Sex Trafficking in America Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Sex Trafficking in America - Essay Example This paper is an attempt to, briefly, explore, and understand the extent and depth of sex trafficking within the United States, the actions taken by the government to combat this problem and the way forward. Discussion Significant here to note is that almost all the statistics regarding this trafficking are unreliable and incomplete because many of these activities are taking place off the grid and underground. However, some statistics indicate that at least 0.1 million and as much as 0.3 million children within the United States are victims of sex trafficking within the country. During the past few months, many US states have passed legislation considering the increasing seriousness of this problem. The State of Virginia, during the first week of May 2012, passed new anti-human trafficking laws. It was on April 5, 2012, that Governor Earl Ray Tomblin signed the legislation, which criminalized human trafficking within West Virginia thus effectively making it the 49th state to pass an ti-human trafficking laws, with only Wyoming left as the only state in the absence of any anti-human trafficking laws. Earlier in November 2011, Massachusetts became the 48th state pass such legislation according to which the pimps and other running brothels and forcing women and children into labor and sexual exploitation would receive life imprisonment. Furthermore, the law would also treat the women and children forced into prostitution as victims rather than offenders. In the aftermath of the report, which indicated, that every year over 1000 US-born children are forced into sex trade and more than 800 immigrants become the victim for trafficking in the state of Ohio, the policymakers in the state created an anti-human trafficking task force. However, human rights activists and NGOs still believe that US has a lot to do to protect the victims of sex trafficking and discourage such events from happening in the near future. Even today, USA is a tier 1 country for trafficking that means that the government is only meeting the minimum requirements to solve the problem. Furthermore, unlike Massachusetts in many other states, the trafficking laws and law enforcement agencies, rather than providing relief to the victims consider them as the offenders. More importantly, these people, even when freed from sexual exploitation and bonded labour, these people have to face the social stigma associated with their past lives. They fail to become well functioning members of the society because the authorities refuse to clear their records. On top of it, even if they try to become a part of the society, multiple arrests, incarceration, housing discrimination, employment discrimination, deportation and presence of a criminal record prevent them from doing so. Furthermore, many states have also failed to include safe harbor clauses into the anti-trafficking laws to protect the minors, eliminate their liability, and recognize them as victims.

How Check-Cashing Services Impact Low-Income Americans Research Paper

How Check-Cashing Services Impact Low-Income Americans - Research Paper Example â€Å"[W]hen a San Francisco-based bank began to offer commercial check-cashing services in the Los Angeles area, it was criticized as ‘ripping off’ the poor† (pp. 142). B. How Did They Begin? These check-cashing services often started out as small, mom-and-pop operations that sold antiques, jewelry, televisions, and other odds-and-ends items and knick-knacks. Pretty soon, check-cashing services included everything from getting a check cashed (without having to have a bank account)—to other financial services, including getting cashier’s checks and money orders. A. Who Started the Service? These services were started by people who had a little bit to invest in their business. Usually, these service providers started out small, and, as their wealth grew, they could either expand their pawnshops or check-cashing services—which didn’t require a checking account at the bank, which was a novelty for poor people who traditionally didn’ t have financial services available to them due to their socioeconomically-disadvantaged status. II. How Did Check-Cashing Services Become Popular? Check-cashing services became popular when people realized that they needed some kind of banking services in order to cash their checks for pennies on the dollar. What they didn’t realize was that these currency exchanges were often charging exorbitant fees for providing said services. III. What Groups Were Targeted A. How Were These Groups Selected? These groups were most likely selected due to their low socioeconomic status. People who are living in poverty rarely have less cash flow, and less capital to be able to put towards financial services—such as, say, having a checking and/or savings account at the bank. Thus, this can drive people into even more poverty because they are not saving money. Since they are not saving money, unfortunately, this is causing them much distress—having to usually live paycheck to pa ycheck. Many of these people are struggling economically. With many people out of work and the national unemployment rate at 9%, several people do not have jobs and are just living on their earnings from part-time jobs and unemployment checks, not to mention welfare checks from the government. A large percentage of the American population is now living on welfare. These currency exchanges (or ‘check-cashing’ services) just prey upon the fact that the poor don’t have access to good financial services because banks usually don’t cash checks for people who don’t have accounts with their banks. B. What Do Critics Say About Targeting These Groups? Critics would generally agree that targeting this low-income, socioeconomically-disadvantaged groups would be morally and ethically wrong—speaking from the standpoint of a consumer.