We find overlap in our awareness, education, and prevention efforts. Our involvement in restoration is heartbreaking, rewarding, and strengthens our resolve to eliminate the demand of our children as products in the sex trafficking business in the USA. This is done in trusted relationship with other frontline organizations. It’s often easier to grasp the fact that sex trafficking of minors exists in other countries. However, the sad reality is that sex trafficking is the second fastest growing criminal enterprise. Sex trafficking occurs when people are manipulated, coerced, or forced into the commercial sex trade against their will. The Stop Trafficking Project® is more focused on domestic minor sex trafficking while not neglecting the sad reality of adult sex trafficking and human trafficking as a whole. We know we can’t focus on all forms of trafficking everywhere in order to be effective. Our passion is to end domestic minor sex trafficking (DMST) before it starts by disrupting the exploitation of vulnerability = END it BEFORE it STARTS™!
DMST includes any child involved in commercial sex. Generally speaking, traffickers (pimps, spotters, predators, sex sellers) tend to recruit children who are vulnerable due to a form abuse in their past, but not always. Sex sellers use violence, threats, lies, false promises, debt, and other forms of control and manipulation such as drug and alcohol abuse. Young victims often fall for the "older boyfriend" or "Romeo pimp" who creates an environment where the victim believes he or she is in love before the forced sexual exploitation.
Sex trafficking is just as prevalent in America as it is in other countries. It has been found in a wide variety of the overall sex industry including but not limited to residential brothels, hostess clubs, online escort services, fake massage businesses, strip clubs, street prostitution, and pornography. This is a demand driven business where American children are being sold by people in business to make money. The demand comes from (mostly) men willing to pay for sex. The porn addicted American culture plays into this crime as women and children are degraded and used merely as objects for sexual pleasure.
The Stop Trafficking Project® works in creative collaboration with trusted people and organizations to bring presentations in various settings and formats. We provide resources to prevention efforts where the focus is to eliminate the demand for sex trafficking. Along with this, we also offer support to victimized people who we ‘empower to escape the life’ while they are in the restoration process.