Sex Trafficking Awareness: Stop the Atrocity

Tessa Reigle
The Paw Print

At first there is nothing but darkness. Then it starts to lighten steadily. The first sight that meets her eye is a dirty concrete ceiling; there are chips falling off all over the place. The longer she looks at it, the more it resembles a gruesome murder scene with body parts spewed about. She tries to move only to have a strangled scream ripped from her throat, making her realize that her throat is raw. Her arms are chained to the bed; blood is running in long streams down her wrists. Her pelvis is bruised black and purple, and she is only in her underwear. Tears try to come to her eyes, but it seems there are none left to expel. Where is she? How did she get here? She cannot remember anything. She had been trying to get away from her abusive stepdad and no matter how much she told her mom, she never believed her. She had gone for a walk and a van had stopped behind her, but then there was nothing. She startles out of her remembering by a door creaking open. A disgruntled man with an angry red scar over one eye enters; he smells like he has not showered in years. Suddenly he is on top of her; all she can do is scream and cry as he rapes her. Nothing she does or says changes anything; all she can do is wait for him to finish. He leaves her there…broken, feeling like she could never be whole again. She suddenly realizes the worst fact of all…it will continue. She screams one last blood-curdling scream.
Every year women and girls are taken from their homes and forced into sex trafficking; even some men are forced into it. Some never make it home and some die while stuck in captivity, never to see the people they care about again. Most people have no idea that sex trafficking is even in the United States. Most people would like to pretend that the United States is immune to such problems; however, that is not true. The awareness of sex trafficking needs to be increased and people need to give the victims a place to go to recover.
Human trafficking has been estimated to generate somewhere between $32 billion and $91 billion globally. Imagine what that money could do if put to other uses; it could help those in need worldwide with hunger, shelter, and water problems. In the United States alone, sex trafficking generates an estimated $9.5 billion in annual revenue.  It makes one wonder how much is charged for one bout of sex with one of these women and girls for the industry to be that lucrative. Also, how many times in a day these women are forced into sex.
There are 300,000 child prostitutes in the United States and the number only gets bigger and bigger every day. These children on average will be forced to have sex up to twenty times a day. That number varies. Those who belonged in a ring caught in Savannah, Georgia, were forced to have sex with at least forty men before they were allowed to sleep or eat. Some women were even forced to have children with the ring members that were in charge of them to keep them in line; all they had to do was threaten the children or child.
According to Kimberly Kotrla’s essay in Social Work, “More U.S. citizens are victims of sex trafficking than are foreign nationals.” The issue here is that most people in the United States are unaware of sex trafficking, yet they have the biggest risk of being dragged into the trade. The average age of those inducted into the trade is between eleven and fourteen. The ones that are at the most risk are runaways, those kicked out of their homes, have abuse in the family, are in foster care, or child protective services systems. These are the people that need the most help; this makes them easy targets.
Awareness needs to occur. It can help so many women and girls from being taken. Schools should be aware of students and if they disappear suddenly. Media should show more coverage to get the population aware and angry, because something atrocious is happening in their neighborhoods and towns. Women and girls are being treated like possessions when everyone has worked so hard for equality. Awareness is only the first step in fixing the problem; the next step is action.
Programs need to be built to help these women and girls. They are going to be traumatized because of what they went through. They are going to need help. The programs have several goals to help these women and girls recover; they also provide services to help them heal. The programs want to provide them with a place to feel safe, to be aware of themselves and trauma, learn to affirm themselves, and help others. Individual counseling and group therapy can be provided to make these girls feel safe and feel that they can trust again.
Sex trafficking is scary. It constantly goes under the radar, unknown to many people. It is terrifying to think that a young girl will leave her home to get out of a bad situation only to land herself into a more horrifying situation, where she is taken away to be used for money and sex, and sometimes to never make it out alive. Then if she makes it out of there alive, she will be scared and feel completely alone. This is why steps need to be taken towards awareness, so these girls don’t go under the radar and it isn’t easy to take a girl from her home. It is easy to help out. All anyone has to do is take the initiative to make the difference that needs to happen if we want to make this world one worth living in.

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