Human Trafficking for Commercial Sexual Exploitation: The Nigerian Sex Trafficking Industry

International Journal of Research and Innovation in Social Science (IJRISS) | Volume III, Issue X, October 2019 | ISSN 2454–6186

Human Trafficking for Commercial Sexual Exploitation: The Nigerian Sex Trafficking Industry

Yahaya Yakubu

Political Science & International Relations, Nile University of Nigeria

Abstract:- The incidence of trafficking in persons for commercial sexual exploitation or other forms, either within or across national borders can be said to be spurred by the desire to amass material wealth cum financial benefits on the side of the traffickers and desperation on the side of the prospective or to be victims to access a better standard of living, escape poverty, uprising, political instability, socioeconomic instability, access to gainful employment amongst other factors as the case maybe. Though trafficking is not peculiar to any single region but can be argued to be more prevalent in developing countries, where unemployment rates are usually high and living conditions are poor, incessant political crisis amongst other numerous factors. This study seeks to interrogate the interplay between neoliberal globalization both as an economic theory and a policy stance and trafficking in persons for commercial sexual exploitation, with emphasis on the Nigerian sex trafficking industry.

I. INTRODUCTION

The illicit trade in humans as commodities, either for the purpose of sexual exploitation, forced labor, servitude, child labor, and the likes may vary contextually; however they are geared towards exploitation on for the victims and amassing of financial or material benefits for perpetrators. The continuous growth of the sex trafficking industry can be linked to the high demand for cheap labor and sex in advanced nations and the availability of such cheap labor and commercial sex in less developed nations, where desperation to escape poverty and access a quality standard of living have created persons vulnerable to trafficking. This is not to say however that commercial sex trafficking or other forms of trafficking are alien to advanced countries, as human trafficking if not given due diligence is likely to persist anywhere. According to Bales (1997), trafficking is not a new phenomenon, either in the form of slavery or for labor purposes. Origin of trafficking policy dates back to the end of the nineteenth century when white slavery or trafficking of white women for forced prostitution received wide media coverage in the Western part of Europe and the United States respectively.

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