SEX TRAFFICKING

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YES. Domestic minor sex trafficking (DMST) is happening in the United States!   This includes the commercial sexual exploitation of children through buying, selling, or trading their sexual services.  Forms of DMST include prostitution, pornography, stripping and other sexual acts.

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Sex trafficking occurs when a person forces, uses fraud, or coerces another person to sell sex commercially. Trafficking continues to thrive in the United States due to buyer demand. Girls are most often lured into the hands of a trafficker through social media but also within home neighborhoods and even at school.

 

The International Labor Organization estimates that there are  hundreds of thousands of victims of human trafficking in the United States. Occurring in every State!  The victims of this crime include under-aged girls.  It is a form of slavery very present in our society!

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The cost of human trafficking to victims is significant and often life-long. Victims often experience wage theft; suffer substantial economic costs due to physical, sexual, and psychological abuse; and due to a lack of legal work histories face diminished economic opportunity. 

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Did you know?

The use of abortion to perpetuate the modern-day slavery of sex trafficking is real. Illinois ranked tenth in the nation in human trafficking in 2018. According to a study by the Global Centurion Foundation, “the prevalence of forced abortion is an especially disturbing trend in sex trafficking.”  The study showed that more than half of the survivors reported having at least one abortion, and 30% had two or more.

 

More than half said the abortion was not their choice. The victims reported that the pressure from pimps to continue the trade did not allow the time for them to carry the pregnancy.

 

The average age of a trafficked girl is 12-14.
 

No girl deserves to be sold outright or forced to provide "sex services."