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Sex trade is a result of male misconception

In the United States, we like to think of ourselves as above such practices as sexual bondage and slavery, and yet over 50,000 women are forcibly trafficked into this country annually. We are linked directly to slave markets all over the world, making it as much America's problem as any third world country's. The fact is, until attitudes about male sexuality change, women of all races, social-economic groups and backgrounds will be vulnerable to exploitation, rape, and sexual slavery.

Sexual slavery is now such a hot industry that the White House says it will replace the narcotics trade as the most lucrative smuggling activity. Women from all different countries, and sometimes within our own, are lured into prostitution when they are promised legitimate jobs or kidnapped. These enslaved women usually die within a couple of years, of illnesses like tuberculosis and AIDS. It seems incredible that these things could take place on American soil, but they do every day.

Women, often little girls, are forced into horrible conditions, sometimes chained to beds to prevent their escape. These women are underfed, sick, as they see anywhere from 12 to 32 men a day. If there was ever a reason for feminists and human rights advocates to shake off their complacency, this would be it. For not only does the issue force this country to look at its behavior and responsibility in the slave trade, but it forces each one of us to examine our country's sexual values.

Some men in this country, and in others, seem to believe that they are entitled to sex. Just listen to any number of conversations on campus, and you are sure to hear at least one man saying that he needs to get laid. Our culture's imagery is so male driven that one barely notices the discrepancy between the number of naked men as opposed to women on magazine covers. Just looking at the laws dealing with sexuality it becomes obvious who is really in control. Men who visit prostitutes are rarely punished, while the prostitutes pay the fines and serve jail time. In rape cases, women have their characters put on trial if they want to punish the offenders. That is, of course, if they make it through the horrible process of reporting the crime in the first place. Men, when they grow up, do so in a subculture that is tolerant of objectification and domination. It is not surprising to note that American men consume the services of sexual slaves at home and abroad. This behavior is a direct opposition to female behavior. No women's group is kidnapping men on a large scale and forcing them into prostitution. Neither are women raping men regularly. Women do not do those things. There is no demand for male slaves by females, because women are taught by our culture and others that their role in sexual situations is passive.

All of this means that women do not grow up expecting sex. They do not get a slap on the butt from their friends every time they sleep with someone new. It is not a rite of passage for a woman to lose her virginity like it is for a man. A woman who sleeps with people indiscriminately is not seen as a great person, but rather as a person with questionable moral values.

Men's standards are completely different. Men feel as though they are suppose to have their sexual needs satisfied, as though it was their right. The prostitution industry exists because people are using it, because many thousands, maybe even millions are. It is about time that our global society takes a hard look at why men worldwide feel justified in trafficking and exploiting women. Our global society must also take a good look at who exactly is being lured in or kidnapped. Very often it is foreign women who are trafficked because the remoteness of their culture, language and appearances makes them seem less human to those willing to exploit them. Our country and others must take a look at their racial and economic beliefs and how they are directly related to these horrible human rights violations. If the lives of the over 2 million sexual slaves are ever going to change, global sexual values need to change drastically. Men are going to have to be taught from boyhood to respect and value women as individuals even if it is contrary to their sexual drives. Men must be taught that sex is not their right, but rather a privilege that must be extended to them with the permission of a partner.