The trafficking of children, also known as the commercial sexual exploitation of children, IS child sexual abuse. While not all children who are sexually abused go on to become commercially exploited, 70-90% of children who have been commercially exploited in some way have experienced non-commercial child sexual abuse. Knowing this, we can help to prevent the trafficking of children when we prevent, recognize, and react responsibly to child sexual abuse.
Watch the video below to learn more about commercial sexual exploitation and read the blog that follows. The following blog post was provided by the aunt of a young girl who was abducted with the intent of being trafficked. The names and locations have been changed to protect the victim’s identity.
One weekend during the summer of 2015, my niece and nephew, along with my brother and sister-in-law, were at California mall near their home. My niece, Kylie, and her younger brother were off by themselves, like any teenagers would be, when Kylie was approached by a girl. The girl began to talk to Kylie about shoes and clothes, normal teenage girl conversations. Kylie thought she had made a friend, and they exchanged numbers to keep in touch. My brother and sister-in-law saw the girl and thought she looked like your average teenage girl. Nothing about her that indicated anything out of the ordinary. The girl claimed to be 16, but we later found out she was 20. Kylie was only 15.
Fast forward to the following Monday, Kylie had been texting with the new girl for two days. She convinced Kylie to sneak away from the house to “hang out” for a little while. Kylie headed outside where the girl was waiting in the car. When Kylie got in, the girl wasn’t alone. Her “pimp” was in the back seat. Kylie instinctively knew something was wrong, but it was too late. The pimp stuck her with a syringe of some sort of drug to knock her out. They took her to Sacramento, drugged her more, raped her and attempted to alter her appearance, along with her name.
Kylie was put out on street corner in tight fitting clothing, as the pimp tried to prostitute her. A Sacramento County Sheriff Deputy was passing through the area when he saw her and had a gut feeling that something wasn’t right. He noticed that Kylie appeared totally out of place – a young, clean girl in a known gang area. The Sheriff Deputy pulled over, got out, and started talking to Kylie. The pimp was nearby at a distance, but the girl who had originally lured her was with her. Kylie was terrified. She wouldn’t respond to the Sheriff Deputy. He followed his gut and arrested Kylie. Once arrested, she broke down and told the officer what happened, or at least what she could remember. He told us that by the next morning she would have been dead or sold, and that we got something that most people don’t. We got our little girl back.
Kylie was safe, approximately 48 hours after she was abducted. We never thought this would happen to someone in our family – it only happened to other people. My brother lives in a nice suburban military community just outside of the Air Force base. They didn’t live in a “bad” part of town. But the truth is, child sexual abuse and sex trafficking don’t discriminate.
In order to create a safe and supportive community for all of our readers, comments that are mean spirited or contain personal attacks will not be approved. Additionally, please help us maintain productive conversations by refraining from posting profanity, spam, advertisements, and unrelated comments. Darkness to Light reserves the right to refrain from approving any comment that does not adhere to the above guideline or is otherwise deemed inappropriate.
If you have questions about Darkness to Light or the above article, please email: media@D2L.org. If you need support or information please call 866-FOR-LIGHT. Thank you!
