The Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act (TVPRA), defines sex trafficking as the recruitment, harboring, transportation, provision, obtaining, patronizing, or soliciting of a person for the purposes of a commercial sex act, in which the commercial sex act is induced by force, fraud, or coercion, or in which the person induced to perform such an act has not attained 18 years of age. 22 U.S.C. § 7102(9)-(10). The Justice for Victims of Trafficking Act (JVTA) amended the U.S. Code to add enticing, advertising, and maintaining to the list of verbs that constitute severe form of trafficking in persons. 18 U.S.C. § 1591(a).
Beyond shaping the legal definition of sex trafficking, words have the power to shape how society views and treats victims and survivors of sex trafficking. Words that seem neutral or even empowering may have unintended consequences. In order to further explore how vocabulary can shape our understanding of complex social and legal issues, the CSE Institute will be featuring a mini-series of five student-written essays during the last two weeks of February. Each essay critiques the use of a particular word or phrase that is commonly associated with sex trafficking and commercial sexual exploitation. We are excited to publish this mini-series and open a discussion on the impact terms can generate on social perspectives of sex trafficking.