Chelsea Jubitana is a senior of the Class of 2021 majoring in Public Policy and Global Health minoring in Psychology from Fort Lauderdale, Florida. She is interested in social policy, global health policy, social justice, human rights, and the social determinants of health, and research. She chose to do her thesis on human trafficking to explore sex-trafficking in a much greater depth given that it is something that thousands of people experience on a daily basis, yet it is not something that always garners national or international attention. The phrase “missing person” seems only to hold weight for the family members of those who have lost said person. Thus, she wished to compile data on other countries’ percentages of reported missing girls, and girls who were once missing but are reported as found to examine the key variables of how countries are approaching this problem. Essentially, she conducts a deep dive on the often-unexplored subject of sex trafficking in an international comparative lens. Our daily reality continues while unfortunately, thousands of people are subject to a life of sexual exploitation where their story goes unheard. This research seeks to examine modern and past efforts made to combat human and sex trafficking.

Honors Thesis:

Sex Trafficking: A Policy Proposal on the International Regulation of Human Sexual Exploitation

Faculty Advisor: Professor Jay A. Pearson

Abstract: Human trafficking is a major human rights violation impacting millions of persons worldwide. As a subsection of human trafficking, sex trafficking is estimated to impact 4.5 million persons. While the sexual exploitation of humans for profit and financial gain existed long before the creation of a modern human rights system, the Declaration of Human Rights served as a foundation to combat such contemporary violations. This research project aims to assess if select nations have adhered to the deliverables specified in their respective doctrines and subsequent policies to regulate and reduce human trafficking and specifically sex trafficking. I analyze the legislative policies that the United States, Thailand, Brazil, and Russia developed to address sex trafficking. My research suggests that the United States developed the most promising policies proposing to reduce human sex trafficking. These efforts can serve as a blueprint to guide other countries. Despite these efforts, policy makers should be aware that translating US based policies into international contexts has proven fraught with socio-cultural and socio-political challenges sufficient to preclude success across diverse nation states. Key Words: Human Trafficking, Sex Trafficking, Declaration of Human Rights