Female sex traffickers

[EightWheelGirl]

I’d always assumed the vast majority of sex traffickers were male, but with the Ghislaine Maxwell case currently getting a lot of attention in the media I’ve read a fair few statistics lately that suggest women are actually fairly well represented in this area - in fact, significantly more so than in other criminal activities. I found this quite surprising as you’d think women would have more empathy for the victims than men, with the vast majority of victims presumably being female. However, it seems that this isn’t the case.

I wonder if this is similar to the situation whereby the sexually abused are more likely to become abusers themselves.

Worldwide, 38% of the suspected perpetrators of human trafficking are female [25, 26]. Women from Central Europe and East Asia are even twice as likely to be a suspect of human trafficking than men (68% versus 32%) [25, 26]. Research by Van Dijk et al. [28] into prostitution-related human trafficking in the Netherlands between 1997 and 2000, shows that a quarter of the perpetrators were female. A small part (14%) of this group of women were considered by the police as one of the leaders of the criminal organization [28]. Staring [22] reports that, in most cases, women are part of the criminal group. These figures demonstrate that the proportion of female perpetrators in human trafficking should not be underestimated. Despite these considerable numbers of female suspects, little research has been conducted into this phenomenon. Therefore, theoretical and empirical advancement in this area is nearly absent.

link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10611-019-09840-x

The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) said that 28 percent of convicted traffickers between 2010-2012 were women, many of them acting as guards, recruiters and money collectors, to gain the trust of female victims.

news.trust.org/item/20141124163933-6vy1j/

Ah, I meant to post this in chat not the gender bit.

Report your own thread and MNHQ will move it for you.

I think it was 24 hours in police custody that showed a case of sex trafficking. If I remember rightly one of the girls that had been trafficked worked her way up and then started trafficking other girls, which would explain why numbers of female sex traffickers are higher than you'd imagine.

@GCITC

I think it was 24 hours in police custody that showed a case of sex trafficking. If I remember rightly one of the girls that had been trafficked worked her way up and then started trafficking other girls, which would explain why numbers of female sex traffickers are higher than you'd imagine.

So sounds very much like a case of self preservation. Not meaning in the selfish sense, more in the case of having to choose between being a victim or joining the oppressors.

Some women who are in this were once trafficked themselves. They can be useful because girls are more likely to trust them.

But also, trafficking isn't in itself sexually motivated. Women are as likely to be greedy and exploitative as anyone else. Lots of men are happy to exploit other men, why wouldn't women exploit other women?

I'd agree most female traffickers are current or former prostitutes.

If you're from say Brazil or France, and you come to the UK to work in prostitution, you can more easily persuade girls from your home country to come over here than a big burly looking man can. Especially if you look glamorous and successful in the superficial sense.

Females willing to do this (traffic) must be highly prized in the industry, and even groomed themselves.

They don't work alone do they. "Behind every successful man is a great woman" or whatever....

I’d imagine that women can more easily gain the trust of other women. Sad that they don’t have any sense of solidarity. But look how many women support genderism and oppose single-sex rights. We are trained from birth to put men first, and we see them in power. So it’s not surprising many women see an advantage in pleasing men.

Perhaps if they recruit other women they get out of the sexual abuse themselves. Didn't that happen in Three Girls? The original abused girl recruited two younger girls and was then left alone in favour of 'fresh meat'?

Yes I think this has been a common pathway through history. Formerly trafficked or abused girl or woman perpetuates the structure. It's a patriarchal structure.

Lots of abused women/children find themselves hoping they are less attractive to abusers than another woman/child and then feeling guilty they have left that other person to be abused instead of them.

It is extremely common

As others have mentioned sometimes the only way for women to exit being trafficked is to become a recruiter for traffickers. This also happens with males e.g. the horrific situation with the so called "dancing boys" of Afghanistan, where the poor boys, if they survive their childhood, have lives that are utterly ruined with no hope of a decent life. Many become trainers / recruiters for the traffickers.

The other issue is cults, which are usually (not aways) run by men, but which frequently use females as recruiters as has been well documented re Orgasmic Meditation, NXIVM, Ashram Shambla, the Deer Tribe, and a certain notorious Romanian "tantric" yoga school.

This is a massively complex issue and I would be pleased to post more, but for now am restricted by time

I expect the vast majority have been exploited themselves (even Maxwell, actually) but to what extent can that be an excuse and when do peole have to take responsibility for their own actions?

Unsurprising - there have always been 'madams' as well as pimps, haven't there?

Agree self preservation. These women have a vested interest in continuing to bring in other women to appease and mitigate the danger of the males they are bound to.

Never fall into the trap of thinking women are all lovely, benevolent and kind. The Madam has always existed and women are particularly good at people trafficking - comparatively low risk, constant demand, good money, easier for a woman to gain a victims trust. I used to deliver anti human trafficking training and was surprised to learn all this.

@SocialConnection

Never fall into the trap of thinking women are all lovely, benevolent and kind. The Madam has always existed and women are particularly good at people trafficking - comparatively low risk, constant demand, good money, easier for a woman to gain a victims trust. I used to deliver anti human trafficking training and was surprised to learn all this.

I grew up with 3 brothels within a few doors of me. All of them run by the mother who included their own children in the availability of offerings.

I have very few illusions about my own sex and what it's prepared to do to its own class.

The rape myth "the abused go on to abuse" is a myth. If the abused go on to abuse, why are 98% of perpetrators men and not women. As women are the lion's share of victims.

Women are as likely to be greedy and exploitative as anyone else. Lots of men are happy to exploit other men, why wouldn't women exploit other women?

While the cycle of abuse is very real, I'm afraid that yes, not all women involved in trafficking other women get a pass.
Remember that there are women who actively choose prostitution to make money, despite having no background in it. There's often an outcry from those who see it as empowering when there's any clampdown on the trade.

So yes, while we might find it hard to imagine, and would desperately like to find excuses for them, some* of those women find they can make easy money by recruiting more women to do something that they have no problem with doing themselves.

*note the "some". I am in no doubt at all that most will find themselves in it through coercion. But denying the fact that there are those of our own sex who are callous enough to be just about the money, is putting our heads in the sand.

There is another sex abuse/grooming gang scandal up North, involving 39 men from a Pakistani background and 3 English women who were procuring the girls. The women are 41/42, so it makes you wonder if they were abused at the same time, over 20 years ago.

www.examinerlive.co.uk/news/west-yorkshire-news/39-men-3-women-charged-22305809

I grew up with 3 brothels within a few doors of me. All of them run by the mother who included their own children in the availability of offerings.

I have very few illusions about my own sex and what it's prepared to do to its own class.

That’s grim.

While the cycle of abuse is very real, I'm afraid that yes, not all women involved in trafficking other women get a pass.

Agreed. Most trafficked women will at some point be the target of coercion aimed to persuade them to become a recruiter of other women / girls. One of the interesting things about this is that some women only escape from their traffickers and pimps when they are put under this pressure. I know as this happened to me. Nothing like being invited to become an abuser yourself to make you think about your own abusive situation. Some these women take the step of becoming an abuser themselves. How culpable are they? I believe it depends on multiple contextual factors. These things are nuanced.

Just for an example, the situation of a woman whose children are threatened by traffickers is far less culpable than a woman whose children are safe.

Remember that there are women who actively choose prostitution to make money, despite having no background in it. There's often an outcry from those who see it as empowering when there's any clampdown on the trade.

Deciding to become a sex worker and believing that it is empowering is absolutely not the same thing as being a trafficker or a recruiter though is it? Also many women who freely decide to make money from selling sex often end up trafficked. Such women deserve the same rights and legal protections as any other trafficked women.

Maybe I misunderstood your post but it comes across as you equating women who freely choose to sell sex with women working as traffickers / recruiters, which is a fairly outrageous thing to say. Obviously

So yes, while we might find it hard to imagine, and would desperately like to find excuses for them, some of those women find they can make easy money by recruiting more women to do something that they have no problem with doing themselves.

Again, you seem to be equating women who choose to sell sex with trafficking recruiters. Am I misunderstanding you?

When I escaped from my trafficker I sold sex for a while to survive and to get myself housing and keep myself safe. I knew many other women who sold sex and who, while vulnerable in multiple, complex ways, were neither traffickers nor pimps.

I do not think that prostitution is something to be encouraged or promoted, however I feel that it is deeply unhelpful and offensive to portray women to choose to sell sex as being equated with pimps and traffickers.

Apologies if I misunderstood you post

Maybe I misunderstood your post but it comes across as you equating women who freely choose to sell sex with women working as traffickers / recruiters, which is a fairly outrageous thing to say. Obviously

I probably didn't express myself well, because I really don't equate them with traffickers.
What I was trying to put across is that some women manage to be able to take the emotion out of sex. To see it as transactional and just pity the men (often) rather than feel uncomfortable about it.

Some of those female traffickers might also have that transactional attitude to selling their bodies, so potentially not have any empathy with the young women they traffick. It's just another unemotional transaction, and they don't feel that they're emotionally damaging their fellow women.

Most of us don't want to think that women could do this to other women. Because we DO have empathy and we can't perceive of having our bodies abused, or making someone else have their body abused. But there are women out there without that feeling - just as there are women who assault children. It's unimaginable for most of us, but we can't pretend it doesn't happen or assume that every female trafficker is only doing it under threat of danger from a man.

Also I'm so glad that you managed to escape @hoodathunkit. My voluntary work in retirement is partly with young women who are trafficked to the UK. I've heard some terrible stories. Many are very grateful to have the police or the Home Office* discover them and give them the opportunity to escape.

*I don't work for either. I'm there to support them afterwards. Occasionally, unwittingly, I've found that the woman I'm supporting is actually the trafficker. And that has been awful to discover.

If we want women (collectively) to be viewed as full human beings, then we have to be honest about women also being capable of exploiting others, motivated by greed, power and lack of empathy, being incredibly cruel and manipulative. It's not just sex trafficking, but also things like women trapped as servants / housemaids and being treated terribly by the woman of the household, tortured and beaten etc.

Of course, overall such vile women will be in the minority when compared to the levels and types of male violence and aggression. And some will certainly be influenced by their own terrible circumstances and needing to make desperate choices.

However, it infantilises women as a whole to assume that none of us can't have any real agency or that all of the less desirable actions and decisions made by women are because 'a man made them do it'. Otherwise it lends credence to the genuinely patriarchal notion that women are childlike, incapable of knowing their own mind and therefore need 'benevolent' men to look after them and control them 'for their own good'.