by April Phelps

Created on: April 19, 2008   Last Updated: April 21, 2008

Reading about the sex trade upset and angered me, not only for the violence but also the victims and the perps are typed like prostitutes even after surviving a traumatic experience like rape or being sold for sexual favors at a very young age. Sounds akin to prostitution right? What's even more alarming is that the sex slaves sold, treated, and branded like cattle prove by their existence that there are victims in contrast to the "victimless crimes" Kendall mentions via the conflict perspective on prostitution (Kendall 151); in part owing that the emotional and psychological scars aren't visible to society's untrained eyes but linger anyway for years. To explain, a body broken is more noticeable than a hurt spirit, and because a spirit takes longer to heal after considering an encompassing view of sex-trafficking by the means of rape, porn, prostitution, and even the media.

A victim nor a perp is never looked at the same way again and is never the same again when people know what he or she has gone through and survived at the hands of sex traders, rapists, pimps. Even less surprising is when victims of the sex trade are typed unfairly, because dichotomous views contrast the fact that a human being is neither good nor bad. The ironic twist is that prostitutes are sex slaves going through the same hell, yet the US's dichotomous mindset doesn't see it that way, given the role of the individual in making and not making that choice. Case in point the media, porn, and the like suggest sex is less of a choice than we'd like to believe, as years of conditioning desensitize us and brainwash us into thinking of sex as something it isn't by glamorizing. In short partially culpable for this state of affairs is the laws associated with the prostitution and porn culture in the US, especially if it laxly legalizes and prostitutes looser standards to the point of acquiescing the sex trade in and outside of the US into a home product like Debbie Does Disneyland.

Sex trafficking will end when the victims within and without are acknowledged by their families, the public, and most importantly themselves. If the implicit suggestion is that sex is somehow bad by the means of years of conditioning through families, prostitution, and sex trafficking, then a flexible mode of thought needs to offer a less dichotomous view of sex without glamorizing it as something it isn't. Likewise what we see as "dirty" is very subjective via the same depictions. In short people need to embrace more than one view of sex without overkill laxing the laws in place to protect those who cannot consent of their will.

Learn more about this author, April Phelps.
Click here to send this author comments or questions.