Here in the United States and in other parts of the world, like Sonagachi, the red light district of Calcutta child prostitution has become a huge crime and problem. I believe that there are very limited resources and help available for these children and any help that is available is not advertised directly to those in need, the children. I also believe that it is important to research what it is that puts children in these situations and come up with a preventative so that less children are victims.
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Most importantly though there must be laws and law enforcement to back up the laws and protect the children from this growing crime, in the article “Trafficking in Human Beings: Training and Services among US Law Enforcement Agencies” authors Deborah G. Wilson, William F. Walsh and Sherilyn Kleuber discuss whether the responsibilities to protect children belong to local law enforcement of the government (Wilson, Walsh, & Kleuber, 2006). Many people know about the prostitution of adults but do not know, or do not think about this crime happening to young children. Traffickers, according to Anne O’Reilley in her article “Child Prostitution: The Next Push for Human Rights”, choose children because of the innocent qualities they have. Also, parents can be responsible for their child being involved with prostitution (O'Reilley, 1993). Rachel Lloyd wrote in “Acceptable Victims? Sexually Exploited Youth in the U.S” that parents often, because of their low socio-economic status, resort to selling their children for a source of income (Lloyd, 2005). In the case of the United States, the rights of children could be better protected if the United Nations’ Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) is signed and ratified. The United States is one of the only two countries that have yet to ratify this. In the case of India, more law enforcement to defend their ratification would be helpful.
While the United States has not ratified the CRC, there is still no reason for law enforcement to give child prostitution the blind eye. In their article “Trafficking in Human Beings: Training and Services among US Law Enforcement Agencies”, authors Deborah G. Wilson, Chair of the Department of Justice Administration at the University of Louisville, William F. Walsh, Director of the Southern Police Institute, and Sherilyn Kleuber, investigator for the Naval Criminal Investigation Service, discussed who had the responsibility of protecting victims of prostitution whether it should be the government law enforcement or local law enforcement (Wilson, Walsh, & Kleuber, 2006). Wilson, Walsh and Kleuber performed a survey in which they chose police departments that served a large population, had a good reputation as leaders, and were in a destination that was known for trafficking or where trafficking was popular (Wilson, Walsh, & Kleuber, 2006, p.151).
They surveyed a total of 83 police departments and them a series of four questions: is human trafficking a current issue for local police departments, is human trafficking expected to be an issue in the future, where is human trafficking an issue, and which law enforcement agency is responsible for addressing human trafficking (Wilson, Walsh, & Kleuber, 2006, p.152). Most departments agreed that it was a problem in their region and their state but that the issue should be addressed by federal law enforcement. The researchers also asked all departments if they had received any formal training related to human trafficking and the results showed that only seven of the 83 surveyed departments reported having any training (Wilson, Walsh, & Kleuber, 2006, p.154). This is not acceptable because of the fact that local law enforcement would be the first officers to come into contact with such a crime. It is also important for officers to know and recognize the signs of a trafficking crime when they see it and know how to handle the situation appropriately. This does not only apply in the United States, human trafficking is a global issue and all countries must work to prevent both adults and children from such a crime.
They surveyed a total of 83 police departments and them a series of four questions: is human trafficking a current issue for local police departments, is human trafficking expected to be an issue in the future, where is human trafficking an issue, and which law enforcement agency is responsible for addressing human trafficking (Wilson, Walsh, & Kleuber, 2006, p.152). Most departments agreed that it was a problem in their region and their state but that the issue should be addressed by federal law enforcement. The researchers also asked all departments if they had received any formal training related to human trafficking and the results showed that only seven of the 83 surveyed departments reported having any training (Wilson, Walsh, & Kleuber, 2006, p.154). This is not acceptable because of the fact that local law enforcement would be the first officers to come into contact with such a crime. It is also important for officers to know and recognize the signs of a trafficking crime when they see it and know how to handle the situation appropriately. This does not only apply in the United States, human trafficking is a global issue and all countries must work to prevent both adults and children from such a crime.
Human sex trafficking and the sex trafficking of children is not just a national problem it is an international issue therefore it is necessary for law enforcement, on a national level to become involved. Law enforcement internationally should be trained and able to handle these situations. The question of cost could come to surface but can money really be an issue when the lives and innocence of children are at stake? It could be costly to train individual police departments but in the long run, it will save lives and eliminate this awful crime.
While it is law enforcements job to protect young children from becoming victims of prostitution, one could ask how children are even put in such a situation to begin with. As discussed by Rachel Lloyd, Girls Educational & Mentoring Services which serves in girls and young women who have been victims of sex trafficking, in her article “Acceptable Victims? Sexually Exploited Youth in the U.S”, many children born into or living in conditions of a very low socio-economic status can be possible victims of prostitution (Lloyd, 2005). Lloyd says that because parents are so desperate for money to support the family, they will often give their child to prostitution traffickers in order to have a household income. However, low self-esteem, family dysfunction and prior abuse are also huge reasons why young children are pushed into prostitution (Lloyd, 2005, p.8). In 2001 it was reported that each year, about two to three hundred thousand minors are victims of sexual exploitation. Lloyd says that the experiences of abuse, poverty, and family issues children experience at home could cause them to runaway hoping for better opportunity elsewhere, however get involved in a situation worse than what they dealt with at home (Lloyd, 2005, p.14).
For young girls, the negative portrayal of women in the media can cause low self-esteem and self-worth. Rap music and its music videos is a big contributor to this problem. Take rapper 50cents song “P.I.M.P” for example, one of the song lyrics says “I could care less how she perform when she in the bed bitch hit that track, catch a date, and come and pay the kid”, “She feed them foolish fantasies; they pay her cause they want her” and “The last nigga she was with put stitches in her head” (Jackson, 2003). These lyrics not only negatively portray women and girls as purely sex symbols but it also promotes violence on women in the situation of prostitution. It is important for us to not allow rappers or the media to not portray women like this not only because women are given a bad image but it encourages this behavior and could be a bad influence on young boys showing.
For young girls, the negative portrayal of women in the media can cause low self-esteem and self-worth. Rap music and its music videos is a big contributor to this problem. Take rapper 50cents song “P.I.M.P” for example, one of the song lyrics says “I could care less how she perform when she in the bed bitch hit that track, catch a date, and come and pay the kid”, “She feed them foolish fantasies; they pay her cause they want her” and “The last nigga she was with put stitches in her head” (Jackson, 2003). These lyrics not only negatively portray women and girls as purely sex symbols but it also promotes violence on women in the situation of prostitution. It is important for us to not allow rappers or the media to not portray women like this not only because women are given a bad image but it encourages this behavior and could be a bad influence on young boys showing.
Children and families of children who are not brought up in a home that is of low socioeconomic status or abuse should not simply overlook this topic because they do not fit the criteria of what it takes for a child to become a victim of sex trafficking. Traffickers prey on those of low socioeconomic status and victims of abuse because they are vulnerable. But traffickers also prey especially on runaways which is something no child or family is specifically excluded from . The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) stated that one in seven children who runaways were likely to become victims of sex trafficking (NCMEC, 2013).
Anne O’Reilley, like Lloyd, also says that the prostitution of children can be driven by poverty. O’Reilley also found that traffickers choose children over adults to traffic sexually because they are seen as “clean virgins”, meaning they are free of any STDs (O'Reilley, 1993, p.9). The number of children being prostituted has increased over the years and O’Reilley acknowledges that the CRC is a good way to attempt to prevent this crime by establishing and recognizing laws.
Ratification of the CRC would bring in a sort of obligation, that should be obvious however it is unfortunately not, to protect the children in the world. The CRC was introduced by the United Nation in 1989. It was created to protect children in all situations including but not limited to education, health care, family/home issues. Articles 34 states "Governments should protect children from all forms of sexual exploitation and abuse. This provision in the Convention is augmented by the Optional Protocol on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography" and Article 35 states "The government should take all measures possible to make sure that children are not abducted, sold or trafficked" (UNICEF, para. 5). These laws protect children from being victims of sex trafficking but there are also laws that protect children from unsafe living environments such as Article 3 which states " The best interests of children must be the primary concern in making decisions that may affect them. All adults should do what is best for children. When adults make decisions, they should think about how their decisions will affect children. This particularly applies to budget, policy and law makers" (UNICEF, para. 1). All of these laws are good for children and widely agreed upon by the adult world, however it is mainly Article 12 which describes the reason and fear the US has when talking about the ratification of the CRC. Article 12, in summary, says that children have a right to be involved in decision making processes that deal with their well being. While this does not give children any authority over the adult, based on the level of the child's maturity it allows them to express their opinions in situations like legal and healthcare.
Article 12 may be the very reason the US has signed but has not ratified the CRC. Signing the CRC shows that the US agrees with the laws it enforces but the US is not held responsible to carry out those laws. In order for the CRC to become ratified it must be held to a vote however, the Republican party has admitted that the convention would not be passed if voted on and therefore the CRC has never been ratified (N.A., para. 2) . The Republicans reasoning for not wanting to pass the CRC is that it could give children too much power and undermine parents' authority. The United States also does not want the CRC to conflict with any existing human-rights laws or family laws and cause confusion on which to abide or which is more important (N.A., para. 3). United States is one of the last three countries, including Somalia and South Sudan, to not ratify the CRC.
To prevent and eventually eliminate this crime it is important for citizens across the world to be active participants in making sure this crime does not go unnoticed. If you are a citizen of the United States, write to your government and demand that they ratify the CRC. Anybody concerned with this issue, which all people should be, should volunteer or donate to assist foundations get children off of the street and into a better environment away from prostitution. An organization that you can get involved with are Girls Educational and Mentoring Services (GEMS). GEMS is an organization based out of New York and its goal is "to serve girls and young women who have experienced commercial sexual exploitation and domestic trafficking" (GEMS, 2014).
Ratification of the CRC would bring in a sort of obligation, that should be obvious however it is unfortunately not, to protect the children in the world. The CRC was introduced by the United Nation in 1989. It was created to protect children in all situations including but not limited to education, health care, family/home issues. Articles 34 states "Governments should protect children from all forms of sexual exploitation and abuse. This provision in the Convention is augmented by the Optional Protocol on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography" and Article 35 states "The government should take all measures possible to make sure that children are not abducted, sold or trafficked" (UNICEF, para. 5). These laws protect children from being victims of sex trafficking but there are also laws that protect children from unsafe living environments such as Article 3 which states " The best interests of children must be the primary concern in making decisions that may affect them. All adults should do what is best for children. When adults make decisions, they should think about how their decisions will affect children. This particularly applies to budget, policy and law makers" (UNICEF, para. 1). All of these laws are good for children and widely agreed upon by the adult world, however it is mainly Article 12 which describes the reason and fear the US has when talking about the ratification of the CRC. Article 12, in summary, says that children have a right to be involved in decision making processes that deal with their well being. While this does not give children any authority over the adult, based on the level of the child's maturity it allows them to express their opinions in situations like legal and healthcare.
Article 12 may be the very reason the US has signed but has not ratified the CRC. Signing the CRC shows that the US agrees with the laws it enforces but the US is not held responsible to carry out those laws. In order for the CRC to become ratified it must be held to a vote however, the Republican party has admitted that the convention would not be passed if voted on and therefore the CRC has never been ratified (N.A., para. 2) . The Republicans reasoning for not wanting to pass the CRC is that it could give children too much power and undermine parents' authority. The United States also does not want the CRC to conflict with any existing human-rights laws or family laws and cause confusion on which to abide or which is more important (N.A., para. 3). United States is one of the last three countries, including Somalia and South Sudan, to not ratify the CRC.
To prevent and eventually eliminate this crime it is important for citizens across the world to be active participants in making sure this crime does not go unnoticed. If you are a citizen of the United States, write to your government and demand that they ratify the CRC. Anybody concerned with this issue, which all people should be, should volunteer or donate to assist foundations get children off of the street and into a better environment away from prostitution. An organization that you can get involved with are Girls Educational and Mentoring Services (GEMS). GEMS is an organization based out of New York and its goal is "to serve girls and young women who have experienced commercial sexual exploitation and domestic trafficking" (GEMS, 2014).