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Content: Operating at both international and local levels, trafficking for the purpose of sexual exploitation generates enormous economic profit while reducing girls and women to a commodity to be traded in the commercial sex market. Predominantly preying on people from marginalized sectors, trafficking exploits vulnerability and denies human dignity. Violations of human rights often occur before a girl or woman is trafficked and make her more vulnerable to being trafficked. For example, a girl who does not have access to free primary education is likely to be less aware of her rights and less able to find decent work. A woman who lives in poverty and does not have an adequate standard of living may be more likely to “consent” to dangerous and degrading work in order to feed herself and her family. Women who suffer discrimination in terms of what work is available to them have less choice in earning a 
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Trafficking for the Purpose of Sexual Exploitation Violates the Human Rights of Women and Girls
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living. Girls who grow up experiencing family violence or sexual abuse may flee from their homes, making them more vulnerable to traffickers. Listening to the experiences of women who have been trafficked, it is possible to identify the push and pull factors that lead someone to agree to a job offer that may lead to trafficking or to “consent” to work which they know is unsafe and degrading. Trafficking for the purpose of sexual exploitation is a crime, one which involves multiple violations of human rights and fundamental freedoms when a woman or girl is trafficked. Common stories of trafficking include victims being lured using false promises of engaging in decent work in a faraway city or foreign land, only to be forced to work in the sex industry.