Effects of Sex Trafficking To understand how sex trafficking affects its victims, you must first know the severity of sex trafficking and what it is. The issue of sex trafficking affects 2.5 million people at any given time (Abas et al., 2013). The form of sexual slavery affects many women and children around the world. Although both males and females are victims of trafficking and sexual exploitation, there is a profound emphasis on the sexual exploitation of women and children. This is due to gender discrimination (Miller, 2006). This is because women and children are more vulnerable and attract the largest brothel population and so-called “clients”, as the majority are men. Ecclestone (2013) stated that children as young as three years old are victims of trafficking. Sex trafficking has changed over time; “Today the business of human sex trafficking is much more organized and violent. These women and girls are sold to traffickers, locked in rooms or brothels for weeks or months, drugged, terrorized, and repeatedly raped” (Walker-Rodriguez & Hill, 2011). Many victims of sex trafficking have been found to be abducted, recruited, transported and forced to perform involuntary “sex work”. These sexual acts include prostitution, exotic dancing, pornography, and sexual escort services (McClain & Garrity, 2011). What happens to these victims of sex trafficking is extremely traumatizing. Studies have been conducted to see whether or not victims of sex trafficking suffer from mental disorders when they enter the world after trafficking. L'Abas et al. (2013) The study takes into account victims' pre-trafficking conditions, such as whether or not they were abused as children, as well as where the victim was trafficked... middle of paper... .... tension and anxiety are related to the victim's experience of trafficking as well as their personal experience of reintegration into society after trafficking. Stressors play an important role in this, such as re-entering the workforce, the type of support they receive, how they manage the emotions resulting from trafficking and whether or not their families accept them. The studies also examined whether or not the participants in their studies had experienced violence before trafficking. The results showed that those who experienced violence were more likely to develop mental disorders after trafficking. This goes back to the finding that the more violence victims are subjected to, the more likely they are to experience post-traumatic stress disorder. Overall, the whole aspect of sex trafficking is degrading to its victims and causes them a lot of pain.