Have you ever been watching the news and a horrific story came on and you change it, thinking I don’t need to be hearing about that? I’ll admit I have and I would be arrogant to think that just because I change the station that the horrors stop. As I lay down to rest at night no longer do I go over the plans of tomorrow, but I find myself thinking about the young children just getting up, beginning to plaster on their make up, get their quotas and hit the track. Forget curfews these children have a job to get done, money to make and for whom? Their boyfriend, their pimp and if they do not make their quota a beaten awaits.
A child does not begin to grow up thinking, “I want to be a prostitute” in fact a child prostitute legally can’t consent to sex. Under federal law age of consent is 18, which means any child who has sex even willingly before that age with someone of age is doing so against the law (Gunmow, 2013). This is not a law enforced to harm, but to protect. In addition the way in which pimps “break their girls in” prove that consent was never a true option. Consent to these young children means being granted another day alive. A child does not choice in becoming a prostitute, it is forced upon them in unimaginable ways.
Renting Lacy uses the word of “seasoning” to describe the ways in which children become products. The product is often times a girl under the age of 14 who is dehumanized in different ways the most popular of which being gang raped and beaten. A tool which directly relates to the manipulation of one psychologically and sadly this is only the beginning, the “hazing period” so to speak. Children can either be abducted directly from the streets or can through careful choosing of the pimp be coerced. This involves more planning due to having to slowly work into the girls life, creating trust in a relationship. The result here is the girls often willingly go with the pimps after being promised protection and care. Girls who are chosen to meet the needs of the future buyers which in many cases the younger girls are the more innocent ( Smith, L. & Coloma, C. 2009). This leaves room for that young appeal yet they are also groomed to become sexy, and aroused. However for someone so young who currently is not at a sexual state of mind this is also forced with techniques such as pornography. The loving caring relationship the pimps often focus on first breaks down the wall that creates any suspicion of anything being up (Child Sex Trafficking in America, 2014). In addition substance use is used often to ensure the child stays. Once their body becomes addicted to the substance they know if they are to leave they no longer can get the drug which creates a cycle not only of sexual abuse but substance as well. These tools are degrading yet pimps continuously use them because it works and child after child is becoming a victim to the hand of these pimps. According to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children in the U.S alone 100,000 children are sex trafficking victims. It is evident that the horrific ways in which they recruit and break down these children works and will continue to work unless a chain of demand is broken (Child Sex Trafficking in America, 2014).
Exactly who these young children are ranges in being anyones neighbor, brother, sister and so on but for the most part these children were often already vulnerable to begin with. Many of these children were part of the foster care system with a long history of abuse, running away and substance issues already which in essence created dysfunctional lives. It is estimated that between 70% and 90% of children in the United States who are involved in sex trafficking had a prior history of abuse and running away (Gunmow, J. 2013) Rachel Lloyed states it well in her novel, Girls Like Us when she comments, “There is no prize at the end of these stories, though, no reward. Just a few minor variations on the same theme- vulnerable meets predatory; abused child meets billion-dollar sex industry,” (Lloyd, R. 2011).
The novel Renting Lacy did not change any of my views on the topic of child sex trafficking, but it did allow me to get a better idea of why this issue is so hard to legally provide assistance for. Looking more at the legislation side of the topic it can be seen that efforts are being made, but children are still falling in between. I will admit to having always assumed that law enforcement knew that these children were victims thus would treat them so, however this book proved me wrong on this theory. Instead of being assisted and helped these children are arrested, thrown into jail and the men who were actually the biggest issue which marks the demand they were provide a mere wrist slap (Smith, L. & Coloma, C. 2009). Possibly a lecture about “how dare you, get back home to your family” yet these children were criminalized This angered me and still does, but it isn’t in the sense that I am pointing fingers at law enforcement it is bigger than that. This issue goes to show the lack of proper training and organizations meant to assist these difficult cases. Even as an advocate for a sexual assault hotline we learned in our training that often times interviews go on as though they are the criminal. These cops are trying to be mean, but when they were taught how to interview someone the emphasis was on how to interrogate a criminal not a victim. I support the hopes and goals of shared hope international and feel as though this book alone is a great strive towards educating the people of the United States. Continued education, training and raising awareness about the issue is the first step towards creating a country where modern day slavery is no longer a running industry.
References
Child Sex Trafficking in America: A Guide for Parents and Guardians. (2014, April 1). Retrieved July 24, 2015, from http://www.missingkids.com/en_US/documents/Fact_Sheet_Parents_Guardians.pdf
Gunmow, J. (2013, November 2). 10 Surprising and Counterintuitive Facts About Child Sex Trafficking. Retrieved July 24, 2015, from http://www.alternet.org/civil-liberties/10-surprising-and-counterintuitive-facts-about-child-sex-trafficking
Lloyd, R. (2011). Recruitment. In Girls like us: Fighting for a world where girls are not for sale, an activist finds her calling and heals herself (p. 72). New York: HarperCollins.
Smith, L., & Coloma, C. (2009). Renting Lacy: A story of America's prostituted children. Vancouver, WA: Shared Hope International.
Image: pepperchimp.com
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