Patterns of Trafficking: The Ghislaine Maxwell Trial

High-profile human trafficking cases get a lot of attention because they seem unique. In some cases, that’s because of the status of the perpetrators, or because of the lavish lifestyles they show to those who would never otherwise see them, or the massive sums of money involved. But look behind the expensive scenery, or the bold-faced names, and you will often find that the strategies traffickers use are the same, whether they are luring victims to a Miami mansion or somewhere a lot less obviously enticing.  

Such is the case surrounding Ghislaine Maxwell, who was found guilty of sex trafficking, transporting a minor to participate in illegal sex acts and two conspiracy charges. She has now been sentenced to 20 years in prison, for helping Jeffrey Epstein sexually abuse girls from the 1990s to the 2000s. The most significant difference between this case and most situations of human trafficking is that she was held accountable. Trafficking prosecutions remain fairly rare compared to the actual instances of trafficking in the United States. But the actual scenario that Maxwell participated in, while glamorous on the outside, is actually pretty typical.

https://polarisproject.org/blog/2021/11/tracing-the-patterns-of-trafficking-in-the-ghislaine-maxwell-trial/

Photo Credit: Ghislaine Maxwell – I. Maxwell, CC BY-SA 4.0