The Problem Of Sex Trafficking in Atlanta

Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, the busiest airport in the country, is one of the major contributing factors allowing sex trafficking to operate rampant in Atlanta. Photo Illustration by Vanessa Johnson | The Signal

There might have been one time in your life that you may have heard of the term ‘sex trafficking. Sex trafficking is an illegal business that recruits, harbors, transports, obtains or provides a person with another (often by force) for sex.

Atlanta is one of the major hubs for this criminal activity. A sex trafficker is like a pimp in many ways. 

They benefit financially from their victims by selling them for sex. Many consider sex trafficking the second-largest international criminal enterprise due to the number of victims the industry exploits.

Atlanta is a major hub for transporting sex trafficked victims. Many call it ‘modern-day slavery,’ which is the second-largest criminal enterprise in the world. Photo by lisamaekornze on flickr

Sex trafficking is considered modern-day slavery. Authorities regard it as modern-day slavery due to the trafficker forcing people into this line of work without their consent, with the trafficker stealing the victim’s money. 

Another reason it is considered slavery is due to how the traffickers get their victims. One of the many ways these horrible people get their victims is by selling them fake promises.

The types of promises have something to do with the victim’s ambitions in life. Once the trafficker gets them, they will gaslight the victim and tell them they will follow through with the promise=.

Sex traffickers typically target vulnerable people of all ages, but especially minors. Minors are popular targets for traffickers because a lot of children are naïve ideas about the world. Traffickers view children as more vulnerable than adult victims and feel they can trick them more easily. 

Of course, some victims are adults in a desperate time of their life. It can be because they are desperate financially, emotionally, or even mentally. 

Young and vulnerable are more likely to fall into these promises expecting them to follow through. 

Human traffickers use similar tactics to phone scammers. They look for vulnerable people.

Once the traffickers have officially trapped the victims, they find more ways to gain control of the situation with the victim. One of the ways is using force. They use force and intimidation to confine the victim, robbing them of control over their situation.

Another way they use force is by restraining the victims. This restraint emphasizes the idea that the victim cannot escape due to being tied down on a bed or another object, making it hard to get out.

The final way they use force with the victims is by physically or sexually assaulting them. This force could be their way to remind the victim there is no escape for them, and if they act out, they will harm them again.

It is essential to know the warnings of sex trafficking to avoid being another victim in this horrible enterprise.