To the men who buy us, we are like meat. To everybody else in
society, we simply do not exist.
– Kiya, survivor of human trafficking

Reports indicate increasing numbers of university and high school students are using social media to recruit their fellow students—some younger than 18 years old—into situations of sex trafficking.

THE CONNECTION TO SEX TRAFFICKING
When large populations of workers migrate for employment, especially to isolated locations, such as mining, logging, and agricultural camps, the incidence of sex trafficking in those areas may increase. Traffickers often advertise jobs for activities that are directly related to the primary industry, such as food service, mineral-sorting, or retail work in camp stores. Some individuals who take these jobs may instead find themselves the victims of sex trafficking. In the Democratic Republic of the Congo, for example, women who accepted jobs as waitresses in a bar near a mining camp in South Kivu province became trapped in debt bondage due to recruitment fees and medical expenses and were forced into prostitution to repay their debts.
Women may be forced into prostitution in the very regions and camps mentioned above where workers are in compelled service. Chinese companies operating in the Angolan construction sector recruit male Chinese workers, some of whom endure forced labor; these same operations also fraudulently recruit Chinese women who are later forced into prostitution.

18 2015 TRAFFICKING IN PERSONS REPORT

THE  LINK BETWEEN
EXTRACTIVE INDUSTRIES AND SEX TRAFFICKING

Extractive industries involve the removal of non-renewable raw materials such as oil, gas, metals, and minerals from the earth. Although communities can benefit from such industries by using these natural resources for sustainable development, their extraction has also “triggered violent conflicts, degraded the environment, worsened gender and other inequalities, displaced communities, and undermined democratic governance,” according to the UN Development Program. Furthermore, mining, drilling, and quarrying activities often occur in relatively remote areas with minimal infrastructure and limited rule of law, leading to the development of makeshift communities, such as mining “boom towns,” that are vulnerable to crime.
Forced labor in extractive industries has been well-documented; however, the link between these industries and sex trafficking is increasingly an issue of grave concern among governments and advocates alike. Bolivian and Peruvian girls are subjected to sex trafficking in mining areas in Peru, and women and girls are subjected to sex trafficking near gold mines in Suriname and Guyana. NGOs have reported continued commercial sexual exploitation of children related to mining sectors in Madagascar. In some areas, this exploitation involves organized crime. For example, in Colombia, NGOs report organized criminal groups  control sex trafficking  in some mining areas.
Any discovery of raw materials will necessarily lead to a large influx of workers and other individuals, some of whom will create a demand for the commercial sex industry. In Senegal, a gold rush resulted in rapid migration from across West Africa; some of these migrants are women and children exploited in sex trafficking. Likewise, in the oil industry, individuals are sometimes recruited with false promises of work opportunities, but instead are exploited in the sex trade. Service providers in areas near camps surrounding large-scale oil extraction facilities, such as the Bakken oil fields in North Dakota, report that sex traffickers are exploiting women in the area, including Native American women.
Sex trafficking related to extractive industries often occurs with impunity. Areas where extraction activities occur may be difficult to access and lack meaningful government presence. Information on victim identification and law enforcement efforts in mining areas can be difficult to obtain or verify. Convictions for sex trafficking related to the extractive industries were lacking in 2014, despite the widespread scope of the problem.

PREVENTING HUMAN TRAFFICKING IN GLOBAL SUPPLY CHAINS 19

OVERCOMING HARMFUL CULTURAL NORMS

Cultural norms, practices, and traditions play an important role in defining a country or society. Unfortunately, some cultural norms are at times used or distorted to justify practices or crimes, including modern slavery, that exploit and harm others. A 14-year-old girl may be advertised for sex, an 11-year-old boy may be hired as a domestic worker, or a young transgender woman may be subjected to trafficking in a popular sex tourism destination. Such customs may also create significant challenges that impede efforts to combat sex and labor trafficking.
Harmful cultural norms drive inequality, poverty, and discrimination. Depending on the particular country or region, these norms can be used to support, hide, or attempt to justify human trafficking and other criminal schemes, undermining laws designed to protect children and adults. Acquiescence to corruption and lack of transparency can also facilitate human trafficking and make it difficult to detect and combat.
Cultural norms that perpetuate inequality and a cycle of violence against women are closely linked with sex and labor trafficking in all regions of the world, from North America to South Asia and the Pacific. Other practices common to many regions of the world can harm children, migrants, and domestic workers and help facilitate forced child labor     or exploitation of migrant workers. Examples include minorities forced to beg and steal throughout Europe, children compelled through debt bondage and other means to work in hazardous conditions in South American and African mines, or workers exploited aboard fishing vessels at sea in East Asia. In addition to increasing the vulnerability of individuals, harmful cultural norms like these can hinder a government’s efforts to prevent human trafficking and create an environment in which the crime either remains hidden or is socially accepted—or even facilitated—and, therefore, more difficult to address by law enforcement.
Steadily increasing efforts to combat human trafficking around the globe challenge certain cultural norms. The Palermo Protocol, which has been accepted by 166 States parties and does not allow for any cultural variations, requires the criminalization of all forms of trafficking in persons, as do newly enacted domestic anti-trafficking laws. Likewise, public awareness campaigns and other prevention efforts can also push some traditions to change. In the Middle East, small robots have replaced young boys as jockeys in the sport of camel racing, and in East Asia and the Pacific, some governments have begun to strengthen their responses to child sex tourism by increasing public awareness that it is a crime and denying entry to known foreign sex offenders. African societies are beginning to recognize child domestic servitude as a crime and an injustice to children who instead deserve an education and a supportive environment in which to live. Efforts to prosecute, protect, and prevent human trafficking should continue to hasten the decline of harmful practices that had been defended as culturally justified and thus used to embolden those willing to enslave others.

20 2015 TRAFFICKING IN PERSONS REPORT