the Informer

Children are supposed to be innocent; they are not supposed to be objects of sexual exploitation.

This reason, this ideal that we place around children, is one of the reasons that child sex trafficking is so appalling. In countries throughout the world, children are being sold as sex slaves. In the Philippines alone, the U.N. estimates that about 60,000 to 100,000 children are involved in prostitution rings according to CNN.

It happens in the United States as well. An estimated 100,000 children and young women are trafficked in the United States every day according to a report from ABC News. We are not excluded from this horrendous crime.

Child sex trafficking isn’t something I hear about every day. In fact, it’s something I intentionally keep track of because I think it’s horrendous and one day want to do something to change it. I’ve heard about this occasionally in the news, and I’ve read about it in magazines. It’s a sad story, each and every time I hear about it. Children are stolen off of the streets, tricked by people they trust or even sold by their own parents.

They are put into brothels where their innocence is taken from them, and they are assaulted daily by people they don’t know. They are forced into a life of terror where they leave behind childhood cares to become sex slaves.
Just the thought of it scares me. The fact that it is happening in our world and that people are sick enough to do that to children angers me.

It’s difficult to imagine, a life of forced prostitution. Many of the people who lure children into this or snatch them off of the streets use scare tactics to keep the children from running away. They beat them if they try, and they threaten to kill them. These people turn childhood into the scariest experience imaginable.

That is not what childhood should be about. It is about learning and growing and discovering everything that you need to learn about life. It’s about learning from your elders on how to become a better person. It’s about making some mistakes. It’s not about becoming someone’s sex slave.

But what is being done to combat this?

In the Philippines, the Renew Foundation was developed in 2005 to combat sex trafficking and to help empower victims. The United States FBI started the Innocence Lost National Initiative. According to its site, “To date, these groups have worked successfully to rescue nearly 900 children. Investigations have successfully led to the conviction of more than 500 pimps, madams, and their associates who exploit children through prostitution.

These convictions have resulted in lengthy sentences including multiple 25-year-to-life sentences and the seizure of real property, vehicles, and monetary assets.”

While these are great initiatives that have had successful results, the fact that child sex trafficking even happens is disgusting. It is essential for this to end in order for children to feel safe.

The last thing I would want for a child in my life, be it my own or someone I know, would be for that to happen. It’s sickening, on every level. So how do we rectify this? Do we teach our children ways to stay safe and not talk to strangers? Do we shelter them from the world?

I think one way to change this and make it something of the past is to continue talking about it. I’m a big believer that by teaching people about things that are happening in the world, you can change their outlook and perhaps motivate someone to make a change. Education is key. And from there, action can be taken.