In January two staff from the Center Against Rape and Domestic Violence (CARDV) attended the Northwest Conference Against Sex Trafficking sponsored by Soroptimist International which was held in Portland.

Sex trafficking, defined as the recruitment and transportation of persons within or across boundaries by force, fraud, or deception for the purpose of sexual exploitation, has become a multi-billion industry, third only to drugs and arms dealing. In simpler words, human trafficking is slavery.

Many people believe that sex trafficking of young girls is something that happens only in poor, underdeveloped nations. Certainly, across the globe, wherever girls and women are vulnerable, sex trafficking is an issue. Even now, as rescuers from around the world race to pull victims from the rubble after the massive earthquake in Haiti, sex traffickers are increasing their numbers of slaves. In the United States, each year between 100,000 and 300,000 children, most of them girls, are trafficked.

Yet prostitution and pornography continue to be standard fodder for jokes on mainstream television. Movies like “Pretty Woman” and popular music have glamorized the sex industry and convinced many that women entering “the life” or “the game” do so by choice.

But consider this: In the United States the average age of a woman entering prostitution is thirteen. The average age of a woman currently working in the sex industry is sixteen. Estimates as high as 98% of prostituted women were sexually abused as children, leaving them conditioned to sexual exploitation.

Runaways, the poor, and girls and women from marginalized groups are the most vulnerable, but anyone can become a victim of trafficking. Traffickers, or pimps, target girls who look like they feel unsure of themselves, who may not be getting along with their parents, or who are being abused. It is estimated that a runaway girl will be approached by a pimp within the first 48 hours of being out on the streets. But just as common are pimps meeting and befriending girls at the food courts at neighborhood malls.

Most girls and women exploited through prostitution are controlled by a pimp. Traffickers lure girls into prostitution by preying on their vulnerabilities, isolating them from everything that is familiar or comfortable, and promising them love and security.

Exploited children are often labeled “child prostitutes” or juvenile delinquents and are sentenced to detention facilities while those who buy and sell them most often escape notice.

Sex trafficking is driven by the demand of the buyers. The trafficker is just the middle man. As long as there is a buyer of commercial sex, there will be child victims of sexual exploitation.

The commercial sex industry, which includes pornography, street prostitution, strip clubs, escort agencies and online websites such as Craigs List, impacts our work every day here at CARDV. Most of our clients report abusers using pornography and some whisper nightmare tales of being prostituted.

The arrest and prosecution of buyers and sellers of trafficked girls and women must be made a priority. We must stop labeling victims of sex trafficking as criminals and instead treat them as the survivors of abuse and exploitation that they are – by providing them with protection from their traffickers and services for their and emotional and physical recovery.

Mary Zelinka

Advocacy Services Manager

Center Against Rape and Domestic Violence

photo credit: Look Beneath the Surface brochure

For more information: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services: Administration of Children and Families.

Watch the documentary: Very Young Girls which discusses the issue of sex trafficking.