In 6 Months, Will You Still Care?

Aug 13

My newsfeed, Instagram story reel and inbox have been blowing up with #savethechildren which is somehow more controversial than #saveourchildren, videos of Trolls and LOL dolls and pictures of men who have been arrested for purchasing children for sex.

This is an interesting turn of events for me; someone who has been talking about sex trafficking and labor trafficking for 8 years. My Facebook community is probably a lot like yours, when I post a picture of my family or change my profile pic the likes explode as do the sweet encouraging comments. But when I post about human trafficking, exploitation, pornography or even the really great things happening at the nonprofit I co-founded with my mom, Stories Foundation, I get maybe 10 likes (on a good day) you might say if you listen really close you can hear the Facebook equivalent to crickets.

So to have, all of a sudden, an influx of people passionately posting about child sex trafficking, I feel a little overwhelmed and I am not quite sure what to think. Part of me is glad, finally people are realizing the huge issue we have in our country, under our noses, in our communities. But then, it feels off. It seems to me the internet is co-opting child sex trafficking and using it to create an even bigger divide between people, which is not at all what we need. So today, I want to ask you some questions that will hopefully broaden your perspective on the realities of human trafficking in our communities and what we can do about them.

What About the Adults?

Every, single, post I have seen about trafficking that isn’t associated with an organization or individual who is already involved in anti-trafficking work is overtly specific to children. Every. One.
Here is the deal, I agree, it is absolutely horrific children are being abused and exploited. It makes my blood boil. Makes me want to shake people and scream. For heavens sake, it made me turn my life upside down and start a nonprofit. But why isn’t it just as horrific that adults are also being manipulated and forced to have sex for money? And when I say adult, I mean 18-24 years old. Is it better to exploit someone because they are a few years older? Could it be deep down we still believe the old narrative that adults who are being sexually exploited must secretly like it? Or have done something to deserve it?
Here is the truth: the average age of a child sex trafficking victim reported to NCMEC (National Center for Missing and Exploited Children) was 15 years old. This means two things - it isn’t common for children to be stolen for sex and 3 years after first being exploited, that child becomes an adult. Sex trafficking for a person at any age is horrific.

Is Your Posting Fueled by Hate and/or Fear?

Another defining mark of this current hot topic issue on social media is either the visceral hate accompanying a post, or the tangible fear.

Fear that children the poster knows and loves will be taken the second a trusted adult isn’t looking. The truth is, where as children can be abducted, this is not how, most commonly, we know trafficking to happen. Trafficking usually happens when a relationship is formed with a trusted or known adult, and then the relationship is exploited. I have heard more stories of children trafficked by their parents or a close relative than any other situation. Education about trafficking and the manipulative tactics used can give you the information you need to spot this behavior and hopefully intervene if you see it. Fear is not a place we are able to act out of. Fear paralyzes us and is not where rational thoughts or actions reside.

And then, hate. Hate is spewing these days over the internet. Hate towards the perpetrators, the celebrities, pretty much everyone who the poster perceives as not doing or thinking exactly as them. Hate is not a viable awareness tactic. If I had chosen to spew hate as an awareness tactic to everyone who I perceived to be ignoring me over the last 8 years, I wouldn’t still be doing this work.

Neither Fear nor hate will help the anti-trafficking movement, the children (and adults) who are and have been exploited, or the general public as a whole.

Are you Posting out of a Political Motive?

It is not a secret our current political climate is polarized. The chasm between the two sides is growing by the day. When you add racial unrest and a global pandemic to an already burning fire you are set to explode. In this current climate, everything has become political, and it shouldn’t be. We are playing a dangerous game when we make human issues about government strategy.
Please listen: Human Trafficking is not a political issue. I don’t care what our current President has or has not done to supposedly help fight human trafficking in this country, this issue is too big and goes too deep for any government to fix. If we are going to see an end to the exploitation of humans for sex (or anything else) it is going to take each and every one of us coming together and agreeing that treating humans as objects is not ok. If you are using the very real issue of sex trafficking to justify your political stance - stop. Please.

In Your Research, are you advocating for long-term solutions?

I am going to give everyone posting about child sex trafficking the benefit of the doubt and assume they truly do care about ending sexual exploitation, not only of children but of everyone. With this assumption I want to ask that we also then advocate for long-term solutions. Can we commit to looking for organizations working to bring awareness to why we have a sexual appetite for children in this country in the first place?

I challenge us as a society to put our time, effort, and finances behind local organizations who have tirelessly and thanklessly been working in this arena for years. Ask them what the needs are, listen and then help to meet them. Even if it isn’t glamorous, because it probably won’t be, and this is where you will prove you are not only here because it is the issue of a moment.

Will you still care in 6 months?

My biggest question I have for everyone who is suddenly vocal about child sex trafficking is; will you still care in 6 months? I suppose only time will tell if you are still around in February. I will watch for those doing the unpopular thing and digging beneath the surface to uncover the very nuanced, and often personal, reason we have sex trafficking and exploitation in this country, and world.

I truly hope everyone sticks around and begins to educate themselves first and then uses their voice to change the conversation in their spheres of influence. I imagine a world where love wins over hate, compassion and kindness partnered with justice and humility is the name of the game. Where we tackle the underlying issues that cultivate sex trafficking together and offer real support to those children and adults who are carrying trauma around with them.

I imagine a world where we walk around like people are more important than politics, instead of pointing fingers we open our arms, and we care about those on the other side of the chasm just as much as we love our own.

Maybe then we will see trafficking and exploitation decrease. Maybe then those who have been abused and exploited will be able to see the hope of a future where people care enough to be active in true and lasting change.