Sexual Trafficking: Do You Know Lacy? |
By Crispin Ketelhut Associate Director of the VIRTUS Programs We recently presented at a conference in Florida on the topics of pornography and sexual trafficking. Prior to the presentation, one of the participants informed us that the presentation would be much more effective with video excerpts of the subject content—to "spice things up." We certainly are not going to provide those types of photos/videos for you, but we will provide a snapshot of the reality of the sex trafficking of minors in the United States that has been provided to us by experts in the field. Below are some facts, figures and a video link to illustrate why the subject of sexual trafficking of minors is important for us here within the VIRTUS® Programs, and why we are incorporating the subject into our ongoing training content.
You might actually know this girl or someone like her. Lacy is not a stranger—she could be a student in your parish or school. She could be a youth that you could help if you can identify some of the warning signs and were equipped to communicate your concerns. Girls like Lacy need you to step up and be heroes, to protect them from harm and abuse happening right here in our communities. You can see that this is a grave matter that directly affects us in our roles as protectors of children and youth from sexual abuse. One of the first action items we can do to prevent the sexual trafficking of children is to inform ourselves more about the problem and dispel our own myths about this horrifying reality. Another goal we can achieve is to make sure that we are not glorifying the problem or exacerbating it. Over time, the VIRTUS Programs will be providing more information about those warning signs and what you can do. Thank you for being a part of the solution.
Endnotes: 1. National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. In Domestic Minor Sex Trafficking online publication. Retrieved from the internet on October 15, 2013: http://www.missingkids.com/Testimony/09-15-10 2. U.S. Department of Justice. The National Strategy for Child Exploitation Prevention and Interdiction: A Report to Congress. Retrieved from the internet on June 10, 2014: http://www.justice.gov/psc/docs/natstrategyreport.pdf 3. Federal Bureau of Investigation. Human Sex Trafficking. Retrieved from the internet on June 10, 2014: http://www.fbi.gov/stats-services/publications/law-enforcement-bulletin/march_2011/human_sex_trafficking 4. Detective Bill Woolf, Investigator on the Northern Virginia Human Trafficking Task Force and Consultant to the VIRTUS Programs. Interview conducted in Washington, D.C., on March 11, 2014. 5. Shared Hope International. Do you know Lacy? Online Video. Retrieved from the Internet on June 9, 2014: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kkq7PNes7dY
|
Copyright © 1999 - 2024 by National Catholic Services, LLC. All rights reserved.