This first blog post is in reflection of the book Sold.
Sex trafficking is a huge problem in third world countries, but not so much in ours. Or is it? According to the Polaris Project website that partners with National Human Trafficking said that, "In a 2014 report, the Urban Institute estimated that the underground sex economy ranged from $39.9 million in Denver, Colorado, to $290 million in Atlanta, Georgia." Let's find something a little closer to home shall we? The Polaris Project site reports that in Iowa there have been 72 cases of human trafficking reported this year. Most of these cases were folks working in a commercial front brothel. Still not close enough for you? In Fort Dodge, there is an active commercial front brothel.
Doesn't this all blow your mind? Now these are just statistics and facts. What about the men and women subjected to this industry? This book hit me hard. Not only did it bring back memories of my own sexual abuse and rape that I was victim to, but it scared the hell out of me as a parent. My daughter is eight years old. I cannot imagine sitting in our yard, like Lakshmi's mother did, and telling Lily (my daughter), "Now honey when you go to the city the man has priority over you at all times. You do as any man says." and so on. It pains me to know that this happens more often than not. I recently heard a story of a boy who's mother made her boyfriends have sex with him so she could earn more drugs. His own mother. In my town. Folks, this is a global issue.
How do we contribute to this problem? I think if we turn the other cheek, or pretend it's only happening in India and Nepal or big cities, we are certainly a part of the problem. Maybe a huge step to reclaiming our towns is acknowledging that it does happen here and we need to seek these people out to stop them. I do feel that we should let the authorities lead the actual take downs of these organizations, but if we keep our eyes open and report anything that we feel is just not right maybe we can make a difference. We may not see the immediate change, but it's worth it. The information that someone holds can mean life or death for some of these victims. We need to take action. We need to make an honest effort to be a part of the solution.
I agree with you that human trafficking is a human issue. It is global and it is closer than we want to believe. My daughter did a report of human traficking when she was a freshman in high school. Other students commented on it and in a way made fun of her for worrying about such a topic. She told them that it is something that happens here in Iowa and they didn't believe her. It is scary how close to home this subject is.
ReplyDeleteI am so glad you wrote something like this, because the U.S. is part of the problem. They say its at its worst during the Super Bowl. It really is mind blowing because I don't think we know nearly enough about the situation and it's kept very under wraps.
ReplyDeleteI just watched a documentary last night on Netflix called Tricked. It is about human trafficking all over the country. It includes interviews with pimps, the victims, the police, and families of victims. It is interesting and heartbreaking all at once. The scariest thing that one of the Las Vegas Vice cops said was that it is no longer an issue only related to run away kids and those with drug problems. The perps are targeting ANY and every adolescent girl.
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