Research Proposal

           I would like to focus on researching sex trafficking in the United States as it is an ongoing issue significantly affecting people around us everyday but is understated with its lack of awareness and publicity. Even though sex trafficking has expanded its way globally and became the “fastest growing criminal enterprise in the world” (Equality Now), I want to specifically focus on its presence in the United States as it is rated as one of the top tier countries by the United States Department of State that sex trafficking is most prominent in (“U.S. Department of States”).

           To briefly introduce my topic, sex trafficking is the “recruitment, harboring, transportation, provision, or obtaining of a person for the purpose of a commercial sex act where such an act is induced by force, fraud, or coercion” (“Shared Hope International”). There is approximately “20 to 30 million slaves” in our world today “of which 80% are female and half are children” (“Do Something”). The primary motive of sex trafficking is the enormous profit attainable usually around “$32 billion every year” (“Do Something”). Victims are extremely vulnerable as traffickers physically, emotionally and psychologically manipulate them by targeting their vulnerability. Also, they use violence and threats to keep victims under their control.

           This issue directly affects one of the largest controversial topics in our society today – Women’s equality. Traffickers primarily target women because they are “disproportionately affected by poverty and discrimination, factors that impede their access to employment, educational opportunities and other resources” (“SVAW”). As a result, women are easily lured into trafficking, as they falsely believe it provides them more profit and power than their previous occupation or position. At times, women are in fact forced into prostitution, as it’s their only way of making a living. Even though it is legally stated that all women have the same rights as men, the perspectives of our society don’t often correlate with what is affirmed. Women are still often viewed as weak, irrational and unstable. As a result, gender-related issues such as gender-based violence, maternal health, and political gender gap remain common in our society. As a matter of fact, women lags substantially behind men in leadership positions in our society as they only hold “14.6 percent of executive officers, 8.1 percent of top earners, and 4.6 percent of Fortune 500 CEOs” (“American Progress”). As a result, through the effort of ending sex trafficking, we will have to start with encouraging and improving women empowerment in in our society.

          My topic is significantly inspired by one of the story, “Love and Gold”, in our core text, Global Woman, written by Barbara Ehrenreich and Arlie Russell Hochschild. Even though the story isn’t about sex trafficking but shifting more to the direction of labor trafficking, it reflects the same roots and explanation for why women are the main target of manipulation and exploitation. Hochschild describes the lives of nannies, who leave their own children behind and are driven to work at developed countries to make a living. Ultimately, as written in the story, “just as the market price of primary produce keeps the Third World low in the community of nations, so the low market value of care keeps the status of the women who do it –and, ultimately, all women-low” (Global Woman). Hochschild targets our society’s viewpoint on women’s status as the primary cause of why women are associated such degrading and biased acts.

           The core to researching is to understand that “research is a process” (AGWR). To make sure I remain as specific as possible for my research topic, I will be researching everyday to collect a variety of sources and carefully analyzing them to see if they are credible and informative. Also, keeping track of my sources, taking notes and remaining updated on feedbacks are also important to perfecting my research.

          Some difficulties I perceive in the process of researching are the elimination process and finding sources that can specify my topic, which intends to focus mainly in the United States. I plan on overcoming these challenges by being very careful through the elimination process, that I have to judiciously go through evaluations to effectively assess my sources. Also, constantly researching and evaluating to ultimately lead me to the most beneficial sources for my topic.

Work Cited Page

"Global Sex Trafficking Fact Sheet." Equality Now. Web. 6 Apr. 2015. <http://www.equalitynow.org/node/1010>.

"Tier Placement." Equality Now. U.S. Department of State. Web. 6 Apr. 2015. <http://www.state.gov/j/tip/rls/tiprpt/2014/226649.htm>.

"What Is Sex Trafficking." Shared Hope International. Web. 6 Apr. 2015. <http://sharedhope.org/learn/what-is-sex-trafficking/>.

"11 Facts about Human Trafficking." DoSomething.org. Web. 6 Apr. 2015. <https://www.dosomething.org/facts/11-facts-about-human-trafficking>.

"Trafficking in Women." Stop Violence Against Women. Web. 6 Apr. 2015. <http://www1.umn.edu/humanrts/svaw/trafficking/>.

"Fact Sheet: The Women’s Leadership Gap." Center for American Progress. Web. 6 Apr. 2015. <https://www.americanprogress.org/issues/women/report/2014/03/07/85457/fact-sheet-the-womens-leadership-gap/>.

Ehrenreich, Barbara, and Arlie Hochschild. "Love and Gold." Global Woman. New York: Holt Paperbacks, 2002. 328. Print.

Palmquist, Tira. The Anteater's Guide to Writing and Rhetoric. 4th ed. Plymouth: Hayden-McNeil, 2014. 328. Print.