appendix
Organized Crime and Corruption
In source countries, illegal trafficking is fueled by a desperate need for a better life. In the destination countries, it is driven by an insatiable, self-indulgent appetite for purchased sex, much too often by U.S. military men and transnational businessmen. The force that brings them together is organized crime, notorious for acting swiftly to attractive market forces6.
It is a booming industry, run with ruthless efficiency by powerful, multinational criminal networks. These are not casual criminals. Women are bought, sold, and hired out like any other product. The bottom line is profit. Trade in human beings earns up to $12 billion worldwide.
The groups are Russian organized crime, Italian mafia, Colombian drug cartels, Chinese triads, and the Japanese yakuza. These groups are expanding worldwide, and sometimes join forces when it comes to sex slavery because the profits are too high to not work together.
When organized crime groups are not trafficking women, corrupt government officials have their hands out for bribes or pants down for sex. There are numerous examples of corrupt police officers, judges, civil authorities, and government officials helping brothel owners continue in their business. There is just too much money to be made.
Traffickers use bribes—money or free sex—to entice police and officials to look the other way, to gain protection, and to circumvent borders. Complicity not only guarantees impunity for traffickers; it sends a message to trafficked women that their traffickers enjoy impunity and that they cannot escape.