From the journals of Theodore W.
“Sexual slavery in the form of child prostitution is a scourge on all mankind that greatly diminishes the young victim’s self -respect; marginalizes their self-worth and ultimately prohibits them from ever being able to see colors brighter than shades of grey.”
Recognizing the Scourge
By definition sexual slavery as it pertains to the shadowy world of child prostitution, is the coercion of vulnerable and misguided children to unwillingly engage in a myriad of sexual practices solely for the pleasure and financial gain of their captor(s).
Child prostitution describes the trafficking of both prepubescent and pubescent children, however in legal definitions, the term usually refers to the prostitution of a minor under the age of legal consent.
It’s in this unfamiliar realm of child-peddling that thousands of deranged adults succumb to their nefarious sexual urges, traveling without conscious or regret to foreign countries that turn a blind eye to a lucrative child sex industry that hides under the banner of “foreign tourism” .
Surreal and dark, the child prositution industry is an industry that is both evil and is full of pain. It reeks of despair, hopelessness and pimps, and surprisingly, it is an industry that exists in shadows somewhere closer to where we live and trek than we really care to know.
The U.S. Department of Justice estimates that between 100,000 and 3 million American kids under age 18 are involved in prostitution and they're often targeted by sexual predators.
"There are sexual predators out there specifically looking for vulnerable kids so that they can sell them," says Rachel Lloyd, founder of Girls Educational and Mentoring Services, in New York City, an advocacy group that provides services to sexually exploited girls from age 12 to 21.
Inside the world of global child sex trafficking, each year, by some estimates, millions of girls and boys are bought, sold or kidnapped and then forced to have sex with adults, mostly men.
From the streets of Bangkok, Thailand, to any town / any city U.S.A., children are conceived by loveless parents and sold and exchanged for money and drugs as sexual commodities to a segment of society that is twisted and evil and exists openly but in shadows and secrecy.
Tragically, in addition to children being exchanged for sex by adults, there are millions of children worldwide that elect prostitution as a way to clothe and feed themselves. They are the children of broken dreams, living in a world that is devoid of a parent’s love and protection. We see them but we don’t. They’re the kids who routinely live on the streets. They hang out at train stations and bus terminals.
Although they pretend to be adults, their eyes tell a different story. If you look closely, you’ll see in their eyes a cry to be loved as children. Whether real or imagined, these children / teenagers believe that they have no other recourse but to sell their body as a means of surviving in what they perceive as being a hard, cruel and loveless world.
Some are caught up in the hype of what they believe will be the road that leads them to the “glamorous life”. Nice homes, nice cars, and expensive jewelry. In the vernacular of today’s youth, they’re in search for the “Gucci life”.
The reality is that these children, who have grown up not knowing the meaning of the words “self-respect”, grow up the far majority of the time, to become the adults - if they’re not killed on the streets as children– that are lost in life, lost on a dependency to drugs and alcohol. They are the adults who have difficulty in staying in relationships.
Without knowing the meaning of “self-respect”, they are the adults who most likely will be physically and mentally abused. Unfortunately, because they have never experienced positive parental mentoring, they too become abusive parents.
The reality is that there are children in homes, on the streets and in motel rooms both locally and globally, being victimized by predators that have no sense of right or wrong.
As always Louisianans, the Examiner.Com is interested in what you think. Is the crime of children being sold into prostitution and thus becoming prostitutes more common of a criminal phenomenon then we realize? Inquiring minds want to know. Sound off.
The telephone number to the National Runaway Hotline is:
800-662-4357
Until next time Louisianans, Good Day, God Bless and Good Fishing.
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