Help us change the legal definition of a minor involved in commercial sex from 18 to 21 years old.
Help us change the legal definition of a minor involved in commercial sex from 18 to 21 years old.
The Problem.
Traffickers find that girls between 13-16 years old are the easiest to manipulate, exploit, fool and control. Predators target this vulnerable age and groom them until they are ready to “turn them out” for sale once they get close to 18 years old. Currently, sex trafficking of a minor is an automatic charge only when the victim is under the age of 18.
The Solution.
Change the legal definition of a minor involved in commercial sex from 18 to 21 years old.
Suppose we redefine the term “minor” and change the statute making any commercial sex act with a person under 21 an automatic trafficking charge instead of under 18. If we can do this, we will cripple the underground sex economy that is ravaging our country.
Redefine The Term “Minor”
Common Questions Answered
The natural development in teenagers fosters independence, exploration and they begin seeking an individual identity as they reach the ages of 13-15. The fact that traffickers target this vulnerable population is not a coincidence. The saving grace is that most men that want to purchase sex are not interested in a child. They want a pretty young woman and the trafficker tries to deliver this demand. Forcing traffickers to “hold onto” their victims for a few more years will increase the risk they assume without increasing the reward. Changing the definition of a minor in sex trafficking from 18-21 will accomplish this.
Believe it or not, there are no reliable sources that have even attempted to calculate this number. This is another reason why we need to change the equation of caring by influencing people to care about girls 18-20 also.
Due to the hidden nature of the crime of sex trafficking, the exact number of domestic children being trafficked in the United States is unknown, but a University of Pennsylvania study estimated nearly 300,000 youth in the United States were at risk of being sexually exploited for commercial uses. The Justice Department’s National Incidence Study reported that 1.7 million children run away or are thrown away each year, with just 357,600 (21%) of them reported as missing to the police. The National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC) estimates that at least 100,000 children are caught up in the insidious world of child prostitution each year: 55% of street girls engage in prostitution; at least 75% of those work for a pimp. Though statistics vary, experts agree that the numbers grossly understate the problem, as this is such a hidden crime.
Child Sex Trafficking is prohibited by 18 U.S.C. § 1591.
This statute makes it a federal offense to knowingly recruit, entice, harbor, transport, provide, obtain, maintain or cause a minor (defined as someone under 18 years of age) to engage in a commercial sex act.
A Victim’s Story.
Meet Emilia.
Emilia was groomed by a trafficker pretending to be her boyfriend when she was 15. He turned her out for her first “job” on her 18th birthday. For the past year, Emilia’s life has been a living hell: she was repeatedly threatened, coerced, exploited, sold, beaten, drugged, choked and raped by her traffickers. When her friends went o ff to college, she was forced to provide sexual services for up to a dozen men every single day. They thought she wanted it.
Federal law states that any pimp selling a girl younger than 18 years old is automatically considered a trafficker. So they wait. We’ve seen multiple girls forced into commercial sex on their 18th birthdays. This has to stop.
