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The American military has been inextricably connected with the sex trafficking industry since the establishment of its overseas bases. Its leadership’s lax stance on sex work and toxic masculine culture has created an environment where the solicitation of sex trafficking services has been tolerated, if not downright encouraged. Despite recent government-level efforts to crack down on sex trafficking, domestic and overseas military-related cases continue to rise. My research asks what factors lead to changes in sex trafficking rates around certain bases, and I hypothesize that a lack of anti-trafficking policy enforcement by military and civilian leadership, increases in regional economic inequality, and increased sex trafficking rates have a positive relationship. My analysis comprises four case studies of air bases located in Germany, Turkey, South Korea, and Japan. To test my hypothesis, I will examine bilateral agreements between the US and the host country, the base’s population demographics, and regional economic conditions. Preliminary findings show that regional economic inequality compels women from lower-income countries to join the sex industry in pursuit of monetary gain. Additionally, the US federal government has prioritized the development of preventative anti-trafficking educational initiatives, but has ultimately not been successful in lowering case rates.
This project was presented at SFSU's College of Liberal and Creative Arts Undergraduate Research Showcase. You can find the project Github here.
<iframe src="https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/e/2PACX-1vRtjjJgjBkYBTmftsL408X02eKo1xGRSixV-pzPBGY0hSGoAkcAXI-SSnRrR37WDUqhpscWD9f0GLsg/embed?start=false&loop=false&delayms=3000" frameborder="0" width="960" height="569" allowfullscreen="true" mozallowfullscreen="true" webkitallowfullscreen="true"></iframe>Coming soon!