Sex trafficking isn't what you think it is | Meghan Sobel | TEDxMileHighWomen

“When I first started studying sex trafficking in 2008, I thought it meant girls were kidnapped and chained to beds,” explains Professor Meghan Sobel. Soon she realized that was the Hollywood version - not the reality. In order to combat sex trafficking effectively, we must first understand what it is.

Meghan is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Communication at Regis University, where she teaches classes on international communication, public relations, and human rights. Meghan's research focuses on the role of mass media in combating human rights abuses and humanitarian crises. She is also a certified cake decorator.

This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at http://ted.com/tedx

When I say sex trafficking,

and especially
sex trafficking in Thailand,

images like this might pop into your head.

That's understandable.

Research has shown that when we don't
have first-hand experience with an issue,

we craft our understandings
based on media representations.

But this is the Hollywood version;
the reality is often very different.

By definition, trafficking
means forced work.

A victim of sex trafficking is someone
who is forced to work in the sex industry

against his or her will.

Sex trafficking happens
in every country on earth

in both urban and rural areas.

In fact, some people
are mislead by the word 'traffic'

to think that it must involve
cross-border movement,

but that's smuggling.

A person could be trafficked
in their home town.

It's also worth noting
that boys can be trafficked too,

in much the same way that girls can,

but oftentimes, they're left out
of the conversation.

This is Oi and his younger brother.

They grew up in a rural hill-tribe village
in Northern Thailand,

not far from the Myanmar border.

These hill-tribe communities
are ethnic minorities in Thailand,

and highly discriminated against.

Oi's mother died of a heroin overdose,

and he and his younger siblings
were left in the care of their stepfather.

It's culturally common
in this part of the world and many others

for children to bear the financial
obligation of caring for their families.

Being the oldest child,
Oi felt immense responsibility.

There's also a great deal of migration
in this part of the world,

particularly people coming from Myanmar
to Thailand seeking a better life.

However, just because a baby
is born in Thailand,

that baby is not guaranteed
Thai citizenship.

Oftentimes, it's dependent
upon the citizenship of their parents.

Oi was born in Thailand,
but his parents are from Myanmar.

Thus, Oi, as well as many
other children and adults,

lack citizenship in any country,
a term that is called 'stateless.'

Without citizenship in Thailand,
you can't go to public school,

you can't access healthcare,

and you can't move freely
outside of your province.

As a result, Oi's options
for earning money were very limited.

When he was 12 years old,
he followed an older boy from his village

to the Northern Thailand city
of Chiang Mai seeking work.

Oi grew up speaking a language
unique to his village.

He didn't know much Thai or English,
so when he got to Chiang Mai,

he started by trying to sell flowers
to tourists in a night market,

but he wasn't making much money.

So he followed
one of the other boys to a bar

in hopes of making more money there.

Just after nightfall, the bar,

situated in the heart
of Chiang Mai's red light district,

filled with young boys just like Oi.

It did not take him long
to see what this job entailed.

Oi eventually, extremely reluctantly,

followed in the footsteps
of the other boys.

It started with drink orders and massages,

but in order to make enough money
to care for his younger siblings,

it quickly turned into
Oi having sex with foreign men.

He dreaded every evening that he worked.

He started drinking
and taking drugs to numb himself,

but he knew that he would never
be able to make enough money

working in a restaurant
or selling souvenirs, so he continued on.

He felt as if he had no choice.

He still wasn't making enough money,

so during this time, Oi made the decision
to steal $80 from one of his customers.

He was arrested and received
a lengthy jail sentence,

likely as a result of discrimination

against members
of these hill-tribe communities.

For stealing that $80,
Oi spent four years in jail,

and his customer walked completely free.

Oi is a victim of sex trafficking,

and his story represents
the sober realities of this life.

To be clear, though,
not all sex work is trafficking.

There are consenting prostitutes,

and they deserve
to have their rights respected.

Some people willingly choose
to work in the sex industry,

but many do not,

and that's where trafficking comes in.

While every instance
of sex trafficking is different,

Oi's story is much more
common in Thailand,

among both men and women,

than are instances of people
being kidnapped and chained to beds.

Most victims of sex trafficking
are physically free,

but not psychologically free.

On one hand, Oi is not chained to a bed.

In theory, he can walk away
from the situation at any time.

However, if he does that, his family
will not be able to afford to eat.

His younger siblings will have to work,
maybe in the sex industry,

and because of the financial obligation,

he'll likely bring immense shame
to himself and his family.

Is that really a choice that he can make?

He has no choice.

I'm fortunate to have been born
into a middle class family

and raised in a nice suburb
outside of Boulder.

I have a great deal of privilege,
and thus, vast choices.

When I started researching
sex trafficking in 2008,

I thought it meant that girls
were kidnapped and chained to beds.

But since then,
my understanding of the issue

and how best to stop it has evolved,

and I want to take you
on that journey with me.

Many western NGOs, staffed
with well-intentioned folks like myself,

have started working on anti-trafficking
efforts around the world.

Specifically in Thailand,
some of these Western organizations

have begun conducting
what are called 'smart raids.'

They identify a facility, a bar,
a brothel, a massage parlor,

and they raid the facility.

They remove the people
that they believe were trafficked,

and oftentimes they remove
all of the sex workers in that facility.

They then take them to a shelter.

While this might sound
like a noble effort,

it's ineffective in addressing
the broader social, political,

and economic web of issues
that create such problems.

At times, it even exacerbates the problem.

It subjects these individuals
to possible deportation

and long, involuntary stays in shelters.

Many report feeling
like they are in prison.

And, because it ignores
the economic causes

that resulted in this person working
in the sex industry in the first place,

it can mean that a younger sibling
has to enter the sex industry

to support the family.

Additionally, the social system in place

does not provide appropriate
aftercare or rehabilitation,

so many people end up back in the brothel

with increased trauma
and increased distrust of NGOs.

But, you can see where these
well-meaning Westerners got the idea.

Smart raids make sense
for rescuing girls chained to beds.

They don't make sense

for addressing complex cycles
of intergenerational poverty.

They are merely a reactionary approach
to a false notion of the problem:

the Hollywood version.

They are called 'smart raids,'

but I think they should really be called
'not-smart-at-all raids.'

So, what can we do?

We can start by acknowledging the fact

that trafficking is the result of complex
social, political, and economic problems.

But just because
there's a lot of grey area,

it doesn't mean there aren't
concrete steps we can take to stop it.

First, as Westerners,

it's about time that we confront
the issue of demand.

As long as there is a demand,
there will be a supply.

We want the purchasers of this sex

to look like greasy,
creepy, back-alley men

that live in faraway places.

But they're not.

Many are clean-cut,
well-dressed, successful Americans.

They are our sons,

and brothers,

and neighbors,

and co-workers.

Given the surreptitious nature
of sex trafficking,

we don't know the specific statistics
about how prevalent Americans are

in purchasing this sex,

but by many estimates
and my own observations,

Americans account
for the majority of sex purchased

from trafficked individuals in Thailand.

What are we doing in our society today

to raise people to think
that it's okay to go to Thailand,

or go down the block in their hometown,

and pay to have sex with a child?

We have the choice to address
this issue of demand head-on

by having difficult conversations
with our loved ones

about what our privileged actions
are doing to those that have few choices.

Additionally, we can leverage
our privilege in other ways.

We can advocate for policy changes

that address the root causes
of inequality, locally and globally:

labor laws, immigration laws,
gender inequality,

access to education and healthcare.

We can funnel resources into programs

that promote aftercare and rehabilitation
for trafficking survivors.

This is a recent picture of Oi.

He was released from jail
earlier this year,

and with the help of a Chiang Mai-based
anti-trafficking organization

called Urban Light,

he received health services,
transitional housing, legal services,

and language and employment skills.

He now works full time helping other boys
get the resources that they need

to have the choice to leave the bar.

We can succeed in transforming
the lives of sex trafficking victims

at home and abroad,
but we must first deal with the reality.

While things like citizenship
and statelessness and language skills

don't make for as exciting
of a documentary as a raid does,

they have a lasting impact

on breaking the cycle of poverty
that causes trafficking.

Ultimately, if we want
to end sex trafficking,

we need to rethink
how we understand what it is.

Let's cut through the Hollywood hype

and leave these
not-smart-at-all raids behind.

Let's expand our understanding of choice

and move beyond raising awareness

to truly tackle the core issues
surrounding trafficking.

I will leave you with the words
of Dr. Wayne Dyer:

"If you change the way you look at things,
the things you look at change."

(Applause)