Reply #27: “These girls are not hookers. They are victims of child rape. We have to name that.”

[Shallah Kali]

A Hidden Epidemic: Child Trafficking in the U.S.
Activist Malika Saada-Saar: “These girls are not hookers. They are victims of child rape. We have to name that.”
http://www.thedailybeast.com/women-in-the-world/connect/2011/3/11/women-in-the-world-ashley-judd-and-child-sex-traff

Between 100,000 and 300,000 children—primarily girls between the ages of 12 and 14—are victims of the sex trade right here in the United States. But instead of being helped, they’re being prosecuted—arrested for prostitution, thrown in juvenile detention, vilified in the media as bad girls, instead of victims. It is, as Saada Saar said, “the only incidence of child abuse where we put the child behind bars.”

Trafficking is, of course, illegal, but police and prosecutors often perceive girls as “compliant victims,” and since the sex trade largely happens behind closed doors, there’s little impetus to go after it. The result? An astoundingly large-scale industry that hundreds of thousands of girls fall victim to every year, and precious few prosecutions. In 2009, just eight cases were prosecuted in New York City, one of America’s primary hubs. The combination of impunity and the anonymity provided by the internet has let the trade spin into epidemic proportions.

Meanwhile, the girls and women who survive the trade go on to battle post traumatic stress disorder (which, according to Cooper, occurs at higher levels than that for veterans returning from Iraq), eating disorders, and dependency issues like substance abuse and alcoholism.

According to Saada Saar, the first step towards a solution is in re-framing the issue. “These girls are not hookers,” she said. “They are victims of child rape. We have to name that. And then we have to stop putting them in the criminal justice system.” Noting that the Federal government doesn’t allot a single dollar to domestic victims of the sex trade, she emphasized the importance of both prosecuting johns and pimps, and of providing safe havens to survivors.

Ashley Judd: Children Are Not for Sex - A Hidden Epidemic: Child Trafficking in the U.S.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KOF28tCodcY

March 11, 2011 - Actress and activist Judd introduced the panel "'No Such Thing': Trafficking of Girls in the United States" with a heart wrenching personal anecdote about a young woman who was forced into prostitution in Atlanta.