Children Are Sold for Sex in America's Capitol
Published September 17, 2009 @ 01:00PM PT
Guest blogger Melissa Snow of Shared Hope International discusses their new public awareness campaign to address child trafficking in street prostitution in Washington, DC. Child sex trafficking happens all over our nation's capitol, sometimes only steps from the White House and blocks from a symbol of the end of slavery -- the Lincoln Memorial.
The words ‘sex', ‘children' and ‘13' are an unlikely combination for a campaign message, but this month in Washington, D.C., Shared Hope International confronts a shocking reality; American children are sold for sex in Washington D.C. This September, in collaboration with the D.C. Human Trafficking Task Force, we're unveiling End Child Sex Trafficking: Kids are NOT for Sale in D.C., an awareness campaign to shed light on child sex trafficking in Washington, D.C. In Metro stations near hot tourist spots, on over 200 metro buses, within the Adult Classifieds and Erotic Sections of CityPaper, and on a bus shelter on 14th and K streets, bright yellow advertisements catch the eyes of D.C. residents and visitors that scream messages such as "13 is the average age children are forced into prostitution".
These advertisements, although shocking, reveal that human trafficking is not just an international issue -- it occurs in our nation's capital. Along intersections such as 14th and K Streets, famously populated by lobbyists during the day, and along New York Avenue, young American girls are exploited by a pimp and sold for sex many times a night. These young girls' lives are risked every day when they take to the streets to earn money for their pimp. The advertising campaign, Kids are NOT for Sale in D.C., will make D.C. residents and tourists aware of sex trafficking in Washington D.C. and warn off potential buyers of sex, that buying a child for sex can result in a life sentence.
The Kids are Not for Sale Campaign will run throughout the month of September and is in timing with D.C. Human Trafficking Awareness month. Sponsored by the D.C. Human Trafficking Task Force, a collaboration of local governmental and nonprofit organizations, the Task Force hopes to engage the local community to stop Washington D.C. from becoming a breeding ground for traffickers.
The Washington D.C. area has been identified as a sex trafficking hub, and the D.C. Human Trafficking Task Force is aggressively tackling predators who attempt to buy or sell children in the District. Just last week, Shelby Lewis was indicted by a federal grand jury in Washington, D.C. and charged with five counts of Sex Trafficking of Children and four counts of Interstate Transportation of a Minor for Purposes of Prostitution. Lewis, a Maryland resident, brought underage girls - including a 12 year old - into D.C. where he forced them into prostitution. If convicted, Lewis faces a maximum sentence of life in prison. Shelby Lewis' case proves that human trafficking is occurring in Washington, D.C.; however, his arrest proves that human trafficking is not tolerated in our Nation's capital.
Although sex trafficking is a difficult topic to face, for the young girls and boys who are trapped in this modern day slave trade we must confront and overthrow this organized crime. American kids are being victimized in our nation's capitol and we need your help to stand up to sex trafficking in Washington D.C. Not on our streets, not in our city, not in our Nations' capital - Washington D.C. will not allow the sale of American children for sex.
Photo credit: Ed Yourdon
Facebook
Twitter
Digg
StumbleUpon
EmailRelated Posts
-
Sex Buys Survival for Runaway Kids
-
Man Sells Foster Daughter Into Prostitution
-
Teen Trafficking Survivor Gets Life Without Parole
Comments (33)
Comments on Change.org are meant for further exploration and evaluation of the ideas covered in the posts. To that end, we welcome constructive comments. However, we reserve the right to delete comments that are offensive, abusive, or off-topic; that contain ad hominem attacks; or that are designed to subvert or hijack comment threads rather than contribute to them. Repeat offenders may be permanently removed from the site at our discretion.
Hmm. I'm the guy who took the photo in this blog, and while it was indeed only steps away from the Lincoln Memorial, I would be surprised if this young girl was involved in the activities described here. She sat alone, apparently sulking, was approached by no one, and made no eye contact with anyone, during the period I wandered around the monument and the Vietnam Memorial. Maybe I'm naive, but I had the impression she was grumpy that her out-of-town family made her come along to see the tourist sights, rather than letting her spend time with her friends...
Ed
Posted by Ed Yourdon on 09/17/2009 @ 02:35PM PT
You must be signed in to report content.
Hmm to you, Ed. Nobody said SHE was a child prostitute, I had not inferred that. On the other hand, why did YOU take that picture? Appetizing? You say she was approached by no one. Didn't you ask for permission? I would have.
Posted by John Jost on 09/18/2009 @ 06:15AM PT
You must be signed in to report content.
Hi Ed,
First off, I wanted to say I've seen your whole Flickr stream and you are an excellent photographer! Choosing photos to represent child trafficking is always a difficult choice. Obviously, our first priority is to protect child victims' identities, so we only post photos of the actual faces of child victims in rare circumstances. Thankfully, photographers like you allow us to use your great images (with attribution of course) to illustrate these important concepts and to help readers connect with this issue on a personal level.
Most photos you find in publications on child trafficking are not of actual victims, for the reasons above. Instead, organizations and media outlets use photos which represent a group of victims. The girl in this photo appears to be between 12 and 14, which would make her very representative of the child sex trafficking problem in DC.
Thanks,
Amanda
Posted by Amanda Kloer on 09/18/2009 @ 07:15AM PT
You must be signed in to report content.
I agree this is a highly irresponsible photo choice. Can you imagine the humiliation this would cause to the young girl in this picture if she knew she was now a symbol of child prostitution?
Your use of this photo, that you took without permission, is unconscionable. It plays into regressive attitudes about young women and their clothing, for instance: "she looks slutty" or "look what she's wearing, she deserves it"
It's true that publications on child trafficking rarely if ever contain images of the actual victims - for good reason. However, I am horrified that instead of just concentrating on the journalism -- have you checked out Human Rights Watch lately? -- a publication and it's contributing photographer would choose to display images of ramdom young women that have been determined - by you - to look like hookers.
In a story about young victims, you have managed to victimize someone. Congrats. I hope you get sued.
Posted by Elisa G on 09/22/2009 @ 07:40AM PT
You must be signed in to report content.
I absolutely agree. This is defamation of character in it's highest form. I would suggest you find this young girl and offer her a sincere apology and a pile of money and hope she doesn't decide to sue you.
Chris Matthews, Keith Olbermann, Wolf Blitzer, or ANY responsible, professional, reporter would be hung out to dry for such un-ethical behavior!
Posted by Mike Nichols on 09/22/2009 @ 10:26PM PT
You must be signed in to report content.
Indeed mr. yourdon then perhaps you should have chosen a different person to photograph as any photo used to represent a blog article is usualy inferred by the readers to have been intended as being representative of the subject of that article.
Perhaps someone who actually was a prostitute ?
Posted by Reverend Boony on 09/23/2009 @ 07:53PM PT
You must be signed in to report content.
Ed,. I agree with you 100%. AND I hope that the person that posted this picture with this article gets sued by this girl's parents and is forced to put a picture of THEMSELVES when they were a child there instead. Or why didn't they put a pic of their own child there? Because they wouldn't allow it. NOT with THIS article. This subject is very controversial now with the new findings and tv shows about Washington DC's child sex trade. Chances are,. someone who knows this young girl will recognize her and the crap will hit the fan as it is in the top of the list with a google search on this subject.
BUT,. in any other format Ed,. that is a very cool picture. The green backdrop (grass) the blue steel color of the bench and chain,.. accented and off set by a colorful young lady with an 'attitude'. Nice pic,. It captures the attention and creates it's own story.
NOW,.. as for 'John Jost's comment "On the other hand, why did YOU take that picture? Appetizing?" He is a very sick individual. Only a pervert would say something like this.
I don't care what anyone says. When you take a professional innocent picture like this and use it to top an article about child prostitution,. your intentions are clear. The girl looks unhappy,. almost shielding herself. The person who put that pic with this article clearly used it because of this. A lawyer would have a field day with this one. Case closed. Lawsuit awarded.
So people,. (John Jost) get off of the bad and perverted comments about the photographer,. for as art and photography goes,. it is a picture that is 'alive' with interesting factors. It was the article that it was purposely coupled with that created it's negative image and this subject matter.
Posted by Dan Cleveland on 01/14/2010 @ 04:31PM PT
You must be signed in to report content.
Whoa, down, boy. You're his buddy, aren't you?
Posted by John Jost on 01/16/2010 @ 05:31AM PT
You must be signed in to report content.
Wow, what an irresponsible photo choice. Congrats on the lazy journalism.
Posted by Theo F on 09/17/2009 @ 06:05PM PT
You must be signed in to report content.
Wow. Can't believe I am reading this. Kids are not for sale.
Posted by Rachel Russell on 09/17/2009 @ 11:45PM PT
You must be signed in to report content.
Absolutely Rachel. Although I hate the tactics of the photographer, I am behind the Movement 110%. I don't want anyone to get me wrong here. Kids should not be for sale and that is all there is to it. Sadly; we enable the traffickers to do their dirty work by keeping CONSENSUAL prostitution (the kind engaged in by former New York Governor Elliot Spitzer) illegal. Legalize this type of prostitution so that the women and young girls being trafficked have a recourse WITHOUT having to fear being arrested themselves and you will see the trafficking industry lose it's appeal to the customer and it's sex slaves to law enforcement. There are women who have been victims of trafficking who agree with me because they tried to go to the police but the police would not help them. After all; they are just worthless whores aren't they? Or are they? Are they maybe someone's beloved daughter, kidnapped from a shopping mall at age 13 and FORCED; through the use of Physical Violence, to become a prostitute? We better start thinking with logic and reason instead of basing legislative decisions on a MORAL rationale. Because someone's daughter is depending on us to save her from a life of daily rape and brutality.
Posted by Mike Nichols on 09/22/2009 @ 10:36PM PT
You must be signed in to report content.
Indeed miss russel...Indeed.
Posted by Reverend Boony on 09/23/2009 @ 07:56PM PT
You must be signed in to report content.
Just last year, in the run-up to the imperial election cycle, I did 2, 2 weeks of activism, in the capital; and found pictures of kids in suggestive positions, some without shirts, boys, some with inappropriate age clothing, girls, on the public libraries computers; which I continually deleted- actually getting institutional abuse, and threats from people who purported to be gang members, bcause of it. I continued to do it, and always will, anyway; for, it's a good way to diminish the ease by which kids sex pedalers advertise their wares, etc.- you all can easily do the same, will you?
reality
Posted by james m nordlund on 09/18/2009 @ 06:45AM PT
You must be signed in to report content.
I worked on human trafficking issues in DC a few years ago. Then, the only organization even addressing domestic trafficking was Polaris Project. Glad to see other orgs are finally stepping up to the plate. But there's still much more to be done. Although children forced into commercial sex are considered trafficking victims, in DC they're considered criminals, charged with prostitution and locked up.
Posted by Jane Doe on 09/18/2009 @ 07:28AM PT
You must be signed in to report content.
Hi Jane,
I think you have touched on a very important issue, and that is that often times the victims of trafficking are made to be the criminals. An increased awareness of domestic trafficking issues is key. On the bright side, there is progress being made, and there are now a multitude of excellent organizations in DC that are actively working to prevent domestic trafficking.
Posted by Kristin Brown on 09/18/2009 @ 09:28AM PT
You must be signed in to report content.
My point exactly. If we legalize Consensual prostitution, we drive the perpetrators of NON-Consensual prostitution out of business.
Posted by Mike Nichols on 09/22/2009 @ 10:39PM PT
You must be signed in to report content.
Mr. nichols...
That would only work if the legal brothels were registered and regulated AND if the illegal ones were busted up by the police...Then theres the factor of no longer seeing prostitutes as whores or sinners which has contributed to their being unfairly treated by the law.
Posted by Reverend Boony on 09/23/2009 @ 08:03PM PT
You must be signed in to report content.
Don't assum that 'leagalizing' prostitution will change the face of human trafficking. Read up. This is from the BBC News:
"In Holland, 500 trafficked girls were rescued last year; legal prostitution doesn’t mean that women aren’t still being bought and sold for the sex industry. Attempts are being made to close down the brothels, but a brothel owner in the Red Light District says it’s not up to people like him to work out whether a woman has been trafficked to work there or not. He is an advocate of the ‘Don’t Ask’ policy, claiming it is unfair to expect managers and owners to know where the girls are coming from"
To read more go to: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/8457172.stm
Posted by abigail m on 01/19/2010 @ 01:22PM PT
You must be signed in to report content.
I think the photo is appropriate, it shows loneliness and helplessness. It does not cast this child in a sexual light.
Posted by charlotte hirst on 09/18/2009 @ 07:41AM PT
You must be signed in to report content.
that's the point. Children who are forced into prostitution are lonely and helpless.
Posted by Marshall Biever on 09/21/2009 @ 07:45AM PT
You must be signed in to report content.
You are SOOoo wrong Marshall. The following is from a woman whose friend was a child forced into prostitution. Read what she wrote to me.
"A friend's baby sister was kidnapped at age 13 from a midwest mall. She was found 20 years later, having been forced into prostitution by her kidnappers, in Florida. After thousands of rapes, being brainwashed into thinking she loved her pimp, dozens of forced abortions, she was such a mess that she couldn't comprehend her family loved her or that she had any other options now. Having regulations in place makes it harder for those who kidnap, drug, rape, etc women of all ages to do so. Saying "She's just a prostitute; why should I care?" means you also think "If my sister/daughter/wife/mother were sold into slavery and raped for the rest of her life, why should I care?"
Posted by Heather Keener on 12/27/2008 @ 01:12PM PT
Listen to the voices of the VICTIMS here people. Our course of action is clear and we must not delay any longer.
Posted by Mike Nichols on 09/22/2009 @ 10:49PM PT
You must be signed in to report content.
Mr. nichols...
Im not sure I understand you correctly...
Do you really think that children being abused in such a manner dont feel all alone and helpless ?
Posted by Reverend Boony on 09/23/2009 @ 08:06PM PT
You must be signed in to report content.
A single campaign and a single head on the chopping block do not mean the end of a systemic and endemic pattern. This wasn't the first article I read by this author, but if it had been, it might have been the last.
It is of course inviting to consider a problem dealth with so easily, but you are in Washington and surely have seen the pattern before, where someone, probably not in the inner circle, is 'tossed to the wolves' and agrees to take the blame, while the rest of the group quietly continue business as usual.
If you believe in snap solutions you won't get far - those in the trenches will know that you will crumple or walk away claiming success at the first opportunity.
Posted by Carol Crooks on 09/20/2009 @ 11:56AM PT
You must be signed in to report content.
This is a very accurate assessment of the situation as I see it. That is why it is so important to legalize all the consensual "High End Escorts" etc, because this will drive a wedge in between the legal and the illegal. Divide and conquer I say. If the ones who are being enslaved can go to law enforcement for protection without having to fear being arrested and prosecuted themselves (or having to give it up to the Judge or other official to AVOID incarceration) we just might begin to change the "Business as usual" mentality and force people to THINK before they hire a prostitute.
I believe we should make it so that anyone who knowingly hires a woman who has been trafficked, should be arrested and charged, along with the traffickers, while the woman goes free. However; if it is proven that the transaction was Consented to by ALL parties, then it is a legal transaction and no criminal conduct has occurred.
Posted by Mike Nichols on 09/22/2009 @ 10:55PM PT
You must be signed in to report content.
I agree with that mr. nichols although I would add that if the prostitute is underage then it should be automaticaly considered a crime with the ones using her/him to be convicted while the young victim be set free and given all due assistance with getting his/her life back together again.
Posted by Reverend Boony on 09/23/2009 @ 08:09PM PT
You must be signed in to report content.
I am disappointed in the blogger, Melissa Snow, of Shared Hope International who chose to surf Flickr and include this picture in a public relations piece. SHI and Melissa should think a little more about lawsuits and libel.
Having worked extensively with victims and survivors, and with the agencies and people who are their advocates, all I have to ask is: would you allow a real journalist to publish a known victim and his or her face without that person's consent? Or, more applicable to this PR piece, would you like your face to be used in an article in a way that implies you are party to the topic without your knowledge?
For a public relations piece this should be a model who has signed a release and knows the context of usage. If this is for journalism, the image should be used in a context reflecting its truth and reality--and even better to have signed consent of the individual (I won't get further into the ethics and laws of consent from minors).
This poor choice of usage for this photo is one reason real journalists are having problems doing their job. Please be more diligent in your work, especially in sourcing photography. It looks like the photographer was surprised by this usage--your publishing his image this way also puts him at risk.
Tim Matsui / www.timmatsui.com
Posted by Tim Matsui on 09/21/2009 @ 03:12PM PT
You must be signed in to report content.
Good comment. I might owe the photographer an apology if what you say is true. I blasted him in a previous post for his poor choice in using this image here but now I see it may not be his fault, at least; not entirely. All I have to say is SHAME on whomever used this photo for this purpose WITHOUT the express written consent of the girl in the photo. She should sue for defamation.
Posted by Mike Nichols on 09/22/2009 @ 10:58PM PT
You must be signed in to report content.
I'm not American but I love America. Trafficking is everywhere as many human beings have lost their sentiments. I prefer to say that why don't we just stop the polemics on the photo and take a quick action to save children and women starting from protecting our own family.
Posted by Lily Thamzil on 09/23/2009 @ 03:21AM PT
You must be signed in to report content.
Hey guys, I have just lerned that when convicted of rape/human trafficking it is considered a misdemenor. have you guys heard this?
Posted by robin ray on 09/24/2009 @ 05:41PM PT
You must be signed in to report content.
No miss ray...I havent.
But considering the whole attitude towards prostitutes and child sex slaves by those in authority...Im not surprised. :(
Posted by Reverend Boony on 10/04/2009 @ 07:52PM PT
You must be signed in to report content.
Alright, thank you. If you, or any one hear any more on the legality issues let me know
Posted by robin ray on 10/08/2009 @ 02:54PM PT
You must be signed in to report content.
Please come to the 'Restore NYC on Broadway' fundraiser, Monday October 26th!
Unforgettable songs from your favorite musicals will be performed by Broadway stars to benefit the organization Restore NYC (www.restorenyc.org), which provides much needed aftercare services for internationally sex trafficked women in New York City. Tickets are selling fast and you won't want to miss this exciting night of great talent as we seek to bring hope to those that have been brutally victimized by sex trafficking.
Hosted by Jeff Kready (Les Misérables, Billy Elliot) and starring Sierra Boggess (The Little Mermaid, Phantom of the Opera), Tituss Burgess (Jersey Boys, The Little Mermaid), Nikki Renee Daniels (Aida, Les Misérables), Bryce Ryness (Hair), Ann Sanders (Beauty and the Beast, Avenue Q), and pianist Alexander Rovang.
Proceeds of ticket sales will benefit Restore. Please come and make a positive difference in a woman's life by purchasing your ticket online at http://www.symphonyspace.org/event/6087-restore-nyc-on-broadway or at the box office today!Monday, October 26th at 7 pm
$75 admission
Peter Norton Symphony Space
2537 Broadway at 95th Street
New York, NY 10025
212.864.5400
Posted by Nina Negri on 09/29/2009 @ 05:04PM PT
You must be signed in to report content.
why dont you ppl stick to what is important making sure that her or no other child is put through this slavery again. she did not look like a slut. dont you ever call a child that. it shows your need to debate not work through your issue. i thought it was a good article. any article to stop promotion of child sex slavery is fantastic to me. stick to the issue.
Posted by tasha reed on 10/20/2009 @ 06:02AM PT
You must be signed in to report content.