Thank you for this article and for highlighting technology that
has the potential to have a huge impact in the fight against sex
trafficking. Statistics are as high as 90% of women who advertise for sex
are being controlled by a pimp. The names of the women and the phone
numbers used to contact them change frequently in an effort for the pimp to
remain virtually untraceable. Until now. The technology highlighted
in this article will give law enforcement a way to track these ads and
potentially the movement of the women to different cities and states at the
hands of their pimp. It could be a game changer.
But there is one glaring mistake in this article. Cale Weissman states, "This operation was working to find and rescue underage prostitutes." Mr. Weissman, I wish to inform you and every other person in media and journalism, that there is no such thing as an underage prostitute or child prostitute. You even state this further down in your article when you quote, "Under US law, any minors working in the sex industry are considered trafficking victims."
Federal law defines them as victims and we must change the mindset of our culture and those in media to change their terminology to accurately reflect this as well. In a previous post, I talked about the need for accurate terminology and how detrimental inaccurate labels can be. Labeling a minor child caught in the sex industry, as a child prostitute is harmful to the child and to the mindset of the community around her.
A 14-year-old
girl is not a prostitute. She is a victim. A 14 year old isn't
legally old enough to consent to sex. In any other situation, this would
be considered child rape, but because money has exchanged hands (most likely
into the hands of a pimp) these poor children are being arrested and
treated like a juvenile delinquent. Rather than being punished and treated like
a criminal they should be supported and offered services. Our terminology should reflect this as
well.
Currently, there
are a number of organizations fighting to end the use of this term.
Just this week, Los Angeles Sheriff Jim McDonnell asked his staff to Stop
arresting children on prostitution charges and stop saying 'child prostitute'
This petition
at Change.org addresses this very same issue and it currently has close to
92,000 signatures. The organizer of the
petition, Withelma “T”
Ortiz Walker Pettigrew is a survivor and explains it this way:
“I, with the Human Rights Project for Girls, understand it is
the media’s job to convey a situation or an issue with precision and clarity. ‘Child prostitute’
may seem clear because it conveys the fact that money is exchanged for sex, but
it is also MISLEADING because it suggests consent and criminality when
none exists. Many of us are not even of legal age to consent to sex. I was 10.
And girls like me are beaten, kidnapped, gang raped, and tortured into selling
our bodies to adults, every night. This is not about choice. This is about
abuse and rape.”
The McCain Institute and
the Human Rights Project for Girls (Rights4Girls), with support from Google,
have joined forces to launch the No
Such Thing Campaign. Its mission is
to make it clear that there is no such thing as a child prostitute. There are
only victims and survivors of child rape.
So Mr. Weissman, on
behalf of all the children who have been victimized, I ask that you stop using
this misleading and inaccurate description to refer to them.
Sincerely,
A Suburban Abolitionist
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