One of the fastest growing underground crimes in the world is sex tourism, or prostitution.

Nearly 50 people attended Meredith Ralston’s lecture addressing the global issue on Wednesday night in her speech titled “Trafficking of Women and Sex Tourism: International and Domestic Perspectives.”

Ralston focused mainly on the trafficking problem in the Philippines, although it is a global issue.

She broke down how women are lured into sex trafficking.

She said that brothel owners approach the 12- to 14-year-old girls in parks and tell them they have the opportunity to work in a factory or a restaurant and make a lot of money.

“Sometimes recruiters hang out in local parks, and sometimes they pay families for their daughters,” Ralston said.

The Philippines is an economically depressed country, and a lot of families are so poor that girls are more than eager to take the opportunity.

Ralston said the girls are enticed and brothel owners use violence, physical force, isolation and threats toward the girls’ families in order to gain total control over them. “Basically, you are locked up (in a brothel) until you die of AIDS at the age of 25,” Ralston said.

The reason trafficking occurs is because the country has a high rate of unemployment, and traffickers are at low risk and make a good profit.

Ralston stressed it is the women forced into the trade who are considered criminals, not the people who pay for their services.

Ralston went on to explain the micro and macro factors focusing on why women are in the sex slave trade.

Some of the smaller factors included lack of education and jobs, family poverty, desire for a better life and fraud and deception.

“Twenty percent of women in the Philippines (who are coaxed into the prostitution) have been victims of past sexual abuse, whereas 80 percent of American women have had a history of sexual abuse,” Ralston said.

The bigger problems women face are poverty and globalization, military presence, government policies and religion and culture.

“(The women) are not allowed to be in a church,” Ralston said. “They won’t be believed when they accuse someone of assaulting them.”

Another major problem in the Philippines concerning the sex trafficking is that abortions are illegal and contraceptives are considered a sin.

Women face multiple sexually transmitted diseases and are not being treated for them.

Ralston said the attitude the country has toward the problem is poor, and the government does not take it seriously.

Their attitude is that it is the victim’s fault for being enticed.

Most of the women are locked up in the back rooms of bars and brothels and forced to pay room and board.

“(The women) are fined for sitting down, leaving early, coming in late, chewing gum or looking in the mirror,” Ralston said.

She included how the problem can be resolved.

She said anti-trafficking laws need to be in effect, and there needs to be a greater public awareness concerning the issue.

“Recognizing women as victims, not criminals, will help,” Ralston said.

A lot of students came to hear Ralston’s speech as part of their curriculum but left with something to think about.

“I came for extra credit for my journalism class,” said freshman Lauren Davidson. “I didn’t realize (trafficking) was such a problem.”

Others were drawn in because of current events tied to possible sex slave trade.

“I came because (the speech) sparked my interest, especially with the rumors about the girl who was kidnapped in Aruba being sold into sex slavery,” said Matt Olson, a sophomore elementary education major. “It surprised me that some parents allowed this to happen to their child. It’s a silent issue that’s not really talked about.”

Penka Skachkova, coordinator of the Women’s Studies Program, said having Ralston speak was the climax of global feminism events at Eastern.

“This was the first month we focused mainly on global issues (concerning feminism),” Skachkova said. “We’re bringing the world to Charleston and Charleston to the world.”