Native Girls Are Being Exploited and Destroyed at an Alarming Rate - ICTMN.com

8.9.15

Native Girls Are Being Exploited and Destroyed at an Alarming Rate - ICTMN.com:

Advocates such as Melissa Farley, founder of Prostitution Research & Education,
maintain that prostitution and the sex industry create a demand for
women that is being fulfilled by sex traffickers. According to Farley,
there is little difference between sex trafficking and prostitution.
Prostitution is typically depicted as an activity of choice while sex
trafficking involves force and coercion for the participation of
innocent girls in the sex trade.


Farley believes that the attempt to separate the two is illogical,
creating a false distinction between innocent victims of trafficking
from those who choose prostitution. Farley points out that no such line
exists, since most prostitutes enter that life between the ages of 12
and 14, far too young to make such a momentous decision. Prostitution
and trafficking are expressions of sexual violence. The vast majority of
individuals being bought and sold for sex must answer to a pimp figure
who not only benefits from their sexual exploitation, but also
dictates every aspect of their lives, says Beatriz Menanteau, a staff
attorney with the Women’s Human Rights Program in Minnesota.