The problem of demand in combating sex trafficking

Abstract

Four years of research by Shared Hope International in diverse countries, including the U.S. reveals a determinative commonality in the commercial sex industry: demand causes sex trafficking to occur in countries around the world. Demand is created by men and women (predominantly men) who seek to purchase sex or sexual entertainment from persons who have been subject to force, fraud or coercion or who are under the age of 18 years and are involved in commercial sex.