Dr. Louise Shelley, Professor of Public Policy at George Mason University, and Brad Myles, Deputy Director of the Polaris Project, talk about the economic aspects of the sex trafficking business.
They explain how the traffickers make and distribute their money, arguing that attacking their cash flow is the best way of harming their business.
Bio
Bradley Myles
Bradley Myles currently serves as Polaris Project's Deputy Director. He has been working on the issue of human trafficking for the past 6 years since 2002.
His major areas of responsibility at Polaris Project include serving on the Executive Management Team, directing national program efforts, leading all training and technical assistance projects, handling the majority of government relations, coordinating the efforts of local offices, supporting Federal and State policy advocacy efforts, consulting on numerous anti-trafficking research studies, and helping to steward the work of Polaris 30 staff and 15 Fellows.
Mr. Myles has provided consultation, training, and technical assistance on anti-trafficking strategies to hundreds of audiences, including human trafficking task forces and coalitions, government agencies, Federal and local law enforcement, U.S. Members of Congress, media, service providers, and foreign delegations.
He has been a key advocate in unifying and bridging the national anti-trafficking program areas of multiple Federal government agencies, and he has also played a leadership role in the implementation of the DC Human Trafficking Task Force. Mr. Myles' previous work experience includes working on trafficking studies and program evaluations at Caliber Associates. He has two dual degrees in Political Science and Psychology from Stanford University.
Dr. Louise Shelley
Dr. Louise Shelley is a Professor of Public Policy at George Mason University. She was previously a Professor in the School of International Service and also in the Department of Justice, Law and Society at American University.
Dr. Shelley is the founder and Director of the Terrorism, Transnational Crime and Corruption Center (TraCCC) that moved with her from American University. She is a leading expert on transnational crime and terrorism with a particular focus on the former Soviet Union.
Dr. Shelley received her undergraduate degree cum laude from Cornell University in Penology and Russian literature. She holds an M.A. in Criminology from the University of Pennsylvania. She studied at the Law Faculty of Moscow State University on IREX and Fulbright Fellowships and holds a Ph.D. in Sociology from the University of Pennsylvania.
She is the recipient of the Guggenheim, NEH, IREX, Kennan Institute, and Fulbright Fellowships and received a MacArthur Grant to establish the Russian Organized Crime Study Centers. In 1992, she received the Scholar-Teacher prize of American University, the top academic award of the university.
Deputy Director of the Polaris Project Brad Myles gives an example of how pregnancy is handled in the sex trafficking business. He discusses one sex trafficker who made every woman under his control have sex at least once a day for their first 100 days, even if they got pregnant.
Brad Myles, Polaris Project Deputy Director, and Louise Shelley, Professor of Public Policy at George Mason University, discuss why it is difficult to stop sex traffickers from advertising publicly, much less arrest and prosecute them.
Brad Myles and Louise Shelley explain why sex remains inexpensive and why men are willing to pay for it. They argue that prostitution can only be stopped by either decreasing the supply of prostitutes, or by educating men about the true cost of supporting the practice.