Extractive Industries and Sex Trafficking of Native Women and Youth

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It’s never acceptable to put profits over people. Yet the actions of extractive industries – businesses and corporations that remove non-renewable raw materials such as oil, gas, metals, and minerals from the earth –  have been implicated in a range of human rights violations. According to the United Nations Development Program, these industries have “triggered violent conflicts, degraded the environment, worsened gender and other inequalities, displaced communities, and undermined democratic governance."

Because these businesses operate in rural areas with minimal infrastructure and limited rule of law, the mining boom towns that spring up around them are vulnerable to a range of crimes - including exploitation and trafficking.

Investigative reporting has contributed to a growing public awareness of the labor trafficking that occurs in extractive industries. But the link between these industries and sex trafficking has been less well documented. Yet local governments and gender and racial justice advocates are increasingly speaking out about sexual exploitation associated with these industries, particularly in the Native communities near Bakken Oil Fields in North Dakota, and among those living on the Minnesota reservation from which Canadian energy company Enbridge, Inc. extracts minerals.

During “Extractive Industries & the Sex Trafficking of Native Women and Youth,” we will hear from five experts and advocates who are organizing against regional extraction efforts and speaking out about the injustices associated with these industries. Our speakers will help us better understand the price that Native people pay when we put profits over people, the factors contributing to exploitation and trafficking in these communities, and the actions that each of us need to take to hold extractive industries accountable for the harms they are causing.

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