Sex Trafficking By Elenna Garcia

   Picture yourself picking up a loved one from off the streets. Her in a short dress, spiked heels and scratches and bruises on her face. Tears in your eyes and tears in her eyes. Her being scared and worried that she will be found and taken again into a sex ring again. How could this have happened? One in Seven runaways are kidnapped and brought into sex trafficking rings and bought and sold for thousands of dollars (Do something 1). Being in the United States there is over Thirty-Four thousand sex trafficking cases (Polaris 1). Today there is said to be Twenty to Thirty million slaves (sex slaves) in the world today (Do something 1).

    Sex trafficking has been around for many years, still in counting. To be exact, it started in the 1980 when female activists started to protest the exploitation of women in pornography and prostitution (Fair Observer 1). In the 2000, the United States started and act for trafficking victims (Fair Observer 2). It is called the TVPA; Trafficking Victims Protection Act (Fair Observer 3). Sex trafficking is known as a criminal act when a minor is used for a sex act and or forced (Fair Observer 4).

  There have been many different forms of trafficking. There is slavery, sex and much more. Most other things considered as trafficking came after slavery in the eighteen hundred. It is said that most traffickers pick people who are vulnerable because of past histories from abuse (Focus of the family 1). There are many different places this can happen at; such as hostess clubs, online escort services, fake businesses, strip clubs and street prostitution (Focus of the Family 2). Most people do not realize that sex trafficking is not just happening on the street. It’s also happening in backyards, even if you live in a rural area (Focus of the Family 3).

     Some people today are always concerned for the well being of their children. Left and right kids and teens go missing from school, jobs, restaurants and even homes. People get luck and find their child after hours of them going missing but other times some families are not as lucky. It is said that 2,000 kids go missing per day (ABC News 1).  At least roughly around 800,000 children are reported missing (ABC News 2).  In a year there are at least 115 cases known as stranger abduction (ABC News 3).

   In most cases children are taken and abducted and brought into the sex trafficking scene. But sometimes some teens do not care, some get missed up into this and just choose to not go back right away. Nine times out of ten girls that are either in their teens and or are little girls get abducted more than males. Kids today have all the access to Internet. Families check their children's history and who they are in constant contact with but other times some do not care as to what their child is doing online. People who are in the prostitution business sometimes do not want to be out of the business until something goes wrong, but even then, they stay. Girls in this business get beat for not bringing home the right amount of money, no one should have to go through the pain of getting beat for some money.

     Kids today send inappropriate photos to anyone, but do not actually know who is behind a screen. People will meet up with anyone they met online sometimes. They do not realize the danger they put on themselves once they let that person know they are alone and vulnerable. The Internet is such a horrible place, and it starts with a simple hello to hook, line and sink somebody. It is easy to photo shop and even catfish. People want that person to be who they say they are but at times that is not the case.

  But along with the internet comes how some parents do not watch their children. Kids go missing from their parents’ site in point five seconds. Parents will let their kids go anywhere without meeting and or talking to whom they are meeting. Back in the day everyone met the parents before going out but now parents do not care. That is a problem. Parents should check every time to see whom the kids are meeting. Especially the little ones. Teenagers will of course go without telling anyone and that is horrible. Teens will meet up with someone from of the web and tell their parents it is a friend they know, sometimes it goes alright but other times they go missing because they met up with someone random.

  Parents should check the young one’s phones and site they search online, because with that they will save some kids from going missing. No one truly understand how bad sex trafficking has become. Most of time once you are brought in there is no way out. Families go years, months, decades and so much more trying to find their kids. Sometimes families get lucky and other times they do not. Teens and even kids get killed in this business.

    There is a site known as back page. On the site there is a choice of picking random girls where you are from to come and have sex with you. It is said that this page is the world’s largest classified ad company (The Gospel Coalition 1). This page is a greatly lucrative sex-ad business (The Gospel Coalition 2). Most law enforcement people go to this site to try and find sex traffickers (The Gospel Coalition 3). People were able to pay for this stuff online with a card, but American Express, Visa and Master card all started to decline payments to back page last year (The Gospel Coalition 4). It is said the law enforcement seized all parts of this page (Thomas Reuters 1). They (law enforcement) seized the items April 6, 2018 (Thomas Reuters 2). It was said by the New York times that in 2014 back page brought in an annual revenue of 135 million dollars (Thomas Reuters 3). I know someone from home who has been on this site. She was found and located. When the parents went to the cops to get her they said they cannot do anything since she is 18. Cops will say they are adults at the age of 18 which means they do not have to be home unless they want and that should not be the case. Galveston police department did not do anything even with proof, but they will if they see you on the street. That is just wrong on so many different levels. No matter the age if one knows someone is in danger and does not do anything just because of the age should just go straight to hell. If it was their child I am sure they would be doing everything they can to find their loved ones.

    No family should ever have to worry about where their child is and or what happened to them. Parents should not have to look decades and years to try and find their missing child. Families even have to pay to get their child back and no one should ever have to do that. No family should have to wonder why them. People need to realize the danger that happens online and offline. People need to change the way this world is. Too many kids go missing each day and that should not happen. Sex trafficking is a serious issue, and something needs to happen so families do not have to go through these pains.

Kids are cautious at points and some just plain out do not care. Everyone should always care and check surrounds. If there was a limit on stuff online, then maybe there would be a decrease in sex trafficking. If sites had limits as to what is on their and what is posted, maybe there would be a decline in trafficking period. It is not just sex trafficking that is bad, all trafficking is horrible, and no one should go through that.  

Today, sex trafficking has become one of the biggest rings in the world. As many know there a lot of different ways people try to get rid of this, but it is not a simple as one thinks. No one really understands how they can help resolve the issue of all types of trafficking. No one does research as much as they say and that’s the problem.

There are many ways one can help stop trafficking. But not many people know how. Some effective ways are to volunteer and support anti-trafficking efforts (State 1). You can also join a club and or university’s club (2). Or even making a club yourself. Some people think there are many steps to be taken when trying to organize and or starting a petition or club. But in fact, there are only a few steps needed to be taken; get a group of people together who dislike the topic, start a petition on how to help stop it and start an event to raise money to send to a higher organization for sex trafficking.

When out and about in the public, hang flyers that’ll help raise awareness. Some people are scared to help because they are in fear that someone involved may find out where they live. Never start a rally for this because sometimes they never end well. When doing a rally, you can run the risk of having a predator follow you home, that has happened before. If there is a rally involving the stopping of all types of trafficking, be aware of your surroundings and the people around you. This is because maybe reporting something can help stop someone else's kid from being taken

When out with family, keep a close eye on your kids. Parents need to even make sure they know where their teenager is going just in case something happens. When at a mall or a huge surrounding with multiple people, keep the little ones in your hands and or arms. Holding onto kids that are young will help making sure they don’t get taken. People do not realize if you turn around even for just a second, a kid can get snatched. Parents.com said “every 40 seconds a child is abducted”. That’s just being abducted that not really saying whether they are taken into trafficking or not, but nine times out of ten they are.

You can help save someone’s kid from being taken into trafficking in many ways. Always be aware of your surroundings, make sure you keep a hold of your child and even keep tabs on them. Now some parents and kids may think that is a little outrageous because you are keeping up with them, but it is not it is about making sure they are safe and nothing bad happens to them. But in a case that your child is taken there are many precautions to take; I.e. call the cops right away, now sometimes when a kid is either seventeen or eighteen the cops may not do anything as for when seventeen you are at the age of consent. Aside from calling the cops, check your kids' location (make sure it is on). No one wants their child to be next, that’s why some parents take multiple precautions because they know the risk.

Some people think that yelling and being frantic works, but it does not it just makes the situation worse. But sometimes rally’s being started do not work, starting petitions and even just handing out flyers for awareness. Sometimes these things work, but sometimes there always a possibility it does not. Some people truly do not care to hear about it because they have the mind set as to where it will not happen to them, and no one should have that mindset. Just when you think it may not happen it can happen. People think that going out and picking up prostitutes will help them find some girls in sex rings but doing that can get the girls killed and or seriously injured in multiple ways. Never ever try and pick up a girl and ask her because there are guys and girls out there watching that will report back to their “pimp.”

Even though people are arrested after being found guilty of being a part of a sex ring, there are other leaders involved. Nine times out of ten there are multiple people involved, and sometimes they are found and sometimes they are not. When you see something suspicious report it to the cops when it comes to different things like this. They can and will arrest girls that are being “prostitutes”, but you can tell when someone is out there own their own free will and you can tell when someone does not want to be a part of that. There's always a chance even after you get your child home that they can be taken again. Sometimes girls do it just because they want, but sometimes girls are found again and taken. Make sure your locks and windows are secured, because people can and will find your address and may just do some horrible things.

You can help stop sex trafficking from spreading even more, just by helping to do something. No one is saying to go and try and out do everything. But the small things will make a huge difference in the world. And all it takes is a person to start and or help in an organization. You can in fact be the next person to help save someone from being taken.

  ABC News, ABC News Network, abcnews.go.com/US/missing-children-america-unsolved-cases/story?id=19126967

Clark, Gaye. “9 Things You Need to Know about Backpage.com and Sex Trafficking.” The Gospel Coalition, The Gospel Coalition, 31 Oct. 2017, www.thegospelcoalition.org/article/9-things-you-need-to-know-about-backpage-com-and-sex-trafficking/.

Combating Sex Trafficking: A History.” Fair Observer, Fair Observer, 8 May 2014, www.fairobserver.com/region/north_america/combating-sex-trafficking-history/.

“11 Facts About Human Trafficking.” DoSomething.org | Volunteer for Social Change, www.dosomething.org/us/facts/11-facts-about-human-trafficking.

“Sex Trafficking.” Polaris, 9 Nov. 2018, polarisproject.org/human-trafficking/sex-trafficking.

Lynch, Sarah N. “Sex Ads Website Backpage Shut down by U.S. Authorities.” Reuters, Thomson Reuters, 7 Apr. 2018, www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-backpage-justice/sex-ads-website-backpage-shut-down-by-u-s-authorities-idUSKCN1HD2QP.

The Facts: What Is Sex Trafficking and How Widespread Is It?” Focus on the Family, 7 Apr. 2014, www.focusonthefamily.com/socialissues/family/sex-trafficking/sex-trafficking-the-facts.

Bilich, Karin A. “Child Abduction Statistics for Parents.” Parents, Parents, 29 Nov.                  2018, www.parents.com/kids/safety/stranger-safety/child-abduction-facts/.

U.S. Department of State, U.S. Department of State, www.state.gov/j/tip/id/help/.