60% of child sex trafficking victims recovered through FBI raids across the U.S. in 2013, were from foster care or group homes….The average age of girls entering the sex trade is 12. The average age of children in prostitution, when recovered by police, is 14. -nfyi.org.
Human traffickers prey on the most vulnerable. Foster children are at greater risk of becoming victims. The most vulnerable: Have feelings of hopelessness and depression; children who have experienced trauma; runaways from foster care or group homes; young adults sent out of foster care at age 18; homeless youth, especially LGBTQ.-safy.org. 1/7/19.
It is estimated 300,000 children are involved in sex trafficking in the U.S.; which means up to 258,000 children have been failed by the system created to protect them. It is often housemates working for pimps who recruit children from foster homes, group homes, into prostitution….The typical trafficker/ pimp expects 10-15 “John’s” (clients) per night. A sex trafficked child is raped by 6,000 clients during the course of victimization through prostitution….”After 1-2 years of this horrific treatment, most children are too sick or injured to be of any use and are simply discarded onto the street. These children are more likely to be infected with AIDS, Syphilis, and Hepatitis B. Most children die within 7 years of their first sexual act. – Humantraffickingsearch.org.
Aside from the foster care system, children fall prey to sex traffickers at bus stops, shopping malls, street corners, social media, online chat rooms. Traffickers are expert at knowing the signs of the vulnerable. They can tell “you’re the kid who doesn’t have any family”, says Amy Andrews, who works with trafficking survivors. -reuters.com. 5/3/18.
“Kids in foster care, they don’t really have parents or a caring safe adult they can confide in,” says Kristina Fitz, a trafficking survivor….”They’re the quickest ones to fall into the hands of an exploiter.”…”kids learn that their body is not their own and if you tell, no one will believe you.” …This is the message the pimp teaches the victim. -reuters.com. 5/3/18.
Conclusion: A key way to minimize this danger is to place the children with their own relatives, says U.S. Rep. Karen Bass, a longtime campaigner for foster care reform. “Every youngster I’ve ever talked to who was trafficked says the same thing. Nobody came looking for me. Nobody cared.” / Done
So awful. These poor kids. This was a very informative article!
So sad for these children, god knows how many disappeared during the pandemic while the world was shut down. I wonder if the wayfair claims were true and they were apart of trafficking children.