seven to fourteen with phrases like 'eye candy' on them," she said, but many more instances have gone by with little protest. In fact, she brought a collection of items for young girls with questionable slogans like "I love sailors," which she is displaying in the photo. She even brought a baby onesie saying "Pimp my stroller." She also noted video games like Pimp my Ride and Grand Theft Auto, which—at the very least—have the effect of numbing sensitivity to real issues of exploitation.

The sex trade alone includes a vast array of crimes and victims, Kotrla said. Prostitution, pornography, and even stripping—crimes and activities which many Americans think of as victimless—are forms of human trafficking, she said. "These are not 'victimless' crimes," Kotrla noted. "In the past, we have viewed pornography and prostitution as moral issues; we need to change our perception to think of these people as victims."

Kotrla cited statistics noting that most females are introduced into the commercial sex industry before the age of eighteen and that the average age at which children are being lured into commercial sexual exploitation is twelve to thirteen. Those at greatest risk, she said, are runaways—one in three runaway teens will be lured into prostitution within forty-eight hours of running away. Kotrla also noted that 89 percent of prostitutes want to leave the industry but have no means to do so. The average age of death for a prostitute is thirty-four, she said.

The sex slave trade is a huge problem, she said, noting that the United States is the second-largest destination market for women and children trafficked for sexual exploitation—with fifteen to twenty thousand victims brought into the country annually. But human trafficking also includes labor trafficking (in the forms of domestic servitude, migrant and agricultural work, or sweatshops where workers are illegally and under paid), global trafficking of children (those as young as seven are used as soldiers), baby selling, organ trafficking, and bride trafficking.

Kotrla became interested in the topic of human trafficking as a natural outgrowth of her studies of women’s and children’s issues such as domestic violence and sexual assault, she said. "As the topic began to come up more in classes, I started to do more research, develop an organized community response, work with state legislators, and write and present on the topic," she said. At Baylor, she created the first-ever class on human trafficking, which she teaches each semester in the School of Social Work. "There is so much to learn about this issue that it is challenging to decide what to cover in a semester," she said.

For people who are concerned about this issue, Kotrla suggests that the best way to be helpful is through education and training. "If someone is employed in an agency where victims might be identified—health care, social services, law enforcement, legal services—ask that your agency receive training," she suggested. "Most victims will not self-identify, but it is critical that service providers understand the red flags and know how to appropriately and safely respond."