The Rape Trade -- child prostitution
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Introduction to the Rape Trade
This is an update on an earlier hub, "52 children recovered, 60 alleged child pimps arrested but have you heard about it,' which I wrote in response to a 'non-news' item of October 2009. My outrage at that time was triggered by a disturbing story on the CNN streamer.
In the first nation-wide operation of the FBI's Innocence Lost Initiative, in cooperation with local law enforcement reported 52 children had been recovered and 690 people arrested, including 60 alleged pimps.
Surprisingly -- no that's too mild a word. Shockingly, the media treated this as a non-event with no actual news story for three days. Three days! And then it was given a hurried two minute reportage. More on this below.
Now, a year later, another FBI/ local law agency initiative, Operation Cross Country, has successfully recovered 69 children from the sex trade, and arrested "nearly 889" people including 99 pimps.
Bravo, say I.
This time, the media is on the ball -- well almost. This story made the screen and in prime time, too. But the coverage spawned a number of background informational broadcasts that left me feeling rather uneasy.
The education given the American listeners didn't jive with what I knew of the child-sex trade or those caught up in its destructive net.
I made a few calls, sent a few emails and conferred with some other child protection workers around the country. They concurred.
Hence, this hub was born.
For those of you too busy, or upset by the reality of this world, I've prepared a short video giving you the facts as many of us with experience in the field know them. It runs for 3 minutes and 45 seconds. If you do nothing else on this page, please watch it.
And if you still have some time, read the section directly below the video.
Thank you.
The Rape Trade
But -- sorry all you hard working law enforcement people, you're missing something
Laudable as these initiatives are -- and they are -- it seems to many of us from the child-protection field, they are somehow missing the mark.
You see, we all know there are various levels to this child sex trade.
At the very bottom of the sex trade food chain are the street kids, the homeless, the runaways, the drug-addicted, who practice what we call 'survival sex.' That is, sex is traded for shelter and food. It is a casual, messy trade and dangerous to the participants.
Just barely above these, are the individual pimps who run a few girls (or boys) on the various 'strips' across the country, those street corners everyone sees and knows about, truck stops, casinos and gentlemen's clubs, or a simple advertisement on that giant electronic pimp, the internet. These girls (or boys) may have graduated from the first level, and come under the 'protection' of a pimp, or they are on their way down, or they are victims initiated into the trade by the pimps themselves.
Then, as every worker in the field is aware but unable
to prove, there is a higher level yet, an organized system of
child-trafficking capable of moving a victim from hand to hand across
the country in the time it takes for a missing child report to be filed.
Children and money change hands in a systematic, organized business
that would rival Henry Ford in its efficiency. This is a higher end
trade; its victims are generally not street kids, and its customer lists
expansive. And probably highly surprising.
This crime machine is gobbling up our children at a sickening rate. Don't you ever wonder where all those missing kids go? All those heart-breaking pictures of youngsters, hundreds and hundreds of thousands of them, they didn't just disappear from the face of the planet. They haven't found some secret niche of the country and become invisible. They have been taken and bought and sold, time and time again.
So, dear law enforcement, while we are pleased you've saved 52 children last October and 69 children this November, this is but a spit in the ocean, and we're pretty sure you're only grabbing the dregs from the lower level, small-time pimps.
But please, keep trying.
How do we know this?
We know there are organized criminal enterprises operating across North America because the victims have told us so. Not in so many words, of course. They are children, and highly unlikely to say "Hey, I was captured by organized crime and trafficked."
Here is a case of my own from many years ago:
Helene lived in Montreal, Quebec, a happy child until her parents divorced when she was ten. By the time she was twelve, she hadn't seen her father in two years; her mother worked long hours and desperate for attention, she gladly accepted the friendship of a young man. Her secret. One day, he invited her to go for a car ride. Two days later she was in Florida. En route, she and money changed hands three times. Two other girls, hands and feet bound waited for her in the back of the enclosed van that drove her to her final destination -- wherever that was. She was moved from house to house so often, she can't recall. She didn't work the streets. Not at first. She was driven from rapist to rapist. When she was finally recovered, she was thirteen, and working her way down the food chain of the sex trade. She then belonged to a pimp, having been sold again. The only person arrested in this story was Helene, for soliciting in Daytona Beach, Florida.
Luckily for her, though it required several months to identify her and return her to her home -- with a juvenile record, I might add. Needless to say, Helene didn't settle-in at home very well, and ended up in protective custody at age fifteen, when I met her.
Here is a more recent case:
Suzy's story made headlines in Vancouver, Canada a couple of years ago. (Suzy isn't her name, of course.) The eleven-year-old was taken while on her way home from a softball game and within hours crossed the border into Bellingham, Washington. During the long night of south-bound travel, her two captors took turns raping her. She changed hands somewhere in Oregon, or perhaps Northern California, but her new owners fell afoul of the law during a speeding stop near Santa Rosa, California. Lucky girl. Even luckier, she was immediately returned home, after medical attention, and came into the care of a colleague of mine.
One more, in the interest of international balance:
Terri -- Teresa -- grew up in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, at least until she was twelve. (Amazing how that age seems to be such a dangerous one.) Her's was a single parent home, and her father lived in Regina, a couple of hundred miles south and east. After a quarrel with her mother, she skipped school and decided to hitch-hike to her father. She never made it. Instead, she ended up in Winnipeg, sold by her captors to a group of adults who kept half a dozen girls, and rented them out. She and the others traveled considerably, from house to house, and sometimes motels, all over Manitoba, Northern Ontario, Minnesota and South Dakota, never staying more than one month in any one house or group. As she grew older and more womanly, she was sold to a pimp in Winnipeg, and joined the sleazy ranks on that city's infamous Portage and Main strip at the ripe old age of fifteen.(That's old for Portage and Main.)
One day, she was approached by an outreach worker after a particularly brutal beating at the hands of a john. She entered the Children's Home program, a rehabilitation shelter for child sex trade victims. That's where I met her.
Time after time, outreach workers hear the same story. A child, usually a girl, is taken from her life, sold into an upper-level child sex-slave operation, where she is escorted to her rapists, kept in dismal conditions -- usually mattresses on the floor of a secured room where several girls live -- until they become mature-looking, or too dispirited and soiled for their clients, and then, like horses who lose their condition, she is resold into ever-worsening situations.
Only an organized network has the resources to trade in children so quickly, so efficiently, so brutally.
Myths about the child-sex trade
Myth # 1 Girls enter the sex trade willingly
See results without votingA no-brainer for anyone with a working cerebrum or a heart. But you'd be surprised how many people think this is the case. I had a number of comments on the previous hub saying as much. One even said, "They get the best from men, have all the fun. Not like a wife." Another wrote:"A girl can do as she wishes with her body, and who are you to spoil her fun?"
Sorry, but a girl can't do as she wishes with her body, although a woman can.Children don't have the requisite abilities to make such choices, and anyone who has sex with a child is committing a criminal act.
A girl in the sex trade is not having sex, she is being raped.
No one would willingly enter into such a humiliating, degrading and brutal situation of her own free will, no one. Considering the proclivities of many of these rapists, none of them about being tender, affectionate or at all concerned with the feelings or welfare of the body he is raping, it certainly can't be a pleasant experience.
You think they're having fun? I think you've watched Pretty Woman one too many times.
One of my colleagues, helping me with this hub sent me a print-out of a chat room discussion where two men exchanged ratings on a young victim they had both rented. Here is part of the exchange.
"Don't waste your time xxxx. She couldn't even take a little spanking. The c*** ran to a corner and cried like a baby. Who wants to f*** some crybaby. I took my money back. Stupid c***."
"I had her once. She tried to lock herself in the bathroom. Guess she didn't know the lock don't work. She went all dead when I pulled her out. It was like f****** a pot roast."
Now, doesn't that sound like fun?
Take a look at the photo of the young girl to the right. She's been beaten. Someone's initials are burned into her skin, and she's been superficially sliced many times with a blade. One of her rapists did this to her.
And it is far from a rare occurrence. Every time a victim is left alone in a room with a stranger, or enters a car, she is at risk of serious injury. Even death.
Fun!
Myth two: A girl in the sex trade is protected by her pimp. It's a win-win business arrangement.
See results without voting
Yes. In the same way roundworms protect a dog.
When a vulnerable, frightened girl is left alone in a room with a man who has paid for the privilege of raping her, or steps into a car, not knowing who this man is or what he intends to do to her, the pimp is nowhere to be seen.
He shows up later to take the money. Or to beat her if she doesn't have it.
We might say he provides a roof over her head, and food for her belly, except that he does that with the money she's earned. The roof is likely to be a locked room, and the food poor, infrequent and insufficient.
Then why is she with him?
These are children. Remember that. And it's a mean, ugly, frightening world even for many adults. A child craves someone to look after them. The pimp plays on that, and in the neurotic, brutal world of the child sex trade, soon the victim comes to see the very person selling her body, beating her, raping her as a guardian, a savior. Strange as that may sound.
With the passage of time, the victim becomes far too broken, dispirited, weak or sick to even think of protest, disobedience or escape.
They come to see themselves as human trash, unworthy of a better life.
Even those who are recovered physically, have a hard time healing from this. I've watched some of these girls grow into women who seek abusive relationships, put themselves in high risk situations, neglect themselves and in one or two cases, suicide.
A pimp is a businessman with a product to sell, one in which he intends to invest as little as possible, will work as hard as he can while she is still marketable in order to maximize his profits.
The victim is a commodity with a limited shelf life.
Myth #3: The majority of human trafficking for the sex trade involves foreign women and girls from Asia, Central America and Eastern Europe.
See results without voting
One would easily believe this to be true because every article, movie, TV show on the subject discusses the problem as being one originating outside of the borders of the U.S. Rarely, if ever is domestic trafficking discussed.
In fact, on one hub about human trafficking a commenter wrote: "I want to do something to help these poor victims. Do you have the names of organizations in Thailand?"
Yes, it is a problem of those foreign places all right. THEY should do something about it.
I.C.E. -- Immigration and Customs Enforcement, estimates that between 14,500 and 17,500 women and children are trafficked into the U.S. from foreign countries for the sex trade.
However, the FBI estimates over 100,000 children alone are trafficked within the U.S.
Put an end to sex-tourism, says one petition I was asked to sign. It is a big problem in poor places like Thailand, Cambodia and now Brazil. Yes, I'm sure it is. I wonder how many sex tourists are in Thailand right now, today. An estimated 230,000 to 250,000 children are bought on American streets every day.
Who has a big problem?
In closing
The situation as it exists in the United States is comparable to all other nations, no better, no worse. However, as long as we prefer not to look, see, hear, or understand the problem here, as long as we cling to the belief that is a foreign problem invading our shores, that somehow this country is different, we can't begin to deal with it.
Sixty-Nine Children Rescued During Operation Cross Country
Washington, D.C. November 08, 2010
— filed under: Crimes Against Children, Field Cases, Breaking News, Press Release, Human Trafficking
* FBI National Press Office
“Child prostitution continues to be a significant problem in our country, as evidenced by the number of children rescued through the continued efforts of our crimes against children task forces,” said Shawn Henry, executive assistant director of the FBI’s Criminal, Cyber, Response, and Services Branch. “There is no work more important than protecting America’s children and freeing them from the cycle of victimization. Through our strategic partnerships with state and local law enforcement agencies, we are able to make a difference.”
69 children recovered following a massive operation. 52 last time. Please don't dislocate your arm patting yourselves on the back.
But on behalf of those 69 children, I thank you. And for the total 1,250 or so others you have liberated from hell over the seven years this initiative has been in action.
Could you try harder, please? I just don't think a .0002% recovery rate is good enough for our children.
52 children recovered, 60 alleged child pimps arrested in crackdown but have you heard about it
- 52 children recovered, 60 alleged child pimps arrested in crackdown -- but have you heard about it?
Today (Oct. 2009) the FBI announced 52 children recovered during a crack down on the child sex slave industry, according to CNN's computer streaming healines on line. Did any of you hear about it? And why not?
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As usual on point, from the heart, and to the gut. Keep fighting Lynda.
Thank you Judicastro for this supreme compliment, for that is surely my mission, and has been for years. It is human nature to turn away from problems that don't concern you, though some have made ignorance a fine art. How can you help? Surely, Birmingham has one or two societies dedicated to the care of children at risk, or perhaps a shelter for child victims. I'm sure they could use help and support. Or contact local Child Protective Societies and ask. If none such exist in your city, then perhaps it is time to start a program.
I make it a practice to never allow denigration of prostitutes in my hearing. Society tends to be very judgmental of sex trade workers or its victims, and this is very detrimental to their recovery and rehabilitation. Write to your local papers on the subject. Increase public awareness.
All this will help. Thanks again. Lynda
Hi papajack. Thank you so much. I will. Lynda
this is really unexpected.....im from what youd call a third world country-sri lanka to be exact- and i really thought that sex slavery was rather dominant in asia.....
seems like i was wrong.
its really depressing to see what "well educated" and "mature" people do for fun??? or is it a mental disorder???
i dont know...but what i HAVE seen in my country is that all those incidents take place in a large scale-and they have political cover. the responsible parties who want to take action against these are helpless at the hand of the political hierarchy- and thus justice is something we rarely see in cases like this....
i hope we'll see all these poor children having a better life in the future...atleast.....
really heartbreaking- and i admire your work...... :)
Hi princess, What I'm about to say will probably surprise you even more, but the handful of children recovered by this operation is, in my opinion, tokenism. I do believe, like the war on drugs, the low level pimps have been targeted while the big picture goes untouched -- just like your country.
You say you hope these "all these poor children" will have a better life soon. So do I. But it is only 69 children out of hundreds of thousands, and following a five day operation, based on months of preparatory work.
Thank you so much for reading, watching the video and commenting here. Lynda
Good research and real life experience. Why don't the police see the baby girls lined up for the johns? Someone is missing the whole real life deal here.
This is such an awful tragedy! I am glad that movies like Taxi Driver,and taken and hubs like this have exposed it!
Thank you for being concerned enought to write about it and to help bring it to an end!
Hi Nan, There are none so blind as those that have a reason not to see, I suppose. I'm sure they do see them, hundreds, thousands. What would you have them do? The solution is not in the already swamped police. Society must decide to end it, not just ask why someone else isn't. That's my opinion, for what it's worth. Thanks so much for commenting. Did you like my video? Lynda
Thanks Mike. If only we could bring it to an end. This is a problem as old as humanity. Lynda
Lynda, it's beyond belief that abuse on this scale is permitted to continue, but as you say, the police have limited resources. You are doing these children a great service by raising the level of awareness. I hope that more people will read, listen, and think, so that if they ever have even the slightest doubt about a neighbour, a colleague, a relative or acquaintance in this regard, they do not hesitate to report their suspicions. There are people out there routinely turning a blind eye, and it's time for that to stop.
A very informative and well researched hub.
A true eye opener.
Such a travesty. I did a lot of research on this type of thing in India and wrote a review on the film trilogy: Water (http://hubpages.com/hub/httpWaterAfilmreviewcom).
I never realized it was so prevalent here.
Lynda,
This is the most disturbing hub I have ever read. We may be letting law enforcement off too easily on this one. I've been there so trust me, they are not always too busy to work this problem on a local level
Just as most Americans are unaware of this situation, I suspect most cops are as well.
I think everyone who reads this hub needs to forward it to someone they know in police work and the media. I am.
Thanks Immartin for making me aware of the low reclamation rate of child trafficking,and I can bet your profession is under-staffed and under-funded...a 10% shift from drug enforcement towards child protection,I'm sure would benefit greatly;)
That was such a powerful hub, and I am truly amazed for I had no idea that the child sex trade had reached the proportions that you report, not only in the U.S but in Canada! This a hub that every one should read Lynda, for it is a issue that has been "sweep under the rug" so to speak.
As Mentalist said, diverting funds from the fantastic failure known as the war on drugs and towards this problem would help.
Hello Amanda, I'll bet if you look under a few rocks there in the UK you'll find the situation to be much the same. I write about Canada because of my first hand knowledge; about the US because the information and statistics are readily available and I have connections with professionals in the field here. In the UK, such information is kept very close to the chest. We can't even get reliable statistics on missing children, or child abuse from your country. Thanks so much for your comment. The next time you see a scantily clad girl standing about, think about offering to take her to a shelter. (That's called outreach work.) Lynda
Thank you QusiaP1. Glad your eyes were opened.
Hi Ron. Considering the statistics on child trafficking come from the FBI, one wonders how they can applaud themselves for rescuing 1,250 in seven years. It took them five years to recover 545. I don't for one minute believe they don't know the scale of child trafficking. Same as the 'war on drugs' in which the big guys are invisible. I listened to this FBI spokesperson make his press statement, and wish I'd been there to challenge him. He went on and on about these pimps running girls and women at a Harrisburg gas station being an 'organized network.' They may be, but the real network, the real problem is much higher up. As I'm sure they know that truth, this public denial of reality is disturbing. Also, they speak a lot of the girls being runaways lured into the pimps control with drugs. This tells me they've once again picked up the street dregs. Either they can't get at the real traffickers who supply the market, or that level is well protected. All I know is what they say doesn't jive with what we protection workers know.
Hi Mentalist Acer -- in the U.S. child protection work relies almost completely on charity. In Canada it is publicly funded. In both countries, without the involvement of dedicated volunteers willing to commit, to be educated, to give freely of their time and love, what is being done would not be. Funding is always a problem. Apparently this country, with its 845 billion dollar military budget, can't afford to care for its children, and in Canada, the publicly funded services are bound hand and foot in rules and red-tape, and is overwhelmed. A social worker may have hundreds of open files at any one time. Volunteers make the world go round.
Hi Highvoltagewriter -- Don't you wonder why it is that no one seems to know? Why on any given night you can find a documentary on child exploitation in Thailand, Cambodia, Central America, Brazil or "bum boys" of Iraq, but nothing about what's going on in your own back yard?
Hi garynew -- Interesting both you and Mentalist talk about the 'war on drugs' for there are striking similarities in both the drug trade and the child trade, in that the low levels are raided and the high seem to be invisible -- or invincible. Human trafficking is a growth industry and far more profitable that drugs. After all, you can only sell drugs once.
Thanks to everyone for your kind comments. If you would be so kind to go to Youtube and vote the video up, I would be very appreciative. I'd like to get it out into the world. Thanks so much. Lynda
This is a public service that needs to get publicity. Where is the news media on this?
If there are so many girls in this situation, think of all the men implicated? Criminals every last one of them. These predators go home to their families and wives and pretend to live a normal life... sick!
I am sure this involves a lot of what we call normal people..not all these "clients" are on the fringes of society and if this as well organized as you seem to have information...well this is absolutely abhorrent behavior in our society.
Keep that light shining and making us uncomfortable... we need to shine a spotlight on these jerks and show them up for the "lily-livered cowards" they are for abusing the innocents for their own gain monetarily and sexually.
This goes for the johns and their contacts as well as the pimps. Shame of the whole lot of them. They are cut from the same cloth.
Same on all those that would turn a blind eye or pretend a "child" prefers this?? Get real!
Lynda, keep the publicity going. Great work. We need to pray for our young girls and I am certain the same goes for young boys.
Thank you Scribenet. Have you not heard the news lately? A State Representative was just charged with pandering minor boy/boys and earning -- are you ready for this? -- 1.3 million dollars off him/them. It is a highly profitable industry.
And you're right. It's not those on the fringes of society, it is society itself to blame, both as consumer and for turning a blind eye.
I am so annoyed with the FBI right now. They KNOW the extent of this trade and pretend that 69 children recovered is a major coup against the trade.
Thanks for your comment. And I will keep it up. I'm writing a novel based on this issue right now, called Finding Emily. Lynda
A totally worthy cause Lynda. You are an angel for these forgotten children.
A state representative? OMG.
I guess if the FBI can't/won't do anything,but token attention to an epidemic...then it is grassroots activists like you who have seen the data that can really make an impact by alerting us to the facts.
Shining a light always works...because these predators do not want the world to know their dirty secrets! Abusing children is not, I repeat, NOT ACCEPTABLE, period! They know it, but as long as nobody knows...hmmm...disgusting.
We all need to be vigilant around our children...it is apparent that the pervert is anyone in the neighborhood including elected representatives... Yuk!
This is hard to stomach, but necessary for the children!
Thanks scribenet. This goes beyond child abuse. This is the slave trade. Lynda
Lynda... it would be appropriate to put down some of the words of Abraham Lincoln taken directly from the Emancipation Proclamation dated January 1, 1863, when slavery was supposedly abolished in the United States of America.
"And by virtue of the power, and for the purpose aforesaid, I do order and declare that all persons held as slaves within said designated States, and parts of States, are, and henceforward shall be free; and that the Executive government of the United States, including the military and naval authorities thereof, will recognize and maintain the freedom of said persons."
for the entire document from the National archives is at:
archives.gov/exhibits/featured_documents/emancipation_proclamation/transcript.html
A law is only as good as the will to enforce it.
Really sad to read these.
I pray that more people will take actions to prevent the disgusting act.
Thanks Ingenira. Lynda
This is incredibly disturbing. How would any of us have known without you bringing it to our attention? I must admit, I didn't want to read it but know it is important for everyone with a conscience and an ounce of ethics to become involved, or at least be aware.
I'm glad you did read it Karanda. It serves no one to walk around pretending the world is the way one wants it to be -- though many do prefer that. Thanks for your comment. Lynda
With this hub and others you have written, Lynda, you are shining a bright, penetrating light into the darkness that surrounds the child rape trade. Your video is to the point and disturbing - as it should be.
I know that your book will be well-written, well-researched and just as disturbing. But we should not wait.
Had a small idea. If every one of us who reads your hubs sends just one tweet a day to our followers on Twitter, that would do a great deal to raise the consciousness of others regarding this deplorable and unfair exploitation of young children - both girls and boys. Would you agree?
Most definitely I agree, drbj. Particularly as those that know, or should know, seem to be misleading the public. Yes, I wish I had a greater reach, but I don't. United, however, we can spread the word. Thanks. Lynda
Thank you Lynda for this important, disturbing, and informative hub. As someone who often volunteers with immigrants and refugees, I'm all too familiar with the rhetoric of the foreign slave trade arriving in North America from distant shores - as though the very same atrocities weren't happening to citizens of our own countries right now. I plan to share this hub with everyone I know.
Hi CY Falvey and thank you. Please do share the hub, or even just the video (click on Youtube for location.) True, most don't want to know what's going on in their own towns, until it's their child who disappears into the maw. Lynda
Lynda, I don’t have words to describe my shock, horror, disgust and sorrow about this terrible trade. This is so-so-so wrong. I agree with you – there is NO way a girl (or boy) will enter the world of abusive sex willingly. She has to be forced by an adult, either brutally or shrewdly. Once she’s in – it is such a deep pit – only one way out – to be rescued. And you know ‘rescuing’ does not always mean from out of hell into heaven, but from out of a worse hell into a little more comfortable one.
“Girls (and boys) must realize that they are prey to all sorts of wild two-legged animals,” will the know-it-all’s say. Rubbish! A child does not fear dangers - s/he wants to discover, inspect, experience life with the naive believe that bad things only happen to others. The PARENTS of children should realize this; they should TAKE CARE of their children.
I wish you only the best success with your campaign against sexual abuse. Your success – what you’ve already achieved and still shall achieve - certainly lies in the fact that you call a spade a spade. Shock and confront with the bare facts seem to be the only way to STOP this horrible injustice.
Gosh, what a sick world. I think the press as a lot to answer for. In England the the Law is hopeless at the moment and doesn't look to improve in spite of the promise before election.
the men caught deserve to be shot, those profiting from the girls are also to be shot. why are these men so sick or can they not handle a mature woman, is castration not an option, this makes me sick to my stomach,, keep up your good work
I agree with the poster above, eden, although I think they should not have another breath seconds later. It is just the most despicable thing. A teen relative of mine was held up at gunpoint and she was the only cashier in the store at the time. It was horrible how she managed to get through it (it went beyond robbery).
Anyway, better methods of detecting where your child or teen are needed. 60 minutes had a spot on teen s** slave trade in USA. watch it so you know.
My solution, or suggestion, and you may not like it, but I saw an episode where the parents were so worried they inserted a speck-sized GPS into their kid's arm to track their movements. That is how you can get these larger "sick" networks. Think about it, if kids can wear braces for their teeth, people put in lap bands why not this? Yes, that is what the word is coming to. innocent kids being put into hell for no reason. It just makes me sick.
An interesting and informative hub. It is sickening that some people would think that any child would choose that kind of life for themselves. A few months ago, I came across the story of Johnny Gosch, who was disappeared in the 1980's. He was reportedly kidnapped and used in part of a pedophilia ring, though there is a debate as to the truth in that. Either way, reading about it and the child sex trade was really eye opening. It is a far larger problem than the average person realizes.
Lynda, I thank you for writing this hub. Trafficking of women and children is a violation of the fundamental human rights of a person. This is a violent act in itself and even worse than physical violence because the effects are lasting. What makes it worse is a government that refuses to act to protect its citizens and allows these criminal activities/sex slavery trade to continue.
Look at all these comments that went unanswered! How did this happen? Oh dear.
Hi Martie, It's interesting you discuss who is to blame -- the child or the parents. Personally, I'd say neither. Of course a child wants to live a natural young life, which includes not having parents breathing down his back. No one can watch a child every minute of every day. Let's stop that debate right here. Better to argue who is to blame -- the pimp or the customer. That's right. That's where blame belongs.
HI Antonia. Yes it is a larger problem than the average person realizes. In fact, most people don't seem to know (or care) the problem exists at all.
Hi MercuryNewsOnline. Yes, it is a shame on our society. As for allowing it to flourish, I often use the analogy of the so called war on drugs -- please! If we truly wanted to put a stop to it, we would but too many powerful people are making too much money from it.
Thanks to all of you for your comments. Lynda
I have seen some of this on TV. I can't help thinking that someone or some group is making a lot of money off of these kids. I don't mean the pimps. It is someone in an office with a name on the door. Someone you would never suspect. It is just too big not to be organized.
Hi G Nelson, I'm sure there are many someones in many offices making money off these crimes, same as the so-called war on drugs and many others. Thanks for your comment. Lynda
Thank you for a disturbingly informative hub. With as many children being traffiked as there are, many people pay money for this. Is this maybe why the public doesn't react more? Because too many "average" people participate? They don't talk openly about it of course, but if there were not a market, a lucrative market, this trade would not exist.
You've hit the nail on the head. Without customers there would be no market, with no market, no victims. This trade is as old as humanity, only growing more organized with modern technology. Thanks for commenting. Lynda
Lynda, I am horrified! Your hub, though a VERY disturbing subject, illuminates a grave problem in our country that very few (including me) know anything about. Our ignorance equates to profits to someone. Disgusting.
Rest assured your video and Hub will be passed on to everyone I know. It is very important and I thank you profusely for making me and others aware of this.
Thank you Susie Writes. Please do pass the message along. Awareness is the main battle. Lynda
Yes, there are profitable paedophile rings here in the UK, and in the rest of Europe. I certainly hope that the police, and the authorities, are taking the subject very seriously.
Kids wonder why their parents worry. This is why.
Hi Trish. Yes I know the British love the term paedophile rings, and that does play a part in the trafficking of very young children, though the trade goes well beyond "rings." When it comes to girls of 11, 12 and up, it is just plain old prostitution. There are lots of johns around who want adolescent girls. Lots.
Any parent who doesn't worry is just plain crazy. Thanks for commenting here. Lynda
Thank you for this excellent and disturbing hub.
The UK has a thriving sex trade, so much so that we import thousands of sex slaves every year. And lots of teenage girls and boys go missing.
It is a problem all over the world. Thank you for writing about it.
Thank you Charles. I'm well aware this is a global problem but it is one we must work at solving on a local level. Awareness is the first step. Only the first. Lynda
After all appeals for morality have failed we have to attack the economic forces involved. It would not be difficult in most countries to pass a law that says that in any sexual encounter involving payment of any kind the onus is the payer to prove that the other party was of full age and consented freely. Failure to prove either element will then constitute rape. "I did not realise" will not be a defence.
And we have to persuade the police and prosecuting authorities to give priority to this problem. Jailing a few punters will have a significant effect on demand for the services of children and sex slaves.
While I am not happy that adult prostitution exists I accept that it will always exist. I would advocate licenced brothels, which of course would be subject to medical inspection and would be regulated. It is then easier to crack down on the unregulated establishments.
Hi Charles, 'I did not know' is already unacceptable as a defense in any sex act involving minors -- ask the hundreds of thousands who find themselves on the Sex Offenders Registry. The issue isn't payment, or consent but age. Somehow, I don't think that new laws will have much affect on those already breaking existing ones. Sex with minors in any circumstance is against the law; sex for payment is against the law (except in very rare instances such as the legalized brothels of Nevada.)
As far as persuading law enforcement to give a priority, with all due respect to our fine officers of the law and courts, there is a tendency to look the other way. Prostitutes can tell you many stories of mistreatment at the hands of the police, including extortion of services and money.
A large part of the problem is the prevailing attitude towards sex workers. They are considered almost sub-human, not worthy of consideration or protection. Thousands simply disappear every year and no one cares. Look at the case of the man in Vancouver, British Columbia who murdered sex workers and buried them on his farm. Almost a hundred bodies were found when he was finally arrested after years of this killing spree. How did he get away with it? Because his victims were 'only prostitutes.'
Which is sad enough, but when you consider most adult prostitutes are survivors of childhood exploitation, the whole situation takes on tragic proportions.
Like you, I think legalized brothels are a good answer to some problems, but it will not do away with the illegal trade.
Thanks for this thoughtful comment. Lynda
Maybe, if adult prostitution was legalised, for those who really wanted to do it ~ with legal checks and health checks, etc ~ then the police could more easily discover those who were too young to know, or who were being forced, etc??
I agree that legalized prostitution is preferable to the free for all currently underway on our streets, but I doubt new laws will affect those already breaking existing ones. Nor do I believe the police CAN'T discover these young victims, but that it is overlooked, a low priority. After all, they're only hookers, albeit child hookers -- so who cares? Thanks for commenting here. And you're quite correct in thinking any kind of control would help. Lynda
YOUR HUB IS EXTREMELY DISTURBING. It seems as though you hae become very passionate about this situation. Why so much under stated frustration with the FBI. As you have said this is a very organized and well funded attack on our childern. The FBI from what I understand is not well funded , under manned, and responsible for a wide range of horrid crimal acts all across this nation. Even if their task force for this is a thousand men , with the numbers your giving us ,even if half of the missing are child sex slaves, than its going to take much,much more to even put a dent in this situation. In no way am I trying to down play the seriousness of the situation, but I think it going to take alot more than our goverment has to offer for them to really do something about this. I think you probably do better starting a private watch dog program, even though this is an illegal underground organization, its still all about moneyand money can be tracked. you would be best served by starting a non profit organization,start fund raising, use those funds to start a massive anti sex slave champaine,pinpiont the major players,help the authorities. The people of this country will not stand for this attack on our kids and they are much stronger and more powerful than any FBI or CIA.THats what use to set us apart from eeryone else,OUR low tolarance for bs and the motavation to do something about it.You really seem like you could have a major impact on this. Writing about its great,But in the time it took you to reseach and write this hub, you could have founded your own organization and started going after the culprates. IT IS THAT EASY . The people that are doing this saw a demand and met it for the money, and thats how they see it ,money. You see it different, you can feel it when you read your hub. Take that passion and do something good with it. THESE KIDS NEED SOMEONE,why not you.You can only do so much as a child protection person. You know I'm right I can feel how frustrated you are by this in your words.
My dear Mr. Brightman, I HAVE been doing something about it for thirty years and continue to do so. As to "our low tolerance for BS setting us apart from everyone else" -- puh-leeze! Excuse me while I wipe the tears of laughter from my face.
I work with and write for a number of organizations already in place, already working against this ancient evil -- in many countries. Child trafficking is nothing new. It's as old as civilization. Modern technology has only increased the pace. The time I spent developing this hub is time I spent doing MY job, my role in the fight. So you see, I'm only one person out of thousands already doing what you suggest.
How about you?
I couldn't even think how I can comment on this article since what you've said still clings on to me hard on. This is really well-written and well-researched. Thanks!
Thank you funmontrealgirl. Say hello to my favorite city for me. Lynda
Why What kinda sick and twisted person would get pleasure from something like that?!?!?!?!?!
Enough sick and twisted people that a quarter of a million children are bought and sold in America every day.
Thank you for this hub. I say "thank you" as you are inadvertently doing me a favor by helping my fellow Man to open his eyes to the monstrosity that exists in our own back yards. Yes, it's ugly. Yes, it's difficult to behold but sometimes it's necessary to get dirty in the mud when you're trying to build a good foundation for tomorrow.
I read every word and I'm going to post this on my facebook and demand that it's read.
As for Thailand, I'm currently living in here just outside of Bangkok. What organization can I work with to help in this area?
Hi Tyler. How nice to hear from you. My sister taught in Thailand for several years and became involved with a couple of Christian missions who were dedicated to liberating girls from the sex slave trade. So that would be my advice -- contact some missions. You might also try talking to law enforcement.
Thank you for your support. Lynda
I am learning how to get a high score from the HUB and a lot of followers. Do what Pres Bush (2) did to get elected - scare everyone. I am simply flabbergasted by these statistics and stories. This problem simply can't be as you describe in your HUBs. Same goes for Rescueachild. I flatly say I do NOT believe it.
Frankly I find Bangkok to be a kinder, gentler, and more vibrant place right now but the shit hole IMMartin describes America to be these days with 96.4% of everyone experiencing sexual abuse simply can't be true!
I urge everyone to ask around in your community (without prejudicing the result) and see if you think that 95% abuse on the part of everyone around you is true!
But also read IMMartin's HUBs. Get your thrill. As far as I'm concerned this is a woman's idea of soft porn just like stories of cheating celebrities. - - JACK
I never said ninety-six percent suffer sex abuse. I said 70% of girls and 40% of boys are sexually assaulted before the age of 16.
As I mentioned on another comment of your on another of my hubs, you appear to be a man on a mission -- shouting I do not believe on every article about this subject.
Who cares what you believe?
IM, nice to see you are rattled. Of course you don't care. You have your own mission. I have mine.
I simply said I don't believe you.
Now take the time to divide 54 by 56. That is what you said (in another HUB) were the results in your survey of women who were abused. (So, was it "sexually assaulted" or was it "sexually abused"? And does it matter.)
Therefore, if we divide 2 by 56 we get the number who were NOT abused (or assaulted, as you please), about 3.5% - not 35 - 3 point 5 percent were NOT abused.
If you then read what you say around those numbers, you clearly extrapolate these figures to all women. Since someone must be doing all that abusing I think we must blame a huge proportion of men too - almost all of us, right?
The only people who care what I believe are those same people who look at facts like these and they want to say that it seems very hard to believe. And I said I don't believe it, so they can too. It isn't exactly a "Rosa Parks moment" but it is a start.
Your mission will be more successful if you get off the bandwagon of more and more extreme talk and make a more profession impression. Others might cool off a bit by your example and the discourse will be more successful for you.
I will continue to say that many thousands of adult women seem to be working in the sex trade (internationally)without fear, without danger, without pimps, without drugs,with little or no shame, and when they go somewhere it is a big stretch to say they were "trafficked" since they go and do as they wish of their own volition. That also seemed to be the case regarding Craig's List too. Craig's List was the middle class option as opposed to the crack whores you seem to know from the back streets of Miami or the $1,000 a night women who are surely enjoying that kind of money with guys like Charlie Sheen.
I have no rant to make about children. In my world I see no children and no one I have met is looking for children. Mentally ill, immature men are looking for children, but they must have a secret handshake because they keep a pretty low profile in the grand scope of things. I would be the first to call a policeman if someone offered me a child as a prostitute. That's my message.
I do wish you great success in helping children.
Come "rant" on my HUBs if you wish. I have never denied a comment yet. - - JACK
Another over the top HUB from my friend IMMARTIN. Why is it always about children? And who can stand to live in America now if these things are true or as ubiquitous as they are made to seem. I think this kind of over-the-top, scary talk makes it more difficult to attack the real problems.
I just wrote a review of the award winning true story of international trafficking from Thailand. It's worth a look - -
Hello Fiacre. When did we become friends? I don't recall we've ever met before. Presumptuous, don't you think? Clearly, you haven't read much of my work. It's not all about children, despite the fact I have years of first hand experience in child protection.
Contrary to your ill-informed opinion, which seems to be based more on a disinclination to see the problem than any fact or personal knowledge, the information I give here is not "over-the-top, scary talk makes it more difficult to attack the real problems" It IS the REAL problem.
The book you reviewed is the story of a woman (not a girl) who chose to become a prostitute. Not the same thing as child trafficking; not the same thing as child exploitation - not at all.
The statistics I present here are entirely available to anyone who wants to actually research the problem, not just cover their ears and shout "I don't believe." Contact the FBI, for one. They'll tell you over 100,000 children are trafficked within the US every year, mostly girls, average age 11. Go on. Find out for yourself. You can also learn that 30% of all reported rapes involve girls between the ages of eleven and thirteen.
But then, you'll probably decide the FBI has it all wrong, too.
I amuses me that those with absolutely no first-hand knowledge of these issues love to claim such things are exaggerated. Unhappily, they are not.
But then, it doesn't really matter what you believe. Doesn't change the situation one bit.
These statistics are just absolutely sad and shocking. I am glad I read this today because it confirms what I just did yesterday was the right thing to do ...
4 days ago my 14 year old neighbor had shared with me about her 12 year old friend being "taken advantage of" at school. The first thing I thought of was this was the beginning of a nightmare for this young girl - so I spent 2 hours in their principals office yesterday supporting my neighbor girl to speak to her principal about what had happened to her young friend. I hope this makes a difference for the future of this little girl - and I hope more people will mentor our young women and openly discuss these issues. Thanks for writing this very valuable hub and bringing awareness to a topic that needs to be in the mainstream media!
You did the right thing! Letting this girl know that 1) she is not to blame for what has happened to her and 2) she is not alone will help her immensely. Good for you for stepping up. So many of us had to live with deep, dark secrets...
Hi lmmartin, Thank you for this hub. I am involved with an organization that works in Cambodia with prevention and aftercare of child sex slaves. I have heard some horrific stories, but what you report here is just as bad and it happening in my own backyard. I think there would be more public outcry if conversations like the one you presented here from the chatroom became publicized. People are under the impression that sex work is glamorous or at least not rape. On the contrary, it is brutal and horrific. It never ceases to blow my mind how callous the men are toward these very young girls. Thank you for a wonderful hub.
How nice to hear from you Juliaeverheart. As I'm sure you've noticed, so many comments want to deny the reality of child sex-servitude, which only makes it that much more difficult to aid those who survive. You say that if such conversation became publicized there might be more of an outcry. They are publicized and the response is: It's not true! Sigh! So we who know better will go on working as best we can. Thanks so much for your comment. Lynda
Thanks for your article. I have been a victim of similar abuse and at age 40 have still not recovered. Society, friends and family don't want to know - they don't want to face the appalling nature that lies so close to their own back door.
You're so very welcome, Nicola. I am sorry to hear you are still carrying the scars. Does it help to know you are far from alone? You're so right in that society does not want to know -- unless, of course, it is to point a finger at abuse of boys in Iraq or the child sex trade in Asia. Not here, they cry. In researching for one of my articles, "Selling the girl next door" I found that while help is available for foreign trafficked women and girls, all that is done for American girls is jail. Talk about hiding our heads in the sand. Thanks so much for commenting. Lynda
Hi Linda, your article has been very eye opening. I live in Winnipeg, Manitoba and child prostitution, especially among the Aboriginal community, is very prevalent. It is not uncommon to see young girls at the age of 12-13 on the streets here. Recently, prostitution and brothels have been legalized in Ontario, and I'm afraid that talks of legalization and brothels have been circulating within Manitoba as well. While doing my own research, I've come to the conclusion that the legalization of these brothels will only escalate the child sex slavery and trafficking, not to mention the abuse and violence. They say these brothels will get rid of pimps, but let's face it, it will be pimps and organized crime/gangs who will finance these brothels because they already do, the only difference is with legalizing it, the government will make money off of it too. These are just some of my views. As a Manitoba resident, I really don't think brothels and legalization of prostitution is the answer. What are your thoughts on this matter?
Sincerely,
R.T.
Hi RT -- I spent a number of years in Winnipeg so am very familiar with the particular problems of the city. I will disagree with you about the legalization. Legalizing does away with the criminal empires whether it be brothels, drugs or booze (look at prohibition in the US and how criminal organizations proliferated.) Studies show that in locales with legalized brothels prostitution-related crime drops considerably. No one under the age of majority can work in a brothel; health standards exist; the women are protected;criminals do not run licensed and legal businesses... So there are many arguments for legalization. BUT legalization will not affect the trade in children. There is a big difference between an adult woman making the decision to work in the sex industry (legalized or not) and children who do not have the requisite ability to consent being tricked, seduced, cajoled and/or forced into the trade.
So there you have my thoughts. I'm FOR legalized prostitution in that it provides for control and protection for the women involved and does not involved children. I'm against selling children for sex, period.
Judicastro Level 1 Commenter 18 months ago
Lynda
You have really opened my eyes to what is going on in the US. It sickens me that when we as Americans are uncomfortable with something and it does not personally affect us, we close ourselves off from it. It's too hard to look at, too uncomfortable, we say what difference could we make anyway. Let someone else who is more trained, more knowledgeable, more emotionally involved take my place. So my question is how can I help, what can I do? This is unfamilar territory for me. God has led me to minister and to work in many uncomfortable areas, but not this yet. Here in Birmingham, AL I just found out from one of my employees who had been wrongfully imprisoned that she shared space with a 60+ year old lady who ran a massage parlor here in town. Arrested for human trafficing, million dollar bond. I had no idea.