These we call traffickers or pimps and it is important to
understand that not only is trafficking their business, but business is all it is about. Where some may see a
person, these see a commodity. In fact, there are entire books written on how
to pimp or to give tips on preying on weaknesses and learning how to manipulate
and beat people into submission. With 27 million people being trafficked in the
world today, bringing in over $32 billion in profits a year, human trafficking
is now the fastest growing black criminal industry in the world. Because of its
magnitude, it is critical for those choosing to stand against trafficking to
understand who or what they are exactly against.
The second session of Breaking Free’s Tuesday training
focused on understanding pimps and traffickers. These people, usually male but
at times female too, could perhaps be considered expert “controllers.” They use
various forms of torture to psychologically, physically, and emotionally break
down their victims. Tuesday’s speaker, Joy Friedman, recounted several accounts
of such torture. One story told of a woman being doused in gasoline and having
lit matches dropped only feet from where she stood. These “games” are used by traffickers
to make it clear that the trafficker, not the victim, holds the key to the
victim’s life and death. The victim is not their own; they are property of
another. Pornography is also used blackmail for girls and can often be
considered torture according to federal definition. Torture of these kinds or
worse is the norm for those living in this kind of bondage.
On average, a pimp in the U.S. can make up to $600,000 per
year on just 4 women or girls. These women and girls are considered his
“stable” and must meet a profit quota each day or face being raped, beaten, or
worse. Such quotas usually range from $500-$1,000 a day, forcing women to
service more than 10 “clients” or “johns” daily. Girls are starved, beaten,
addicted to various substances, and through other means forced into compliance
with the pimp’s demands.
If it sounds gruesome, well, it is. And what sadly makes it more difficult to hears is that this is not something that is just happening thousands of miles across the Atlantic or on some Thursday night documentary. 8,000-12,000 women and children are expected to be involved in prostitution on any given night in Minnesota. Each has a completely different story. In fact, there's a good chance that last night somewhere along your route from home to work someone was being sexually exploited. Yes, this happens here.
If it sounds gruesome, well, it is. And what sadly makes it more difficult to hears is that this is not something that is just happening thousands of miles across the Atlantic or on some Thursday night documentary. 8,000-12,000 women and children are expected to be involved in prostitution on any given night in Minnesota. Each has a completely different story. In fact, there's a good chance that last night somewhere along your route from home to work someone was being sexually exploited. Yes, this happens here.
