Inequality of women as a factor influencing migration from countries of origin to the United States and its implications for understanding human trafficking

Abstract

The authors analyze forces influencing female migration from three countries to the United States. A principal factor for women from two southern countries involves the necessity of working in the United States so that women can remit money to their families, while migration for women in the northern case involves the search for a more liberal culture in which they can fulfill aspirations, achieve social mobility, and enjoy a better status than what they experienced in their home countries. The authors posit a theoretical framework of how migration of vulnerable women can result in their entrapment within networks of human trafficking.