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Sex Trafficking In Georgia
Atlanta has the 2nd highest human trafficking rate in the country, just behind the leader, Washington DC.
The average age of a child being sold and bought for sex is between the ages of 12 and 14, with approximately 100 adolescents being sold nightly in Georgia.
In order to stop the commercial sale of sex being forced upon youth, concerned citizens must do their part. Sometimes all it takes is one call to the authorities to do a welfare check to make sure the youth are safe from danger. Below is a heartbreaking example of how multiple people and agencies dropped the ball numerous times and failed a young girl.
This case involved a 14-year-old girl who had been taken to the doctor’s office 14 times in one year because she needed treatment for several different Sexually Transmitted Diseases (STD).
The girl was homeless and living with her mother in a nearby hotel. The social worker assumed the girl was promiscuous and she alluded to this fact at the doctor’s office and in her report. No one involved considered she may have been a victim of human trafficking because it appeared she was either always with her mother or in school. Her whereabouts were always accounted for, or so they thought. That was until a teacher noticed that the student was frequently missing from school throughout the day. The teacher called the girl’s mother and social services.
It was eventually revealed that the girl would go to school, make sure she was marked as present in homeroom roll call, and then leave. A trafficker would pick her up and take her to a hotel and sell her all throughout the day and have her back in school on time to go home.
It can no longer be assumed that children are taken, kidnapped, or lured away from their homes. Children are being groomed right under the noses of authorities, teachers and parents. And much of this activity takes place on social media.
A trafficker can make up to four thousand dollars a day on one child. They will sell a child over and over and over again for maximum profit. Unlike a drug dealer who sells drugs, once they sell that cocaine, heroin, or other substance, they have to purchase more supply; but with a child, they can keep making money off that child over and over again.
If you suspect anything suspicious, please call the National Human Trafficking Resource Center at 1-888-373-7888 or the Statewide Georgia Hotline for Human Trafficking at 1-866-ENDHTGA (1-866-363-4842) for help.
Red Flags include
· Teen who is malnourished or have bruises on their body
· Inappropriately dressed for the season
· Avoids eye contact
Resources
- https://www.11alive.com/article/news/local/georgia-human-trafficking-prosecution-unit/85-f55cdba7-ab00-4a3a-9282-b618055e2a73
- https://covenanthousega.org/Human-Trafficking
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