Sex Trafficking of Transient Youth in St. Louis
BY EDEN DIAMOND
Studies have shown that one in three teens will be sex trafficked within 48 hours of becoming homeless (Welfare). These statistics are even more devastating in our city of St. Louis. Though we may feel somewhat protected in our WashU bubble, we are surrounded by some of the most vulnerable young people in the country. If you have flown back to school on a Southwest flight, you have seen the sex trafficking billboards reminding us that sex trafficking is alive and well. While these posters depict isolated and sad youth against a dark and gloomy background, sex trafficking is often much more ambiguous than portrayed.
In order to discuss sex trafficking as it pertains to youth in our city, some terminology must be specified. While the term “homeless” is most commonly used in literature about trafficking, it is used in reference to youth who have aged out of foster care or who have been rejected from their home and are living in group homes and shelters or couch surfing, rather than living on the streets. In addition, sex trafficking is defined as “a commercial sex act [being] induced by force, fraud, or coercion, or [performed by a] person who has not attained 18 years of age” (Kotrla, 181), but the majority of cases are those of coercion through emotional manipulation. For the sake of clarity, this research review will use the term transitional youth and the term sex trafficking is these specified manners. The U.S. Department of State Trafficking in Persons report of 2010 found that most of the American’s enslaved in the sex industry are runaway and homeless youth (Exploitation, 13). Much of this relationship is due to the lack of resources in the lives of transient youth. This specific population often lacks both physical and monetary means as well as healthy relationships. Many foster and homeless youth are in need of basic subsistence in the form of money, food, and shelter, and are thus more vulnerable to trafficking. During the hearing on Sex Trafficking and Exploitation in America: Child Welfare’s Role in Prevention and Intervention, a survivor of sex trafficking who now works to help at risk youth mentioned a case where a teenage mother approached her and said she was being pressured to strip by her ‘boyfriend’ because she “needed the money” (Exploitation, 51). A nationally representative sample showed that approximately 28% of homeless youth and 10% of youth in shelters reported performing sexual acts to generate money for basic needs – otherwise known as ‘survival sex’ (Child Sex Trafficking in the United States). This form of transactional sex can present itself as consensual, however it often leads to an exploitive and manipulative sex trafficking scenario. In addition to needing food and shelter, the youth are also often starved of stable relationships, which leaves them particularly susceptible to trafficking. While only 10% of sex trafficking cases are those of abduction, many traffickers are pimps promising money or drugs, and in the U.S 28% are boyfriends and husbands (Trafficking of Women, 10). Those that are strangers often approach their victims in malls and clubs, create emotional or chemical dependency, and then coerce or force them into prostitution (Trafficking of Women, 52). For pimps looking to create an emotionally dependent and manipulative relationship, youth with histories of child physical and sexual abuse, neglect, interpersonal violence in the home, and experiences in foster care are prime victims. The article Child Sex Trafficking and Commercial Sexual Exploitation describes the stereotypical behavior used by pimps to emotionally manipulate these vulnerable populations. Pimps will “[alternate] acts of violence and cruelty with acts of kindness and ‘love’” such as gifts and fancy meals (Health Care, 3). This behavior cultivates an intense trauma bond between the victim and abuser, a form of Stockholm Syndrome often found in torture victims. A second article, Finding a Path to Recovery: Residential Facilities for Minor Victims of Domestic Sex Trafficking, discusses the consequences of this mentality, explaining how girls often believe they are in love with their trafficker and thus are compelled to return to him out of “love or fear of retribution if she didn’t return” (Finding, 3). A Social Service provider in the St. Louis Bi-State area explained such a case:
While sex trafficking of the homeless is an epidemic that sweeps through the entire U.S – as well as throughout the world – the transient youth in St. Louis are particularly susceptible due to their location (Child Sex Trafficking, 8). St. Louis is ranked as one of the top 20 trafficking cities in the U.S. by the FBI due to the high levels of transportation via interstate highways 70 and 44. In addition to the highway system, the Internet has caused a flux in trafficking due to its facilitation of advertising victims of trafficking to johns (Zygowicz). While steps have been taken to combat some of this advertising, such as The Stop Advertising Victims of Exploitation bill — or SAVE — filed in Missouri in 2014, there are still many resources online propagating the industry. Simply by being residents of St. Louis, transient youth in this city are at a higher risk of being trafficked.
In order to create an environment conducive to providing care to victims of trafficking we must first dismantle the “Culture of Tolerance” in the United States. Our pop culture continuously glamorizes pimping and prostitution” (Domestic, 182) through shows such as Pimp my Ride, and songs like “It's Hard Out Here for a Pimp," and “P.I.M.P”. According to Social Constructionism, “individuals construct their social realities based on knowledge gained from personal experience, significant others, other social groups and institutions, and the mass media” (Surette, 1998). Subsequently, by admiring pimps and diminishing their criminal activity we simultaneously ignore the potential turmoil of prostitutes. In addition to halting the blind idealization of sex work, it is important to reconstruct the understanding of underage sex work as victimization as opposed to prostitution. The “Implications for Social Work” section focuses on culture through language, recommending that the terms “youth who’s been prostituted” and “victim of trafficking” be used in place of “prostitute” or “slut” (Domestic, 184). This change in vocabulary indicates the fact that these victims are too young to consent to sex so their selling of it cannot be consensual. One issue throughout the research is the victimization of the youth who may see themselves as either survivors or consensual sex workers. One side of this issue was raised in the hearings, where witnesses specified the preferred term survivor as opposed to victim (Exploited, 14). But yet another side involves youth who believe they are not being exploited. Much of the research I have presented here tends to equate the industry of prostitution with that of sex trafficking, failing to recognize cases in which youth chose autonomously to be involved in sex work. An additional challenge is the fact that the logistics of care for these victims can unintentionally intensify their risk. Firstly, it is important to note that there are only 226 beds for minor sex trafficking victims in the entire country (Preventing, 17). Therefore, many of these victims will end up in more generalized homes much like Covenant House. Unfortunately, pimps specifically target these institutions, even using one youth to recruit others (Preventing, 7). Sadly, 60% of children reported missing to the National Center for missing and Exploited Children who are also likely sex trafficking victims were in foster care or a group home when they ran away (Preventing, 2). Sex trafficking is a form of modern day slavery that is present throughout the United States and concentrated in our city of St. Louis. Though we, as students, are privileged to live in Residential life or off campus housing, we can still be proactive about combating a culture that normalizes trafficking and idealizes pimps. In addition, we can assist in efforts to provide resources for at risk transient youth by working or volunteering at homeless shelters, or donating to organizations such as the Covenant House (a shelter for transient youth specifically). There is a consensus throughout the literature that the public and law enforcement must change their lens from one of criminalization of these underage prostitutes to one of victimization. Only then will society be able to further the research surrounding this epidemic and better understand how to prevent it. Works Cited:
Clawson, Heather J. and Goldbla Grace, Lisa, "Finding a Path to Recovery: Residential Facilities for Minor Victims of Domestic Sex Tra cking" (2007). Human Tra cking: Data and Documents. 10.
h p://digitalcommons.unl.edu/humtra data/10 Greenbaum, Jordan, and James E. Crawford-Jakubiak. “Child Sex Trafficking and Commercial Sexual Exploitation: Health Care Needs of Victims.” American Academy of Pediatrics, vol. 135, no. 3, 2015, pp. 566–574., doi:10.1542/peds.2014-4138. Higgins, Jeff V., and Christopher M. Brady. Child Sex Trafficking in the United States. Nova Science Publishers, 2012. Kotrla, Kimberly. “Domestic Minor Sex Trafficking in the United States.” Social Work, vol. 55, no. 2, Apr. 2010, pp. 181–187. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/23719974. Mukasey, Michael B., et al. “Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children: What Do We Know and What Do We Do About It?” U.S. Department of Justice Office of Justice Programs, July 12AD, www.ojp.usdoj.gov/nij. United States, Congress, Cong., Committee on Ways and Means. “Preventing and addressing sex trafficking of youth in foster care: hearing before the Subcommittee on Human Resources of the Committee on Ways and Means, U.S. House of Representatives.” Preventing and addressing sex trafficking of youth in foster care: hearing before the Subcommittee on Human Resources of the Committee on Ways and Means, U.S. House of Representatives, 2013. 113th Congress, 1st session. |