Teen Sex Trafficking - Essay Example

According to an article published by the San Francisco Chronicle, the united States of America is one of the top three countries in this world that engages in the trafficking of young girls for sex (May). This is due to the fact that the country is affluent, and this affluence is the tool that the pimps use to entice the girls into coming into the country to perform as sex slaves. Most of the time, these girls live in places where the government is corrupt, the families are suffering from starvation and poverty, and life is gloomy.

Trying to make things better for themselves, these girls search for jobs in the wanted ads. May states in her article that these ads are of hostess and waitressing positions in the United States. Excited that they are going to be able to be saved from a life in poverty and have an opportunity to live in a country that is full of wealth, these girls quickly respond. It is only when they arrive that they find out that they have been tricked. Then, it is much too late. There is no escape for them, as their captors keep them locked up in their place of business.

Their captors instill tremendous fear in them, so they will not even think of escaping (May). San Diego New 6 states that these pimps take things a step further by destroying their identity documents and telling them that if they try to escape, their families back home will be murdered (San Diego 6). Sex trafficking does not only involve girls that are foreigners, it also involves those who are born and raised on our home soil. One might wonder how these girls are tricked into sexual slavery, since this country is not in the same condition as those of the third world.

These pimps have different tactics. An ABC News report tells us that predators go wherever the children are, whether it is at the mall, the beach, or any other place that is frequented by young people. These men are so obsessed with targeting young girls that they spend time keeping up with modern trends so as to appear cool, as well as to stay up to date on all the hot hangout spots. These predators study children so much that they are able to read them and know all of their weaknesses. Some are even offered fraudulent opportunities of modeling that are promised to pay good wages (ABC News).

Like the women in the third world countries who jump for the chance to come to America to make a fruitful living and enjoy affluence, these domestic women are enticed by the money that they will receive through modeling off top-of-the-line clothes. And just like the women overseas, they, too, are tricked and can do nothing about it, as they find out when it is too late to do anything. And because the sex slavery operation is so well hidden, many of them are never rescued from their plights.One might wonder why these teen girls continue to suffer this gross injustice and why little seems to be done about the matter.

One might even reason that since we are in a developed nation, crimes such as these should be minimal. Sadly, they are not, and little protection is offered to these youngsters. One article from the Tampa Tribune explains why law enforcement does not protect these teen prostitutes as much as they should. The article states that rather than viewing these girls as victims, they are viewed as criminals who have chosen to have a complete disregard for the laws against prostitution. Social workers make the problem even worse.

Rather than trying to understand these