Sex Trafficking: Beyond the statistics

She was standing on the street corner in little Haiti in Miami. A young black woman, maybe 19, but not much older. She was a wearing a short blue jean skirt. Her top was a halter top, multicolored. Driving down the road toward her, the road had a faint orange hue from the overhead streetlights. There were some run down buildings and quite a few empty lots.  She was standing next to an empty lot. The side street was a dead end and dark.

Sex Trafficking and the Super Bowl

I was sitting in the passenger seat of a black Audi. The driver was an attorney in the area. There were two people in the back. We had just left the local command center for the night’s operation where we had received training on how to approach young women on the streets. A local woman who worked with juveniles and had encountered many underage young women who were prostituted talked to us about how to be safe and how to ensure safety for the young women we would encounter. We are targeting trafficking victims. It was February 3, 2010 – the Wednesday before Super Bowl XLIV being held at Sun Life Stadium in Miami, Florida.

She Cried

I asked this young woman if we could help her out of the “life.” That’s what it’s called on the streets. She said “what?” and I repeated my offer. She looked at me and the others in the car. She shrugged her shoulders and started to cry.  She looked over her shoulder and that’s when I saw a man on the other side of the street, about 20 yards away, walking in our direction. It was undoubtedly her pimp or a lookout. They are always around, keeping tabs on their property, making sure the women are working. Their presence ensures she works, ensures she doesn’t take off, and also keeps her safe, relatively speaking.  Her time is their money and if she’s not getting into a vehicle with a “john” within a few seconds, they’re losing money.

She was gone

His approach meant it was time for us to go – for our safety and for hers. She would be the one to suffer from spending time talking to us. She would be punched or beaten for wasting time not making money.

We left, giving her a little something (I won’t disclose what because it’s a trick of the trade!) with a hotline number on it to call for help. We traveled about 5 blocks down the road, turned around, drove by where she had been standing, and she was gone. I cried. In just a few moments time, she had already gotten into a vehicle and left. I knew what was happening – that young woman who cried when we offered help – was now having to perform some sex act on some stranger. Her body was being used and abused for the financial benefit of someone else.

Choice to Prostitute

I’ve read the debates about whether or not a woman chooses to sell her body. There have been some women who have claimed they got into it on their own, because they wanted to. Some women have done it for the adrenaline rush. However, those who really and truly choose knowingly, intelligently, voluntarily and of their own free will are few.

In my experience and from my point of view, if a woman is whole financially, spiritually, emotionally, physically, and psychologically – she will not willingly sell her body. I’ve seen what men do to women’s bodies: the blood running down legs, the cigarette burn scars, and heard the stories of the things the “johns” or “tricks” have done. I’ve seen the tears and held women while they cried. The depth of depravity amongst humanity is truly astonishing. Men will live out their fantasy – whatever that fantasy may be – with a “prostitute” and then return home to their wives who would never, ever even consider doing the things these men desire.  

What else can she do?

The average age for a young woman to first be sold for sex is between 12-14. That’s the average age. Most of the women I’ve worked with were turned out around the age of 14. A 14-year-old can’t make the choice the prostitute. She doesn’t fully understand all it entails. Once she turns 18 or 19, what other options does she have? This life is likely all she’s known. There’s no other work experience, she most likely doesn’t have a high school diploma or GED. And many don’t think getting out of the life is a viable option because of the threats on her life or on her family’s lives.

She is someone’s daughter

These “prostitutes” are someone’s daughters, sisters, mothers. You don’t know why they are in this life - if they are forced to do it to keep their child or sibling safe or to feed their child. I once had a young woman tell me if I could get her a job that would support her children and her sister’s children – whom she was also having to raise – she would not sell herself. She was already working a part time job at a gas station, but that didn’t pay the bills. She was already receiving food stamps, but that wasn’t enough. She wasn’t trying to buy the latest iphone or have the nicest car – she was trying to provide basic needs for her and her sister’s children.

Human Trafficking Awareness Month

January is Human Trafficking Awareness Month. You will hear a lot of statistics, but I want you to know that behind every statistic is a person, it’s a story. That statistic may be the 14-year-old girl who ran away from home because her father was beating her so she decided to give the streets a chance, thinking surely it couldn’t be any worse. The story behind that statistic may be the 15-year-old whose parents kicked her out and she landed in the home of a trafficker who treated her like a daughter at first. Or, it may be the story of the young girl whose family used her body to make money. The story behind those statistics that is all too common is the 16 year old who fell in love, but that person who wooed her and love bombed her was not interested in love, instead he was a recruiter or trafficker looking for his next paycheck. After she fell in love, he turned her out and made her have sex with others for money, taking her from city to city, stopping at hotels, truck stops, and rest areas all along the way to pimp her out.

What you can do to help trafficking victims

There are great organizations that help sex trafficking victims. Look for your local and state organizations. In Alabama, we have The Wellhouse and Camille Place, that are doing the hard work helping these victims. Donate to them.

Community organizations help raise awareness about trafficking, look for those in your area and get involved. Get your church involved in raising awareness, particularly among teens and tweens who are most vulnerable to being recruited.