Sex slavery as teen spoke

This story originally appeared on Teen Voices at Women's eNews. Students at William Byrd High School in Vinton, Virginia didn't used to think the words "sex trafficking" had anything to do with them or their rural, southwestern Virginian town. Then their U. Spencer gave the lesson as part of a high school curriculum created by the Frederick Douglass Family Initiatives, a nonprofit anti-trafficking and abolitionist organization based in Atlanta. Its curriculum aims to raise students' awareness and help them protect themselves.

Traffickers are using the Internet as a way to target unsuspecting and vulnerable youth for their own personal financial gain as targets are seen as none other than a dollar sign. Sex trafficking is a form of modern slavery that exists throughout the United States and globally. According to the F. It is an easy, low risk many traffickers still believe the high profit margin to be worth the risk of detection , and profitable industry because of huge consumer demand. Much like the grooming tactics employed by sexual predators, sex traffickers lure their target into an online relationship, with the ultimate goal of meeting in person. Traffickers use a deliberate process to identify and recruit their victims.

Before police take troubled youths home, they often bring them there to receive counseling and services. But year-old Anjelique only stayed one night. Anjelique befriended another teenage girl in the center, who convinced her to leave. Together, they walked just a few minutes up the seedy commercial strip in Hayward to a budget motel. Once there, Anjelique was put to work.

Survivors of human trafficking talk about how people get trapped in this abusive trade. Edie Rhea is a survivor of sex trafficking. It began when she was 10 and lasted until she was 17 years old. Sometimes I would have to have sex with them in the meat store, where the frozen meat was at. That literally wrecked my world, my whole life.