When we hear about modern-day slavery, it’s easy to think that it’s happening in other countries around the world but not in America. Well, that is simply not the case. American children are being sold and exploited for sex. This is devastating and heartbreaking. No child, in America or anywhere else in the world, should be treated so terribly.
A recent news article called, “Girl Slavery in America,” discusses the tragic reality of girls being sold for sex in America. It is so incredibly wrong that young girls are beaten, raped, and sold like they are not even people but merely objects or property to be used and abused. Take a couple minutes to read the article and have your eyes opened to the appalling reality of sex slavery in America.
Another resource that shows the reality of sex trafficking in America is “The National Report on Domestic Minor Sex Trafficking.” This fact sheet on America’s prostituted children was put together by Shared Hope International after conducting investigations in the US.
In both of these articles, it is noted that rather than being viewed and treated as victims, children trapped in sex slavery are often labeled and treated as criminals instead of the men who buy them. If the pimps and the men who pay for sex would be punished, the demand for this wicked crime could be stopped.
The author of “Girl Slavery in America” states, “Girls are put behind bars for being raped and sexually exploited by pimps and the men who purchase them for the night.” She goes on to say,
Men who purchase girls for sex are committing child abuse. They are not simply paying for sex; they are instead perpetrating brutal acts of rape against vulnerable children who do not choose to sell their bodies. No child wants to be sold for sex.
How is it that in our nation, in the 21st century, any one of our daughters can be bought and sold for the purposes of sexual exploitation, and without the severe threat of punishment? What is happening that girls’ lives are worth so little? In the context of a civilized society, this level of tolerated violence against girls is an irreconcilable contradiction. No girl in America should be purchased, sold, raped, abused or exploited — and with impunity.
I encourage you to support organizations like Shared Hope International and Stop Child Trafficking Now who are working to put an end to child sex trafficking and the demand for it.
