What About American Girls Sold on the Streets?

[mzteris]

When we hear about human trafficking in India or Cambodia, our hearts melt. The victim has sometimes been kidnapped and imprisoned, even caged, in a way that conjures our images of slavery.

But in the United States we see girls all the time who have been trafficked — and our hearts harden. The problem is that these girls aren’t locked in cages. Rather, they’re often runaways out on the street wearing short skirts or busting out of low-cut tops, and many Americans perceive them not as trafficking victims but as miscreants who have chosen their way of life. So even when they’re 14 years old, we often arrest and prosecute them — even as the trafficker goes free.

In fact, human trafficking is more similar in America and Cambodia than we would like to admit. Teenage girls on American streets may appear to be selling sex voluntarily, but they’re often utterly controlled by violent pimps who take every penny they earn.

From johns to judges, Americans often suffer from a profound misunderstanding of how teenage prostitution actually works — and fail to appreciate that it’s one of our country’s biggest human rights problems. Fortunately, a terrific new book called “Girls Like Us,” by Rachel Lloyd, herself a trafficking survivor, illuminates the complexities of the sex industry.

-more-

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/24/opinion/24kristof.html?nl=todaysheadlines&emc=tha212

[hlthe2b]

1. When some promote Playboy, Hustler, Hooters, etc...

as opportunities for women to display their "power" and as proof of feminist victories, is it any wonder there is such confusion over these young girls and the extent to which they are victimized? The article quite rightly points out this horrific hypocrisy, but I think the paradox needs to be explored as well.

[Turbineguy]

2. Women

can use these means to display their power. But by some strange coincidence, people make money off it. But I'm sure the two are completely unrelated. Yes.

Edited for: :sarcasm:

[ZombieHorde]

6. I don't see how those two things are exclusive from each other. Do you? nt

[ZombieHorde]

3. Human trafficking is significantly older than Hustler magazine. nt

[defendandprotect]

11. It begins with patriarchy and its violence -- and sadly the Bible

features these concepts -- male-supremacy -- slavery --

offering of one's daughter to "guests" --

The Bible was written to cement patriarchy -- male-supremacy!!

[ZombieHorde]

14. I think the Holy Bible reflects the patriarchy of its era,

I don't think the Holy Bible is the source of male patriarchy. Though it does help the patriarchy to persist.

[RaleighNCDUer]

22. Actually, I think it is the source - at least in its original forms.

Most of the earliest books of the bible have been found to be taken from earlier sources - Assyria and Sumeria (with a couple nods to Egypt) - and they promote a patriarchic monotheism, as opposed to the Goddess worship that flourished at that same time. The bible encapsulates the arguments for patriarchic monotheism being used 3-5000 years ago to displace the Goddess - Inana (Ishtar, Asherah) who was the dominant deity as being the mother of the gods, possibly dating back thousands of years before then. There are strong similarities between idols of Ishtar and so-called "cultic" goddess figures from 15,000 years ago. In fact, I've always thought that the legend of Lilith was an oblique reference to the Goddess worship that pre-dated the patriarchy.

Looking back from here, the stories are seen as myth or history - at the time, however, they were current and propaganda for the patriarchy.

[wickerwoman]

36. Except patriarchy is rampant in non-Western cultures too.

Some of the most misogynistic cultures ever encountered (China and India) developed without reference to the Christian bible.

Not saying that the bible isn't an instrument of propaganda for patriarchy, but it's not the source of it. Otherwise, how to explain all of the isolated Pacific Island, Asian, African, pre-Columbian American and other cultures that are also extremely patriarchal.

Actually documented functioning matriarchies are virtually non-existent apart from the Naxi in Western China and a few others. Wherever patriarchy comes from, it's not exclusive to one particular cultural context. Very, very few other cultural practices are as widespread.

[defendandprotect]

69. +1 --

And there is no organized patriarchal religion -- Jews/Christians/Muslims -- which

don't have to deal with disappearing the Old Religion -- it's celebrations of nature

and the goddesses.

And -- vs the Old Religion -- organized patriarchal religions introduced the concept

of HELL -- never present in the old teachings. It's the same pattern we see today --

find a way to create fear -- and offer protection!



:)

[defendandprotect]

71. Re Lilith -- few realize that Adam was divorced -- !!

In fact, I've always thought that the legend of Lilith was an oblique reference to the Goddess worship that pre-dated the patriarchy.

Lilith understood -- correctly -- that she was made EQUAL to Adam --

and Adam therefore gets rid of her --

The next mate- Eve - is one made from his rib -- making her not his equal but his

creation -- !! The only time ever a male has created/delivered another life!!


And they slandered Lilith as they did Mary Magdalene --

In fact, with Lilith you not only have to dig to find her, but you then find her buried under

tons of lies -- i.e., that she was a horrible mother, responsible for death of one or more of

her children -- and presumably these are also Adam's children/? !!

Only after you dig through all of that, you will find that Lilith forms a strong friendship

with Eve -- offering help and understanding!

:evilgrin:

:hi:

[defendandprotect]

67. The "source" of male patriarchy is within the spirit of some males . . .

the Bible was used to cement patrarichy -- i.e., the oppression

of women had begun -- they were overturned by violence --

and the Bible is clearly male propaganda vs women --

featuring the first all male/one god of violence.

[WhiteTara]

17. As a history

it is the story of the genocide of women.

At one point in my life, I attempted to count all the murders in the Old Testament, but was too overwhelmed for a final number. Some say the number was as high as 6 million women who were murdered so that we would say GOD not GODDESS. I also think the story of Adam and Eve being turned out of the Garden was just another real estate robbery...sort of like Benton Harbor. The theory being, If this isn't Eden, then it's okay to trash the place, because MAN was given dominion over all the Earth.

[coalition_unwilling]

58. Take a look at what happened not just to women but to children

in Jericho after Joshua sent the walls a'tumblin' down. (Hint: It ain't pretty and puts the Old Testament God in a rather poor light, imho.)

[defendandprotect]

70. +1 --

As a history
it is the story of the genocide of women

and the male-inspired propaganda to make it acceptable -- to create intolerance for

females, fear of them, and to encourage violence against them.

At one point in my life, I attempted to count all the murders in the Old Testament, but was too overwhelmed for a final number. Some say the number was as high as 6 million women who were murdered so that we would say GOD not GODDESS.

K/R



I also think the story of Adam and Eve being turned out of the Garden was just another real estate robbery...sort of like Benton Harbor. The theory being, If this isn't Eden, then it's okay to trash the place, because MAN was given dominion over all the Earth.

It is certainly a story of the world being turned upside down by males --

Rather than spirituality based on NATURE, male-supremacists began a war on nature --

and women/children.

As for the Garden of Eden -- I've always thought that the final message of that overturning

was and is still Eve standing holding the APPLE. Imo, it was the beginning of bloodletting

-- a war on animal-life by males -- with animals being closely connected to females.

But agree that this is also the beginning of exploitation of NATURE --

"Manifest Destiny" and "Man's Dominion Over Nature" being the licenses for the few to exploit

nature, natural resources, animal-life and even other human beings -- according to various

myths of "inferiority" -- !!

[PassingFair]

4. +1

Well said.

:applause:

[seabeyond]

5. after a prostitute thread, it was obvious prostitution painted as a "pretty woman" scenrio ignoring

the ugly of it. much better/easier to defend if we ignore reality

[ZombieHorde]

7. I think this is because there are so many types of prostitution.

I have prostituted myself, and it wasn't some horrible thing. But for the 14-year-olds on the street, prostitution is disturbing and horrible.

I think we should call the 14-year-old's situation something other than prostitution. We should call it client-rape, or something closer to what it actually is.

[Heidi]

15. The name for it is rape.

Another name for it is child abuse.

[closeupready]

26. I hadn't seen your post when I posted below, but I said exactly the same thing.

nt

[seabeyond]

60. you made a post on another thread that say it all

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=439&topic_id=927733&mesg_id=934090

Because those who want their daughters to grow up to be rocket scientists and prime ministers,
not sex workers or soft porn models, ....

i get confused that progressives looks at prostitution in a manner that would suggest any of us would want our daughters to have that life. and if not good enough for them, then how could it be good enough for any daughter. not that we can stop it, but glorify it confuses me.

[Cleita]

8. If prostitution were made legal, much of the trafficking

would end and the women would have the protection of the law from would be predators and abusive sickos.

I lived in a country with legal prostitution. Street walking was a crime, but brothels were legal and subject to regulations and scrutiny by the authorities. The majority of the women were married with children and worked part time to augment their husbands' often inadequate earnings while hubby looked the other way. It's not perfect but better than the crime ridden and abusive system we have.

[LisaL]

16. Even if prostitution is made legal, is not going to be legal for those

under 18.

[bobbolink]

18. Exactly. That is a red herring. Fourteen-year-olds, either male or female

aren't prostituting themselves by choice.

There aren't options for them. :cry:

[Cleita]

28. I'm not talking about what is obviously prostituting

children and should be considered a crime up there with murder. We need laws that really crash down on those who victimize these children, not just statutory rape laws. This is real crime. I'm talking about women who will do this for a living voluntarily if they have the same protection and regulation of the law like liquor stores have. When there is sexual slavery, child molestation and worse, it's a crime and those who victimize the women and children involved need a really hard legal hammer thrown at them.

The problem with no legalization is that they are all thrown on the other side of the law. If you separate the victimless acts of prostitution from the criminal acts, then you have a real chance of getting at the crime lords that are behind it.

[Shallah Kali]

39. Sweden legalized prostitition yet kept the purchase of sex illegal which has worked good

according to reports:

The battle against sex trafficking: Sweden vs. Denmark
http://thecnnfreedomproject.blogs.cnn.com/2011/03/30/sex-trafficking-countries-take-different-approaches-to-same-problem/?hpt=Sbin

n 1995, Sweden passed a tough bill that cracked down on prostitution. What made this law different, however, was who would be held responsible for the crime of prostitution. It's not illegal to sell sex. It is, however, illegal to buy sex.

The law was enacted as part of Sweden's push for gender equality. From a Swedish legal point of view, any woman selling sex has been forced to do so, either by circumstance or coercion. Anyone caught buying sex faces hefty fines, an embarrassingly public police notification and possible time in prison, with a maximum four-year sentence. So far no one arrested has served time.

snip

Denmark decriminalized prostitution in 1999. The idea, in part, was that making it legal to sell sex would also make it easier to police. There are conditions, however: pimping is illegal and only legal residents can work as prostitutes.

snip

Denmark's National Centre Against Trafficking coordinates police and social services to effectively identify trafficking victims. When police raid a brothel, social workers are on hand. When they have identified a possible victim of trafficking, they are placed in a safe house for a "reflection period" of up to 100 days. If, at the end of that time, the victims have not cooperated with police to prosecute their traffickers, they are deported.




according to the article linked below the Netherlands has 4 times as Illegal brothels as they have legal licensed brothels. Legalization isn't much help.

Sex Traffic Rises, Along With Scramble for Solutions
http://www.womensenews.org/story/prostitution-and-trafficking/100615/sex-traffic-rises-along-scramble-solutions

Several U.S. states have followed the Swedish approach of cracking down on the purchasers of prostitution.

In Illinois, starting in 2009, Cook County Sheriff Tom Dart began directing his officers to arrest sex buyers and redirect prostitutes to drug treatment or other services.

Around the same time, a Chicago-based coalition of nonprofits began a statewide effort to change the attitudes of potential buyers toward commercial sex. The "End Demand Illinois" initiative includes a high school program that organizers hope will become a national model. It teaches boys about the damage women in commercial sex suffer and encourages them to spread the message to friends and relatives. The approach is based in part on research by the initiative that found the average age of men when they first buy sex is between 18 and 25 years old.

snip

Dutch police now estimate four illegal brothels exist for each one of the 142 licensed brothels. British police also say the Netherlands has become a leading pedophile destination country in Europe.


End Demand Illinois
http://www.enddemandillinois.org/

[bluestate10]

31. True. But legalization will allow police to focus resources where they should be focused,

on people that put girls or boys on the street and the customers that use the services of under-aged prostitutes. But as things stand, a literal uncontrollable problem exist because law enforcement and the IRS are chasing the wrong people in prostitution.

[Cal33]

35. You are correct. But over here it is so important to keep up the appearances

that we have a "moral society," so prostitution is officially banned. Never mind the fact
that because of this ban, far more crime and immorality are the results. And prostitution
is going on anyway. But, it's the appearance that counts.

The same thing applies to drug trafficking. All the violence, fighting over turf, murderous
competition.... could be easily avoided. But appearances are more important. And many
suspect that drug lords do enjoy some underhanded protection from certain officials.

If drugs were available at government run places, and efforts to offer education about and
free treatment for those who wish to stop drug abuse can be had at the same places, in time the number
of drug abusers will decrease to a small fraction of what it is today. Half of the prisoners
today are drug abusers. That means we'd have more than a million fewer prisoners.

Since anyone can buy the drugs at an easily affordable price, it would no longer be a
"big deal." The novelty of it would be gone.

Yep, the amount of human misery and number of unnecessary deaths don't matter to these people at all.

[coalition_unwilling]

59. Economists actually have studied the economics of so-called

'black markets' as exemplified here by prostitution and drugs. Turns out that, questions of morality aside, black markets tend to result in higher prices to consumers (to compensate providers for the higher risk of breaking the law, getting caught and having production as it were shut down), while doing relatively little to affect the underlying mechanism of supply and demand. (N.B. The technical reason why prices to consumers are higher than would be the case were the products concerned legal is that the supply curve for the illegal product or service shifts leftward while the demand curve stays fixed, meaning that for any given quantity demanded a higher price equilibrium exists.)

The point is that society may find it perversely (npi) appropriate for consumers to pay the higher prices mandated by a black market. So be it. But society deludes itself if it thinks that making certain goods and services illegal will cause the fundamental laws of economics to be repealed.

Then there are perversities (again npi) like the corrections industry and the enormous and disproportionate influence it has in many local governments. To use your example, the collapse in inmate populations as a result of drug legalization\decriminalization would cause massive shocks and dislocations to entrenched powers. In all the pissing and moaning about California's budgetary woes, I've never once heard the various law enforcement and corrections folks ever have to worry about being affected by any budget cuts. The prison-industrial-congressional complex rolls on unscathed, a behemoth that demagogues set in motion and no longer have any power to control.

[Cleita]

63. Also, many entrepreneurs like black market economies

because they don't have to get licenses, pay taxes or follow regulations. I had bartender a friend who wanted prohibition to come back because he thought that he could make more money working in a speakeasy type of establishment, maybe even own one.

[coalition_unwilling]

64. Hah! That's good. A perverse argument for bringing Prohibition back. Of

course, were Prohibition to return, your bartender friend who opened a speakeasy would face the threat of incarceration in return for the chance to earn more money :)

[Cleita]

65. That's the thing about black market or illegal operations,

there's always the threat of incarceration, but many of those crime syndicate types take their chances for the profits and they also make sure they have great lawyers. Why do you think the drug cartels are so lucrative and successful? They are the ones who really don't want drugs legalized because poof, there goes the business so they actually put money into programs like Just Say No to keep drugs illegal.

[seabeyond]

53. where is the need for "hubby looked the other way"

if it is all fine and dandy, where would be the "need" for him to look the other way?

and the children? no effect on children, for sure.

[Cleita]

61. My words for illustration. I really don't know if he looked the other way

other than the fact that jealous husband incidents never seemed to enter the gossip stream of a community where every one knew everyone's business or enter the police blotters for that matter. The children got fed better, were better sheltered and clothed and got to go to school. Laborers were not paid a sufficient wage to support families. Of course another alternative would have been to grow coca or opium illegally and get involved with drug lords. I am talking about a third world country here and a different culture. It seems legal brothels do lessen stds and crime especially in places where there are a lot of single men like in a mining camp, which is where I lived. Believe me there would have been no stopping the prostitution in such a place any more than the flow of alcohol or the Saturday night fight. Keeping things legal kept crime down.

[bobbolink]

9. Runaway or Throwaway young women are said to have 48 hours on the street before

they are nabbed, drugged, and sold into prostitution, and drug addicted.

YET, there is hardly any help on the street for teens. In Colorado, there are two youth shelters -- one in Denver, and one in Colorado Springs. They are allowed to stay for two weeks, after which time the cops are called.

If they have been abused at home and runaway to escape or kicked out of the house (often because they are gay), where are they to go? Back to the same abusive and intolerable situation?

We are failing our teens!

Thank you for posting this! :yourock:

[GreenPartyVoter]

40. Yes, it doesn't make any sense to call the cops on kids that for the last 2 weeks you were

keeping them safe. *sigh* (I am sure a lot of it has to do with freeing up beds for other kids, but as you say if the problem that sent them there in the first place hasn't been addressed then nothing has been accomplished but delaying the inevitable.)

We definitely need a better solution!

[bobbolink]

42. I think the problem is legal. I think the citie(s) make a "deal" just in order to provide a

temporary place for them, that they won't keep them longer than two weeks without calling the police.

Given that they are minors, there is a legal issue.

Which works against these kids.

A couple of years ago, I saw this up close and personal, with a young woman I knew who was to enter her senior year in high school, but the summer before it, her parents kicked her out of the house. Luckily, she had a good boyfriend and his family who took her in.

When she started her senior year in the fall, her parents unregistered her and took all her belongings out of her locker.

She had no rights whatsoever, and they made life hell for her.

BTW, her father is a "psychologist". Need I detail what I think of the profession?

[GreenPartyVoter]

43. Oh, nice. What was their problem with their kid? Did she sue to become emancipated? I would

have tried that, myself, if my parents had thrown me out.

[bobbolink]

44. Various things, but what it boiled down to was that they used a heavy authoritarian hand, calling

her names, had alienated her, and she reacted as kids do.

You would think a "psychologist" would know better.

Big income, Huge house, fancy cars, etc.

EX: When she was 9, he kept calling her "Fatso", "Fatty", etc. She is chubby, but not fat. She was on the high school swim team, until they took her out of school. She was also getting very good grades.

She was in a lot of pain from the way they treated her, and it was so sad to see. A good kid.

I went to her high school graduation and cheered for her, but didn't go back to seek her out afterwards, because I thought her parents would be there. Turned out they didn't go. Reason? "We didn't want to see you succeed."

There are some really sick parents, and they have the status in the community.

I don't know what it will take for her to heal from all of that.

[GreenPartyVoter]

46. God, what a mess! Some people do not deserve the blessing of raising children.

:cry:

[bobbolink]

47. Her mother was such a horse's patoot that I ended up basically saying that to her.

I told her that I would gladly claim her daughter, and that she had so badly messed up she didn't deserve the kid.

I wasn't the only one pissed. ONe thing I can say for the kid... at least there were a lot of people who SAW the problems, so she didn't hae so much to blame herself for, although she did blame herself. I was alone and didn't know until adulthood that people saw what my parents, especially my dad, was doing to me. This kid at least heard a lot of other voices telling her in real time that her parents were screwed up. With his training, this "father" really knew how to mess her up pyschologically.

One guy said, "I wonder how many of his patients have thrown themselves off a cliff?"

A real piece of work.

[Baclava]

56. That's a fact. Parents, don't raise your daughters to be hookers.

That's a start.

[defendandprotect]

10. Slave trade trafficking has trade routes thru the US -- !!

[Liberty Belle]

12. Not all are runaways; some are kidnapped right off US streets.

This is happening here in San Diego even in the best neighborhoods like La Jolla, law enforcement has warned. Other cities too. They are then transported somewhere far away and forced into prostitution; some of the pimps actually burn brands onto these young women, and they are told they will be killed or their families harmed if they run away or tell anybody. Gangs and organized crime are now involved in these activities. Chilling.

[Rosa Luxemburg]

74. Where is the vice squad? Do we have police?

Since there is so much of this going on it leads us to suspect that nothing is being done about it.

[bobbolink]

13. This affects many boys, also. Teen boys often get into "Survival Sex" to sustain

life on the streets.

Again, there are few, if any, resources for them.

They are mostly ignored and tossed away.

[seabeyond]

19. absolutely. nt

[hlthe2b]

20. It most certainly does...

We are truly becoming a "throw away" society. I'm heartened by those who still work towards solutions, but it is hard not to become at least momentarily disillusioned and pessimistic.

[bobbolink]

21. I thought you said "monumentally disillusioned and pessimistic". ^_^

And, in fact, for us activists in this overlooked and ignored issue, that word MORE than fits.

As I said in another thread, what is needed is more support for those who stand up and speak out. It isn't easily done, and it exacts a huge toll.

[maryf]

23. K&R nt

[Shallah Kali]

24. George Clooney co-produced a documentary on sexual explotiation of American kids called Playground

http://www.playgroundproject.com/film /


Sexual exploitation of children is a problem that we tend to relegate to back-alley brothels in developing countries, the province of a particularly inhuman, and invariably foreign, criminal element. Such is the initial premise of Libby Spears’ sensitive investigation into the topic. But she quickly concludes that very little thrives on this planet without American capital, and the commercial child sex industry is certainly thriving. Spears intelligently traces the epidemic to its disparate, and decidedly domestic, roots—among them the way children are educated about sex, and the problem of raising awareness about a crime that inherently cannot be shown. Her cultural observations are couched in an ongoing mystery story: the search for Michelle, an American girl lost to the underbelly of childhood sexual exploitation who has yet to resurface a decade later.

Executive produced by George Clooney, Grant Heslov, and Steven Soderbergh, and punctuated with poignant animation by Japanese pop artist Yoshitomo Nara, Playground illuminates a sinister industry of unrecognized pervasiveness. Spears has crafted a comprehensive revelation of an unknown epidemic, essential viewing for any parent or engaged citizen.

snip

Facing death threats to be “knocked off” for only $10, Libby went undercover to infiltrate brothels in South Korea and Thailand. She held first-hand interviews with victims, their pimps, and their abusers. She mapped the trafficking routes of the sex tourism industry, and charted the commerce fueled by the purchase and sale of minors—she was disheartened to find that virtually the entire globe was involved and affected by this growing industry.

snip

Previously, she had mistakenly believed that sex trafficking was primarily an “international” occurrence in countries like Philippines and Cambodia. But a meeting with Ernie Allen, President of the National Center of Missing and Exploited Children, confirmed to Libby what her research was beginning to uncover: that the trafficking of children for commercial sexual exploitation is every bit as real in North America.

Playground - documentary trailer
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3qkdQ70oFCI

[closeupready]

25. Americans don't want to see the ugly side of sex work and prostitution.

Instead, they want to get their rocks off and move on, telling themselves this was her choice to do this work.

Which in many cases, no, it was not her choice - sometimes, they were misled, abducted, terrorized, etc.

If you wouldn't want to see your daughter doing sex work, then ask yourself why it's okay if other people's daughters do sex work. That's what I would say.

[bluestate10]

34. Most people that want to see prostitution legalized want legalization

because police and prosecutor resources will be sent to the parts of prostitution where people are forced to work against their will. The issue is not about getting rocks off and moving on, it is about how and where to apply scarce resources to get most positive impact.

[seabeyond]

41. except that is not the reality of the countries that have legalized, yet we still ignore

to continue a push to legalization with the reasoning that all will be bliss with the legalization. regardless of the number of articles showing factually that legalization increases sex slaves, it is continually and consistently ignored.

[Shallah Kali]

27. “These girls are not hookers. They are victims of child rape. We have to name that.”

A Hidden Epidemic: Child Trafficking in the U.S.
Activist Malika Saada-Saar: “These girls are not hookers. They are victims of child rape. We have to name that.”
http://www.thedailybeast.com/women-in-the-world/connect/2011/3/11/women-in-the-world-ashley-judd-and-child-sex-traff

Between 100,000 and 300,000 children—primarily girls between the ages of 12 and 14—are victims of the sex trade right here in the United States. But instead of being helped, they’re being prosecuted—arrested for prostitution, thrown in juvenile detention, vilified in the media as bad girls, instead of victims. It is, as Saada Saar said, “the only incidence of child abuse where we put the child behind bars.”

Trafficking is, of course, illegal, but police and prosecutors often perceive girls as “compliant victims,” and since the sex trade largely happens behind closed doors, there’s little impetus to go after it. The result? An astoundingly large-scale industry that hundreds of thousands of girls fall victim to every year, and precious few prosecutions. In 2009, just eight cases were prosecuted in New York City, one of America’s primary hubs. The combination of impunity and the anonymity provided by the internet has let the trade spin into epidemic proportions.

Meanwhile, the girls and women who survive the trade go on to battle post traumatic stress disorder (which, according to Cooper, occurs at higher levels than that for veterans returning from Iraq), eating disorders, and dependency issues like substance abuse and alcoholism.

According to Saada Saar, the first step towards a solution is in re-framing the issue. “These girls are not hookers,” she said. “They are victims of child rape. We have to name that. And then we have to stop putting them in the criminal justice system.” Noting that the Federal government doesn’t allot a single dollar to domestic victims of the sex trade, she emphasized the importance of both prosecuting johns and pimps, and of providing safe havens to survivors.

Ashley Judd: Children Are Not for Sex - A Hidden Epidemic: Child Trafficking in the U.S.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KOF28tCodcY

March 11, 2011 - Actress and activist Judd introduced the panel "'No Such Thing': Trafficking of Girls in the United States" with a heart wrenching personal anecdote about a young woman who was forced into prostitution in Atlanta.

[Shallah Kali]

29. Judge finds hurdles to helping young victims of sex trafficking

http://articles.cnn.com/2011-01-23/justice/siu.selling.girl.next.door.judge_1_trafficking-victims-protection-act-underage-girls-american-girls?_s=PM:CRIME

ccording to the Center for Missing and Exploited Children, there are anywhere from 100,000 to 300,000 underage girls being sold for sex in America.

For those hundreds of thousands of girls, according to a Justice Department report released in the fall, there are 50 beds in facilities capable of dealing with their complex and deeply entrenched problems.

For five years, Voy has been trying to change that in his city by building a specialized residential home for the hundreds of girls who go through his court every year.

snip

He has private donors willing to pay for the building and the land, but Clark County has so far refused to come up with the $750,000 needed to staff the place with uniformed officers.

[mzteris]

32. if it were just money

you'd think they'd realize helping people be productive tax-paying citizens would be more "profitable" than having more people who are - um - inclined towards drug abuse, child abuse, "spending money" related to criminal services, social services, medical care, etc. . .

but - they're just girls. They're just women. They don't count. They don't matter.

[Shallah Kali]

66. rehab is cheaper as well as more moral than prison

but that would require enough politicians with functioning brains and hearts to make it happen and enough folks voting for them instead of the twits who just want to throw them in jail or away. Even serial killers know that to far to many people sex workers (willing or not) don't matter and they too often can kill with impunity.

[Shallah Kali]

30. Petition: Support the Domestic Minor Sex Trafficking Deterrence and Victims Support Act

http://www.change.org/petitions/support-the-domestic-minor-sex-trafficking-deterrence-and-victims-support-act

The Domestic Minor Sex Trafficking Deterrence and Victims Support Act of 2011 (S.596) sponsored by U.S. Senator Ron Wyden (D-OR), authorizes large block grants to create a comprehensive, victim-centered approach to addressing child sex trafficking and calls for improvements to the National Crime Information Center system to track information about missing and exploited children.

snip

-- developed a plan to combat sex trafficking that includes provisions for victims' shelter and services, training of law enforcement and service providers, and prosecution and deterrence of traffickers.

snip

- Requiring state reporting of missing children to the National Crime Information Center (NCIC) and encouraging the Attorney General to change the NCIC to facilitate protection of missing children.

Encouraging states to enact safe harbor laws that presume a minor found in prostitution is a victim of a severe form of trafficking.

much more at the link....... Only 41,014 signatures

[mzteris]

33. thank you for posting.

signed.

Trying to figure out how to share on FB. . .

[bobbolink]

45. Thank you very much for this!

:applause:

Would you please post this as its own OP?

More people need to be aware, and to contact their congresscritters!

Thanks so much!

[Shallah Kali]

73. I took your advice and posted it in editorials & other articles

things disappear so fast in general discussion. I hope it gets attention there. When I posted it there were 41,017 signatures and now there are 41,026

link:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=103x599595

[bluestate10]

37. Part of the solution is for police to be more aggressive at arresting

men to utilize street services, and to monitor services that are offered in other places. Men that use girls know that they are using girls, arresting them and forcing them into court is an important step. Some of the men are supposedly pillars of their communities, who have hidden, perverse desires.

[Shallah Kali]

38. Some areas are creating John schools that might help

along with actually charging the customers and pimps instead of only the females.

Anti-Sex Trade Turns to Focus on Men Who Buy Sex

http://www.womensenews.org/story/prostitution-and-trafficking/110415/anti-sex-trade-turns-focus-men-who-buy-sex


Durchslag also noted that john schools are educating men on why most women enter prostitution. Many have limited resources and substance abuses issues, and johns perpetuate sex work as a means of supporting their habits as long as they're waiting with their wallets.

"Maybe they're not a physically violent john, but they're helping a violent industry," she said. "John schools look at it {prostitution} as a male demand-driven power relationship."

snip

The reality is that most women enter prostitution as minors. Many flee chaotic families and find themselves "cared for" by a pimp. Girls enter prostitution at an average age of 12 and pimps and johns often "count on {them} being broken," said Hatcher. Nationwide, 100,000 children who leave their homes each year are sexually exploited, according to the Bureau of Justice Statistics.

snip

Hatcher insisted that education combined with legal consequences is the key to combating sex trafficking.

[Keith Bee]

48. Nonsense! These girls are proud participants in our free-market system!

:sarcasm:

[bobbolink]

49. Yes, I guess the pain of others is quite humorous.

[seabeyond]

50. the thing about it is bobbolink

so many people pretty up prostitution to the point it is unrecognizable to reality. i believe this poster is heavily being sarcastic regarding a past thread on prostitution and glorifying it. if i remember, he/she is empathetic

[bobbolink]

52. I don't care if there were 20 previous threads. This is tragic, and I don't find it funny.

[seabeyond]

54. no. it isnt

i dont think it was meant for a laugh. but that is a guess. poster will have to clarify for self.

[Keith Bee]

68. Good, 'cause it wasn't meant to be

But I wouldn't be surprised if some wingnut (Brewer? Bachmann? Trump?) made such a statement with a straight face.

[Baclava]

51. Teenage prostitution has been going on since the stone age

There is no cure for that in a society where there is such an excess of participants.

Sex sells. A Buyer pays. If that isn't Capitalism at it's finest - - I don't know what is.


Tragedy is our middle name.

[seabeyond]

55. well, there you go. that just makes it all better....

done

off puter again

[Baclava]

57. nighty night

Tomorrow, I promise I'll solve all the world's problems for you, with empathy.

[nadinbrzezinski]

62. Ah yes the sex industry

and a few of these girls are also in cages... in foreign lands as well as boys...

For ficiton purposes I am actually doing some work with this ahem, seedier side of life. Alas I actually was part of a rescue of a victim of this trade. I often wonder what happened to that boy.

[LetTimmySmoke]

72. Look, throwing teenage girls into prisons or "detention centers" for prostitution is an atrocity.

They need to be connected with a social worker, school, etc. Go after the pimps/johns all you want. I don't care what laws you need to change and how, but this business of locking the girls up has to stop.

[chrisa]

75. There's only one place for a human trafficker / kidnapper

Swinging on the end of a rope in the center of town.