Innocence Lost
Innocence Lost
Sexual trafficking is becoming more prominent in the sphere of common knowledge than it has ever been before, however, it does not even begin to touch the surface of the realities that accompany it. It is estimated that 1.2 million children and young people are exploited from global sex trade each year. Their childhoods have been ripped from them for the sake of twisted pleasure and will never be recovered.
It is her story that has influenced my work.
I was first made aware of the truth about sexual trafficking by a young girl I had met through my mother she had been sold as part of the trade and only recently made her escape, she is now 17 years old and her story is only one of many. She has given me permission to share her ordeal, but for her sake I will omit her name and instead refer to her as Maria.
Maria is originally from Mexico, her family is very poor and she has five younger brothers and sisters. Being the oldest she was forced to start working to help increase their household income. She didn’t mind the work, she wanted to help her family as best she could, and began to work by going to the fields and gathering vegetables for a local farmer. She was 11 years old.
Needless to say this job did not pay very well at all, and so one day when a well dressed stranger showed up in their village offering jobs for the young unmarried girls, they were leaping at the opportunity. He said that he would give the family advance pay for their daughters and not to worry if they didn’t hear from their children for a while because their employers may not permit them to contact. The families naively believed and so for $200 their daughters were unknowingly sold into slavery of the worst kind.
Though her life hadn’t been easy to begin with she had now entered into hell. She began to describe the events that took place afterwards, the hope that all the girls had, that they were helping their families to survive and would start a wonderful new life. The
Sexual trafficking is becoming more prominent in the sphere of common knowledge than it has ever been before, however, it does not even begin to touch the surface of the realities that accompany it. It is estimated that 1.2 million children and young people are exploited from global sex trade each year. Their childhoods have been ripped from them for the sake of twisted pleasure and will never be recovered.
It is her story that has influenced my work.
I was first made aware of the truth about sexual trafficking by a young girl I had met through my mother she had been sold as part of the trade and only recently made her escape, she is now 17 years old and her story is only one of many. She has given me permission to share her ordeal, but for her sake I will omit her name and instead refer to her as Maria.
Maria is originally from Mexico, her family is very poor and she has five younger brothers and sisters. Being the oldest she was forced to start working to help increase their household income. She didn’t mind the work, she wanted to help her family as best she could, and began to work by going to the fields and gathering vegetables for a local farmer. She was 11 years old.
Needless to say this job did not pay very well at all, and so one day when a well dressed stranger showed up in their village offering jobs for the young unmarried girls, they were leaping at the opportunity. He said that he would give the family advance pay for their daughters and not to worry if they didn’t hear from their children for a while because their employers may not permit them to contact. The families naively believed and so for $200 their daughters were unknowingly sold into slavery of the worst kind.
Though her life hadn’t been easy to begin with she had now entered into hell. She began to describe the events that took place afterwards, the hope that all the girls had, that they were helping their families to survive and would start a wonderful new life. The
Bibliography: Findlen, B. (2001). Listen Up: Voices from the Next Feminist Generation. New York: Seal Press. Goolsby, C. M. (2009, June 29). The (ongoing) San Diego, California. Retrieved November 27, 2010, from LibertadLatina: http://www.libertadlatina.org/LatAm_US_San_Diego_Crisis_Index.htm hooks, b. (2000). Feminism is for Everybody. Boston: South End Press. Rescue Projects. (2010). Retrieved November 27, 2010, from dreamcenter: http://www.dreamcenter.org/new/images/outreach/RescueProject/stats.pdf Stop Sex Trafficking of Children and Young People. (2010). Retrieved November 27, 2010, from The Body Shop: http://petition.thebodyshop-usa.com/sign-petition.php