Why does it seem that people are more sympathetic, or attentive to sex trafficking than human smuggling?

Because most cultures have some pretty strange thoughts about sex. It really boils down to us giving sex some special status. Having sex with a person indicates power over or ownership of a person. Selling people does too. But offering someone a ride from point A to point B is no more morally objectionable than being a taxi driver. Sure, your passengers are squished into a small, smelly secret compartment choking on exhaust fumes, but they bought a ticket for that “bus”.

In some cases (consensual sex) each party allows the other that power of their own free will, but when it comes to sex trafficking versus platonic people-smuggling, that power is taken from someone against their will, and it is rarely ever returned. They are forever more nothing other than property. The same is true of “regular” slaves.

In contrast, the human smugglers that bring illegal immigrants across the border then cut them loose when they reach their destination perform a service that the smugglee explicitly requests of their own free will, and once they get to their destination, all ties are severed. Business concluded, have a nice life, walk away, done.

It all depends greatly on what one’s opinions are on things like free will, duress, and choice as well as being about taking power and not giving it back, but what is taking power from someone if neither “placing under duress” nor “depriving of free will”? Same thing, different words.

And if you wish to argue that the smugglers take advantage of those that they smuggle as you feel that desperation is some sort of duress, then you really, really, REALLY need to re-examine your views on economics and distance yourself as far as possible from any pro-Capitalism party; they have some odd ideas about the definition of “choice”. But if you ever do wish to argue that, we should do it elsewhere.

Seriously? Been raped much? How many times a day? For how many years?

What @jerv said.

I know I’d rather be dead than drugged and handcuffed to a bed to be used at the whim of my kidnappers.

Sex trafficking is slavery.

Smugglers may be predatory, but the victims often seek out their help, hoping they may find a “good” one.

All of the above, especially what @Seek said.

@jerv In contrast, the human smugglers that bring illegal immigrants across the border then cut them loose when they reach their destination perform a service that the smugglee explicitly requests of their own free will, and once they get to their destination, all ties are severed.
I agree much to what you said (checking my pulse again), the person requesting passage by unsavory people for the hope of a better life may have done so under their own power, and when it works, they are in and have a chance at a good life. I differ that even though the “smugglee” requested a ride on the bus, they have some desire that the bus be equip and safe enough to get them to point ‘B’. The smuggler has gotten his money so if things get more dangerous, he/she just abandons the “cargo”, in a container, box van, leaky vessel out at sea, so the freewill choice can end up in death, and some may prefer death then servitude for some criminal organization or pimp, but eventually those who don’t escape “age-out” and no longer become profitable for sale; but they are still alive and not crab food at the bottom of some lake, or floating shark nuggets.

It all depends greatly on what one’s opinions are on things like free will, duress, and choice as well as being about taking power and not giving it back, but what is taking power from someone if neither “placing under duress” nor “depriving of free will”? Same thing, different words.
Like you say when you bring sex into it, even if the alternative is more dangerous or risky because of the perceived misery or level of malevolence seems to go up. To me it is just a different form of usury. The smuggler sees his/her human cargo as just that, some object to glean money off of and if things do not go along as planned, expendable. The trafficker at least sees his captive as a commodity that will produce monies over a span of time, thus slightly more valuable, not something to just throw away if it becomes inconvenient. To use a person’s deep desperation to get them to place their lives at great risk, is little better than to dupe some woman into a situation where you just use her body to make you money, at least she would have to be reasonably cared for to be suitable to earn the money, or be worth the price charge, she would have to at least be alive for that.

You have terrifying concepts of “cared for” and “alive”...

@Hypocrisy_Central ”... they have some desire that the bus be equip and safe enough to get them to point ‘B’.”

First off, by that logic, we never would’ve explored. It wasn’t so long ago that all cars carried spare parts, and it was unwise to leave town without a mechanic in the passenger’s seat. However, our desire for travel lead to a desire for more reliable cars, and we devoted some conscious effort into making that desire become a reality. Travel is always dangerous; even moreso in places that don’t have things like paved roads, modern cars in good repair, and other such luxuries that we American drivers have. Luxuries that allow us to leave point A and have a greater than 99% chance of arriving safely at point B.

Second, there are things people desire in their travel that just aren’t going to happen. I don’t think anyone has ever got onto a metro bus and got two hookers and an eight-ball to pass the time until they get to their stop. (Depending on the bus, they may buy those things there, but they won’t actually be able to enjoy their purchases on the bus.) Part of that is because we Americans have a luxury that other places don’t; high standards.

Here, if you can call a taxi, the vehicle they send will be certified to be in good repair and too new to have any sort of “frame rot”. Here, we have laws against using drugs and women on a bus. When you get into the freelance world where smugglers operate, it’s totally free market. Your free market “taxi” may be a beater that’s twice as ugly and one-tenth as reliable as my ‘86 Corolla that may or may not have brakes unless you are wealthy enough to afford the “luxury package” and hire a taxi that isn’t a total wreck.

While I feel that we have too may regulations and that some of them are stupid, I look at things like this and am happy we have regulations.

“To me it is just a different form of usury. ”

Some lottery winners like annuities, some prefer lump sums. Usury implies unreasonable interest (for Christians and Muslims, anything above zero is “unreasonable”, hence the historical prominence of Jews in commerce), whereas I see it as two related yet distinct things, neither of which involve interest.

” To use a person’s deep desperation to get them to place their lives at great risk, is little better than to dupe some woman into a situation where you just use her body to make you money,”

And now you know why so many people are fighting for a higher minimum wage, and also why I wonder how a truly Christian person can be fiscally conservative enough to support supply-side economic policy, but I think that others would get bored and/or confused if I decided to give a detailed wall-o-text post about interconnectedness that would make this longwinded post look like a mere sentence by comparison.