Sex Trafficking Is In The News A Lot These Days. Let’s Explore Why.

From Harvey Weinstein to Jeffrey Epstein, the past decade has certainly seen its share of disturbing news stories about rich and powerful sex criminals. Now, with Diddy behind bars and facing charges of sex trafficking, there’s an even brighter spotlight on this particularly vile behavior.

More common or just more visible?

The entire #MeToo era seemed to provide an endless list of famous individuals accused of some of the most heinous acts. And with the conviction of household names like Bill Cosby and R. Kelly, it was impossible to ignore the trend.

So why have all of these cases come to light? It might seem as if the rate of sex crimes among the elite class has increased, but in reality it might be that we’re getting better as a society at exposing it.

Here are a few reasons experts say we’ve been seeing more reports lately:

• Victims feel more empowered to file reports
• Some prosecutors are treating cases more seriously
• New laws make it easier to report crimes

But many cases still go unreported, often because victims don’t think it will do any good.

“Rape is one of the most underreported crimes, and a very small percentage of perpetrators are brought to justice because they’re hard cases,” said former prosecutor Neama Rahmani. “They happen behind closed doors. It’s an issue of consent and ‘he said, she said.’”

The case of Mike, Matt, and James

In addition to the Diddy drama, there’s been another sex-trafficking related case in the headlines. Mike Jeffries, the former CEO of Abercrombie & Fitch, was arrested (along with his partner Matthew Smith and associate James Jacobsen) on charges that include an array of alarming accusations.

The trio allegedly made empty promises of modeling opportunities to young men in order to sexually exploit them.

Chris Agee October 26th, 2024

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