Each year, Operation Cross Country increases awareness of child sex trafficking around the country with its annual campaign. Operation Cross Country grows regularly every year; last year the operation spread across 76 cities with 105 children rescued and 150 pimps arrested (2); the year before that 57 cities were investigated with 79 children rescued and just over 100 pimps arrested (3). The large increase of the operation’s size can be attributed to the realization of how effective the operation is and can be. The operation continues to expand to better fight child sex trafficking in more cities around the country. Yet for all the expansion of the operation it still only occurs during one brief week during the year.

The FBI reports that the total number of children it has rescued with its Innocence Lost National Initiative, which also runs Operation Cross Country, is 3,600 (1). The total number of children that have been rescued by Operation Cross Country is almost 600. That means nearly 1/6^th of the children rescued by the FBI over the course of 11 years since the founding of the Innocence Lost National Initiative were rescued in only about 5 weeks (not including the assumed months of preparations and intelligence gathering), the combined length of all Cross Country operations. These numbers attest to the incredible success of the operation.  Because of the effectiveness of these operations by the FBI,  it is a surprise that this operation is contained to only one week a year. There needs to be a continual and focused effort of responding to child sex trafficking by law enforcement.  This operation rescued an average of 24 children a day. 24 children are now off the streets and are receiving much needed help after one day. Imagine what it would be like if this was an ongoing operation, everyday hearing in the news that dozens of children have been saved from the horrors of sex trafficking. With an average of 24 children rescued a day, a full year Operation Cross Country would result in 8760 children rescued, which is a small proportion of the 250,000 kids estimated to be in trafficking (4), but still has a much larger impact than 168 children rescued from a one time annual enforcement action.

Operation Cross Country should be encouraged and pursued on a more regular basis than annually. The operation has done invaluable work for many children who have been abused and taken advantage of and will hopefully continue to combat the sex trafficking of children.

Sources

(1)    https://www.fbi.gov/news/stories/2014/june/operation-cross-country

(2)    https://www.fbi.gov/news/stories/2013/july/operation-cross-country-recovering-victims-of-child-sex-trafficking/operation-cross-country-recovering-victims-of-child-sex-trafficking

(3)    https://www.fbi.gov/news/stories/2012/june/nationwide-sweep-recovers-child-victims-of-prostitution/nationwide-sweep-recovers-child-victims-of-prostitution

(4)    https://renewalforum.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/Victim-Population-Estimates.pdf

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Lauren Hersh, New York Director of Equality Now and head of its Sex Trafficking program, states, “Prostituted persons are not only dehumanized by the act of prostitution but by society treating prostituted persons like second class citizens.” The negative stigma places prostituted persons at a higher risk of violence by abusers who act with impunity. In hope of getting rid of the negative stigma, governments around the world have been legalizing prostitution.      

Rachel Moran, a formerly prostituted person, stated (when talking about the possibility of registration as a prostituted person), “I understand exactly why many reject that and work illegally to avoid it, because if I had been forced to choose between working in secret or being officially tagged a prostitute I would have done exactly the same thing. The pro-prostitution lobby would say I was suffering from the ill-effects of ‘whore stigma.’ No. The only ill-effects I was suffering from were the ill-effects of prostitution.”

Many countries legalized prostitution in hopes of getting rid of the stigma. For example, in the past thirty years, the Netherlands, New Zealand, and Australia legalized prostitution in hopes of getting rid of the negative stigma and underage prositution. Today trafficking still exists in both the legal and illegal sector. According to Prime Minister John Key, there are no significant reductions in sex trafficking and underage prostitution because of the legalization. The negative stigma still exists and is still used against prostituted women. (article)   

Rachel Moran wrote about her stigma in a book titled “Paid For”, which focuses on her story of being a victim of sexual exploitation. At the age of fourteen, she was brought into state custody and within one year she became homeless. Due to the lack of resources, Moran had no option but to prostitute herself. During the seven years of being prostituted, she was repeatedly raped, physically harmed, exploited, and more. In her book, she recounts not only her experience but also expounds on the negative effects of the legalization of prostitution.

The Renewal Forum believes prostitution is the buying of a person’s organ and treats people as objects; it is inherently against the dignity of a person to pay a person not for the work of a person or a service provided but for their body parts. It contributes and adds to violence against women and we must see prostitution for what it is: the objectification of a person and violence against women.

“To be prostituted is humiliating enough; to legalize prostitution is to condone that humiliation, and to absolve those who inflict it. It is an agonizing insult”, stated Rachel Moran. Check out Rachel’s story and how she overcame being prostituted. (to see more)

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On August 16, 2013, a former Baltimore Police officer, Lamin Manneh, 32, was charged for prostituting his 19-year-old wife and operating a call-girl ring with more than 300 customers. Manneh posted more than 50 advertisements of these women on the Internet, supplied synthetic marijuana to the women, collected his entire wife’s earnings and took a percentage from the other women as well. According to ABC News, his going rate for clients was $100 for 30 minutes with his wife. While operating his call-girl ring, he would provide locations such as hotel rooms and also transport the women to various locations based on client’s preference. In case of an aggressive or non- compliant client, Manneh would even carry his police issued fire. see here

Previously in May, a sting by a human trafficking task force was conducted where Manneh’s wife agreed to have sex with an undercover Maryland trooper. Manneh was subsequently arrested and fired after less than one year in the police force. If convicted, he will be sentence to only up to five years in prison.

There should be zero tolerance for city officials caught sexually exploiting someone. If caught in the act of sexual exploitation, city officials should not only be fired from their positions, but they should receive harsh punishments as well. They should also not be allowed to work in their previous occupation again even if it is in another state. Actions like this should be taken seriously and zero tolerance should be enforced.

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The U.S. Department of Justice defines commercial sexual exploitation of children as the “sexual abuse of a minor for economic gain.” This includes child pornography, prostitution, and sexual entertainment. The Stockholm Declaration adopted in 1996 at the First World Congress against Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children, explains CSEC as constituting “a form of coercion and violence against children, and amounts to forced labor and a contemporary form of slavery.”

Based on previous cases, the U.S. Department of Justice developed a “continuum of abuse“. Often an adult begins by abusing a young family member or friend. The abuse then becomes more often and the abuser seeks more children. The exploitation continues to escalate to child pornography shared and sold via the Internet. The last step in the continuum is pimping children out for sexual services. Pimps prey on young children: the average age of entry into prostitution is between 12 and 14 years old; traffickers look for vulnerable children, more commonly young girls, and coerce them with promises of emotional and financial security.

It is difficult to pinpoint the magnitude of CSEC because it is underreported and under recognized. However, one study projects that 30% of shelter youth and 70% of street youth are victims of CSEC.

Corruption

The World Bank defines corruption as “the abuse of public office for private gain.” Human trafficking thrives in countries with high corruption rates because it gives traffickers an avenue to do illegal activities without being punished.   The Report presented by the Council of Europe in 2005 hypothesized that “organized trafficking requires systematic corruption.” In order to traffic individuals, traffickers need to be able to transport, harbor, and sell victims without being persecuted. Common examples of corruption aiding trafficking include: cops being paid off (monetarily or with sexual services from victims) to keep brothels and illegal labor quiet; government agencies being paid off to not pass legislation combating trafficking; and customs officers assisting in transporting victims across borders in return for some sort of payoff. Survivors of sex slavery in the U.S. and abroad have reported local officials and police officers frequenting and supporting the trafficking ring.   Corruption is arguably vital to the success of traffickers and therefore corruption, like trafficking, is found all over the world. The Renewal Forum supports a zero tolerance policy for all municipal workers, so if they are found buying a prostituted person they should be dismissed from their position of authority.

Destination, Transit, and Origin State

Origin states are where victims of trafficking come from and transit  states are countries in which victims are transported to destination states; and destination States are where the victims end up. Kristina Kangaspunta found that Africa and South Asia were the most common origin regions and developed countries were by far the most cited destination states. Transit states tend to be countries that have access to developed countries, and have enough poverty and corruption to make transit possible. According to the UN data the United States of America was the most frequently mentioned destination state. NOTE: Trafficking does not require movement and many victims never leave their country that they were trafficked in. This means most victims in the U.S.are U.S. citizens.

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Abduction

Abduction occurs when a person forcibly takes a man, woman, or child against their will, forcing that individual into circumstances that they are not in control of. In the context of human trafficking, individuals are kidnapped and then forced to be a sex slave, labor worker, or child soldier. Most trafficked individuals are not directly abducted, but are coerced or manipulated into trafficking situations due to circumstances outside of their control, such as but not limited to false promises of love and security, blackmail, forced addiction to drug, and threats against their loved ones.

Brothel

A brothel is a place in which individuals can buy sexual services from prostituted women/children/men. The majority of prostituted peoples working in brothels are women and children and men make up a large majority of the consumers. The average age that girls begin prostituting in the United States is 13, therefore, there are many children working in brothels in the U.S. Brothels can be found in all socio-economic neighborhoods. The Polaris Project describes these two common types of brothels found in the United States: residential brothels and Asian massage parlors.  Within each of these brothels prostituted peoples are forced to have sex with many men each day; the Polaris Project reports that prostituted women/men/children service as many as 48 customers in residential brothels and 6-10 customers a day in massage parlors. Prostituted individuals are often beaten, harmed, and even killed by the men that buy sex as well as by the owners of the brothels. In some brothels women are locked in and unable to leave, however, this is not always the case. In many brothels it is not chains and locked doors that enslave prostituted individuals but coercion, debt bondage and manipulation. Additionally not all prostitution happens in brothels.

Coercion

Human trafficking is not simply the use of physical force in order to control a victim.  Individuals are also coerced or deceived into the control of their trafficker. The Legal definition of coercion found in Washington D.C. § 22-1831(3)[1] states:

(3) “Coercion” means any one of, or a combination of, the following:

(A) Force, threats of force, physical restraint, or threats of physical restraint; (B) Serious harm or threats of serious harm; (C) The abuse or threatened abuse of law or legal process; (D) Fraud or deception; (E) Any scheme, plan, or pattern intended to cause a person to believe that if that person did not perform labor or services, that person or another person would suffer serious harm or physical restraint; (F) Facilitating or controlling a person’s access to an addictive or controlled substance or restricting a person’s access to prescription medication; or (G) Knowingly participating in conduct with the intent to cause a person to believe that he or she is the property of a person or business and that would cause a reasonable person in that person’s circumstances to believe that he or she is the property of a person or business.

Often, victims of human trafficking are manipulated into acts such as prostitution that they otherwise would not choose in light of other alternatives. Traffickers prey on the most vulnerable, such as undocumented immigrants, the impoverished, and homeless youth.  Every type of legal coercion listed is used by traffickers in order to exploit victims.

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People excuse this behavior because it is technically legal to buy a prostituted woman in Columbia. People also excuse this behavior because we have this idea that boys will boys and this is standard fare for our men in uniform. In fact, this sexual perversion which often includes rape, sex with minors, and sex in exchange for food happens so often it is one of the reasons why Japan has an anti-US base movement.

This reality was acknowledge and declared intolerable by President Bush in executive order 12473 that amended the manual for court-martial for the Uniform Code of Military Justice to include the “patronizing a prostitute” to be a court-martialable offense. The United States has taken the view point that prostitution is “inherently harmful and dehumanizing, and contribute to the phenomenon of trafficking in persons.” In a similar manner we should be declaring that the patronizing of a prostitute by any government employee is intolerable and grounds for dismissal. In essence we should have a zero tolerance for the buying and selling of women, men, and children by any government employee: federal, state, county, municipal. All of them.

This is particularly true when you are talking about those employees who are charged with protecting people. Those who are charged with protecting people should not be in the business of exploiting them. Almost every victim of exploitation that we have talked to had a police officer or similar official as a client; this cannot continue.

Prostitution is an inherently harmful lifestyle and we should be helping people leave it and arresting those that further it through their demand. Human trafficking in the United States is often a pimp controlled woman who is being prostituted. This view is echoed and supported by many survivors of prostitution and sex trafficking who are now working to help others leave this dehumanizing life.

It is true that drunken partying is at odds with the duties we expect out of a Secret Service agent, but the bigger problem is their participation in this de-humanizing and exploitative act.

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On Monday, April 9th, 2012 Ian Kitterman, director of policy and programs for the Renewal Forum, gave a talk entitled “250,000 U.S. Children Trafficked for Sex…and that’s just the beginning of our problems,” at Dordt College.

Mr. Kitterman was invited by Criminal Justice Professor Donald Roth to speak on the topic of human trafficking in the United States. Kitterman’s talk focused on how the social conditions in the U.S. contribute to children being easily exploited, how the problems are not being addressed, and what sort of long term affects trafficking has on children into adulthood.
About 30 students were in attendance and a question and answer session followed Kitterman’s presentation.

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Wagner was part of a four-panel discussion that gave an overview of human trafficking. Each participate was able to say how they got involved in the anti-trafficking movement and where/ how they are raising awareness of this modern-day slavery now.

Throughout the discussion Wagner kept reiterating one point: the United States’ current social system contributes to the sexual exploitation of juveniles.

Over 100 speakers and panelists made their way to Regent University for the three-day event.

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The Renewal Forum enlisted the KlaasKids foundation to conduct online monitoring of the Milwaukee, Wisconsin area for the commercial sexual exploitation of children in December of 2008. This report summarizes those results.

Online Monitoring of CSEC in Milwaukee 2008

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Download the paper here.

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