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| Photo via LarryKingLive.com. |
The 4th of July commemorates the signing of the
Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776. You recall that’s when America
declared its independence from Great Britain.
It’s also customary on the 4th of July to celebrate our constitutionally guaranteed freedoms, supposedly applicable to
all Americans of whatever race, religion, ethnic background, or gender.
In light of the above, why then, on July 4, 2014, are hundreds
of young girls in our country enslaved by sex traffickers?
One underlying reason for the existence of sex trafficking
today in America is that our nation has yet to pass the Equal Rights Amendment,
first submitted to Congress in 1923, which guarantees equal rights for women. It’s
not surprising that injustices against women in the areas of equal pay for
equal work and atrocities like sex trafficking continue in 2014.
Before setting off those fireworks tomorrow, pause for a few
minutes, and read below how cruelly young women in this country continue to be
enslaved by greedy, misogynist pimps. After the festivities this weekend, you
might send off an email to your Congressperson urging a further crackdown on sex
traffickers and supporting the long delayed passage of the Equal Rights
Amendment.
From the Women’s Funding Network:
The following essay is one of our most-referenced resources
from a past initiative of the Women’s Funding Network. We partnered with
women’s funds and foundations across the United States as part of a national
campaign to research, prevent and end domestic minor sex trafficking. Women’s funds and
foundations are often the first to create, support, and promote the latest
solutions to major social problems, and our members’ response to this issue was
no exception. The Atlanta Women’s Foundation, Minnesota Foundation for Women
and New York Women’s Foundation, for example, were key partners and conveners
of coalitions advancing public policy change and a system of care for sexually
exploited girls in their communities.
While the original campaign involving Women’s Funding
Network is now complete, the work on this issue continues among our member
funds and foundations around the country.
Take Action on Sex Trafficking
To learn more about how you can stop sex trafficking, visit A
Future. Not A Past.
If you know someone that needs help, call the Dream Catchers
Hotline 24 hours a day, 7 days a week at 1-888-229-3339.
Essay: Enslaved in America
By Tina Frundt
The pimps who are trafficking young women and girls on the
street in the U.S. have a great marketing tool: the media.
When we hear the words “sex trafficking,” as Americans we
immediately think of women and children overseas who are being forced into the sex
trade or who are brought into the United States for the purpose of sexual
exploitation. We don’t usually think closer to home — Americans trafficked by
Americans. But I want you to think about young women and even girls that you
have seen late at night when you come home from work or a social event. Maybe
you have seen them in the streets in short dresses and spike heels. You turn
your heads to look away. We do not look at the faces of these young women and
girls who are forced to be out in the street. Maybe we think this is what they
want to do or they wouldn’t be out there. Maybe it is easier to believe that it
is an empowering choice they have than face the harsh reality of child sexual
abuse, physical and mental abuse, and the pimps that prey on the young women
and girls.
To understand all aspects of sex trafficking in the United
States, you have to open your mind and let go of what you have seen or heard on
television. You need to let go of the media’s portrayal of the “joys” of street
prostitution, and open your eyes to the violence and control the pimps and sex
traffickers exercise over their victims, who are mostly girls and young women.
ECPAT USA (End Child Prostitution, Child Pornography and
Trafficking of Children for Sexual Purposes)’, an Anti-Trafficking agency,
states that the average age of entry into street prostitution is between 12 and
14 years old, though there have been cases of girls as young as 9 years old.
I was 14 years old when I was forced into prostitution. Like
many teens at that age, finding my own identity and defying my parents were top
on my list. So when a man came into my life and showered me with attention and
listened to me when I complained about my parents, I did not think twice that
he was ten years my senior. After all, he said I was mature for my age and told
me I understood him better than anyone his own age. Little did I know, he was
laying down the seeds of manipulation. It did not matter what my parents said,
to me they did not understand me and he was the only one that “got me”. After
six months, I thought I loved him, at least that is what he told me, so I did
what I thought my heart was telling me and ran away to be with him. We ended up
in Cleveland, Ohio. He told me we were going to meet the rest of the family.
I had no idea the “family” meant myself and three other
girls. After I was introduced to the “family,” I was told what my role would
be. I would go out to “work” that night and bring him back the money. How else
would we build our dream home? He assured me he would always love me no matter
what, but he needed to know how much I loved him by making sure I would do
anything for him.
Later that evening, his friends came by the motel. At first,
he told me to have sex with someone. I did not want to so his friends raped me.
Afterwards, he said “that wouldn’t have happened if I would have just listened
to him at first.” I blamed myself instead of being angry at him for being
raped. I was angry at myself for not listening to him in the first place. After
that, he picked my clothes out, told me what to wear, what to say, how to walk,
what to say to “Johns” and how much money I was to bring back to him. He then
forced me to go out into the streets.
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