Underaged Prostitution Report in U.S. Congress! Panama as well as the United States has this Problem

Underage prostitution report
aired in U.S. congress


By the A.M. Costa Rica wire services


A new report says that more than 100,000 Americans under the age of 18 are victims of sex trafficking in the United States. While the illicit sex trade is often considered a scourge of the developing world, experts told lawmakers on Capitol Hill Tuesday that it is also a serious problem in the United States.

The report highlights a problem known around the world — the prostitution of young women and children.

Former congresswoman Linda Smith, Shared Hope's founder, explained the severity of the problem at a briefing hosted by the Congressional Victims' Rights Caucus.

"Our research showed that it happened all over the United States," said Ms. Smith. "At first I thought, 'No, not in my town.' Yes, in my town."

According to the report, the average age of a child prostitute in the United States is between 12 and 14. Many have run away from home and are lured into the illegal sex trade by men who offer them shelter. Some become addicted to drugs — something their pimps use to keep them under their control. Beatings and physical threats are the norm.

But advocates for child sex trafficking victims say that despite these abuses, too often children are identified as criminals, arrested and put in jail or in juvenile detention.

Ernie Allen is president and CEO of the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.

"These kids are victims," said Ernie Allen. "This is 21st century slavery. They lack the ability to walk away. The pimps who use and discard them are the criminals, as are those who patronize them."

Advocates for child sex trade victims say that charging these children with crimes infringes on their rights and creates barriers to getting them the help they need. They advocate a system that protects and rehabilitates these children.

Rep.Ted Poe of Texas, co-chairman of the Congressional Victims' Rights Caucus, told the panel that there are more safeguards in place for foreign victims of sex trafficking in the United States than there are for American citizens.

"If you are a foreign child and you are in the United States and you are involved in trafficking, the police will treat you as a victim of a crime," said the Republican congressman. "But if you're an American and some trafficker finds you and abuses you and then sells you out through the United States, you're treated as a criminal."

The Shared Hope International report criticizes the U.S. Congress for failing to authorize more funding for social services and shelters for sex trafficking victims.