Sound of Freedom: Global Obstacles to Fight Sex Trafficking of Children

The greatest obstacle to protecting women and children from sex-traffickers may be the governments that protect pornography and prostitution.

The UN General Assembly has not been idle when it comes to debating and adopting treaties and resolutions against trafficking.

There are two binding international treaties against sex-trafficking, the “Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons” and the “Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography,” ratified by nearly every country on earth.

The General Assembly commissioned the UN system to fight trafficking in a “Global Plan of Action” against trafficking beginning in 2010, and Western countries donate millions in aid bilaterally. The U.S. Agency for International Development, USAID, alone has provided over $370 million to fight human trafficking in nearly 90 countries since 2000. Dozens of events are held at UN headquarters every year to address trafficking, sometimes referred to as “modern slavery.”

Despite this whirlwind of international attention, it is widely acknowledged that sex-trafficking continues to grow in frequency and brutality, especially toward children.

Growing evidence points to legal prostitution and pornography as factors that contribute to this rise. Evidence shows that prostitution and pornography increase sex trafficking, sexual deviancy, and contribute to child sex trafficking.

While many traditional countries would gladly clamp down on prostitution and go after the pornography industry, Western countries resist efforts to cast pornography and prostitution in a negative light.

Indeed, Western countries are at the forefront of promoting unfettered sexual freedom, including legal prostitution and pornography, and have not been willing to acknowledge the role these play in sex-trafficking.

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