Sexual Slavery: It's a problem in our own community and you can help stop it
photo via nytimes.com
There's been a rash of headlines lately because of a federal crackdown on sex trafficking rings nationwide. But the problem is more close to home than you think.
According to the Herald a few days ago, law enforcement authorities arrested 84 people in a sweep aimed at finding underage girls who have been forced into prostitution. A 14-year-old was rescued in those raids, but victims as young as 10-years old are regularly found. The L.A. Times article goes further in describing the sweeps, which involved the FBI, local law enforcement agencies and the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. Many of these children are abducted and forced in sexual slavery but many more are coerced off the streets by promises of a better life. The targets are runaways who leave homes or abusive or neglectful environments only to be caught in up a different more perfidious type of hell. The New York Times is running a series called Selling Their Bodies, which delves deep into the problem of prostitution and in particular about how teenagers are increasingly falling into prostitution as economic hardships rend many families apart or make it harder for these kids to fend for themselves. The stories are heartwrenching. The series begins with this article, and continues today with the story of a 14-year old who was forced to have sex or face being thrown out into the street: “Where was I going to go?” she asked. Here in Miami, there are organizations, such as Kristi House, that are helping children deal with the aftermath of sexual exploitation and that are actively campaigning to put an end to it through increased community awareness and the political pressure that comes with that. I'm on the board of Kristi House, and I'm doing my best to get the word out. We need to protect our children. If you want to make a difference, come see me Thursday at the Mandarin Hotel for a networking event I'm helping co-host. All money collected at the door will go to the Voices For Children Foundation, which helps fund the Guardian Ad Litem program here in Miami-Dade. Here's a video from the NYTimes series:http://video.nytimes.com/video/2009/10/25/us/1247465360380/when-no-ones-looking.html
