Stigma Of Sex Trafficking Essay

Male victims of suffer also suffer more stigma than females because males have to bear the stigma of being falsely blamed for the creation and transmission of HIV and AIDS. Since the rise of aids in the 80’s and its disproportionate effect on homosexuals, the blame for the cause of the epidemic was placed, by many, squarely on homosexuality. Male victims of sex trafficking and others who perform homosexual acts are still treated as social pariahs today, and they owes a lot of that treatment to the continued ignorance and sensationalism surrounding the AIDS epidemic. In a study done on AIDS stigma, it was found that “Individuals who associated AIDS closely with homosexuality harbored more negative attitudes toward gay men” (Capitanio, Herek).

Along with their female counterparts, they suffer egregiously under their captors, from rape to beatings to everything in between. They kidnapped from the places they call home and placed into a cycle of poverty, homelessness and violation of their sexual integrity. Not only do male victims of sex trafficking have that suffering to bear, but they also have to face the unique stigma that comes with being identified as homosexual, a stigma so strong that many lie about it, for fear of losing any semblance of societal belonging they may have maintained and having to leave their home. For the male victims that are identified as homosexuals, they face the full brunt of that stigma, which is perpetuated by religious undercurrents in society that, more often than not, condemn them. Billions of people subscribe to the two major religions, and main texts both encourage discrimination and sometimes the execution of homosexuals (Harper) (Bible Gateway)(Quran). On top of the religious threat to their identity is the false identification of homosexuality as the creator and sole perpetuator of HIV and AIDS, an accusation stemming from the 80’s and still influencing how society treats homosexuals 35 years later. In this light, one can easily see how men actually suffer more than women as victims of sex