Introduction
Sex trafficking has been one of the major crimes that have dominated the United States for a long time. Organized criminal groups continue to reap significant profits from this offense. The unsuspecting nature of children has made them the most vulnerable group who have easily fallen into the trap of the perpetrators. An investigation by Julian Sher in her book “Somebody’s Daughter: The Hidden Story of America’s Prostituted Children and How to Save them” reveals the hidden industry of underage prostitution that is fueled by the illicit money generated by children trading their bodies for sex. This paper reviews the major revelations indicated in Sher’s investigative book on how pimps successfully lure underage children into prostitution and use them for financial gain.
Summary and Analysis
Julian Sher’s book “Somebody’s Daughter” focuses on the story of Maria, who became an underage prostitute at fourteen. Through Maria, Sher reveals a syndicate of pimps behind the recruitment and grooming of young children to become prostitutes. Aside from regular arrests from the police, Sher reveals a gap in the law enforcement agencies that have been exploited by the criminals to continue with this heinous activity. One of the significant challenges contributing to the development of child prostitution is corruption. The police have been some of the major beneficiaries of the illicit money generated by these innocent children (Sher, 24). Through bribes and other benefits that they have been getting from the masterminds of this crime, the police have been reluctant to investigate and arrest the perpetrators. There have also been unequal laws that the suspects have been exploiting to avoid apprehension making it difficult for the victims to get justice. The existing laws treat these girls as criminals rather than victims. Therefore, when they are arrested, the investigations do not focus on getting the suspects behind the recruitment of children but tend to punish the children.
The book begins with the story of Mary as an example of the many children who involuntarily find themselves on the streets. Mary yearns for her parents’ love which she does not receive adequately. The feeling of having someone close to her forces her to sneak to meet her cousin’s boyfriend. Unfortunately, he rapes her repeatedly and leaves her on the streets. When she gets home, she is criticized and blamed by her parents for leaving home without their permission (Sher, 19). The case is dismissed due to lack of evidence thus denying Maria justice. This incident affects her and she develops a stronger urge for love and attention.
A few days before her fourteenth birthday, Mary sneaks without the intention of returning to her parents. Her decision is motivated by a movie she watched about another underage girl who was living a fast life as a prostitute. While on the streets, Mary gets acquainted with how the hidden industry operates. She gets to know Tracy and Knowledge, well-established pimps that run children’s prostitution (Sher, 21). They formed a syndicate where the children were recruited and distributed to several designated places famous for prostitution to meet potential customers. They are underpaid, while a significant percentage goes to the pimp.
Cartels use a strategy where they exploit the emotional vulnerability of the children to develop a strong bond between them. This makes it difficult for the children to notice any form of abuse. Even if they realized they are being abused, the bond they develop with the pimps makes it difficult for them to leave or report the matter to the police. Mary says, “I thought he was the first guy who cared about me… I thought he was a man who was going to love me” (Sher, 24). The pimps tend to exploit that weakness to present themselves as good people to allow the victim to develop an emotional attachment. One pimp says, “A bitch’s weakness is a pimp’s sweetness” (Sher, 27). The cartels use the emotions of their victims as a shield to protect themselves from their victims.
Children suffer violence and brutality under the care of the pimps. The emotional vulnerability makes them afraid to report these abuses because they do not want to lose that connection between them and the pimps. Maria says, “I thought the only person who cared about me was him… He never hit me at first when I came back. But then he would find an excuse, and maybe four days later, he would beat the shit out of me” (Sher, 27). The police never saw prostitution as a crime that exposed underage girls to the danger of being raped or assaulted, but they treated it as a nuisance to the community. Maria recalls being arrested several times but later released when her pimp bribes the police. Corruption created a conducive environment for the prosperity of child prostitution where the pimps use their influence and money to protect themselves from law enforcers. Maria claims that despite appearing to be a child, the police were never bothered to ask questions about whether she was of legal age.
The community has made efforts to partner with the police to save the girls engaging in prostitution. The hostile relationship between the community members and the police has been an obstacle to addressing child prostitution in many cities in the United States. The police and the community often disagreed on the best method of helping the children in prostitution. “They would clash over whether detention or voluntary treatment was the best way to help these girls… they would disagree on how much pressure should be brought to bear on the young girls to get them to testify against their pimps” (Sher, 35). However, over time, the community and law enforcers have begun to work together on a common mechanism to help the affected children.
Activists and former prostitutes have been leading the campaign to rescue children from the emotional attachment they develop toward their pimps. They have also been collaborating with the police to reveal how pimps operate. Money laundering is a common practice in the world of pimps to conceal the fortune they get from child prostitution by directing it to other businesses such as casinos and gambling. Through the collaboration between activists and the police, such secrets are revealed, and substantial evidence is obtained against the perpetrators.
Conclusion
In conclusion, child prostitution is a real issue, and more children continue to get lured into the industry every day. Most of the victims do not enter into this industry voluntarily, but they are influenced by family-related issues. Judging by Maria’s story, the lack of family love is one of the major factors that force young children to risk their lives in the streets to get what they lacked in their homes. Sher’s investigation reveals that at least a third of the children who sneak out of their homes never return. Most of these children probably end up in the streets as prostitutes. This calls for a collaborative approach between all the stakeholders, including the police and the community, to initiate a mechanism of rehabilitating the victims of child prostitution and address other factors that may force children into the streets.
Reference
Sher, J. (2013). Somebody’s Daughter: The hidden story of America’s prostituted children and the battle to save them. Chicago Review Press.