Saw an ignorant tweet about trafficked children and I want to correct the notion without amplifying the nonsense.
1. There is no such thing as child prostitution. It's not a thing. There are children whose sexual abuse has been monetized. Period.
1. There is no such thing as child prostitution. It's not a thing. There are children whose sexual abuse has been monetized. Period.
2. Not all trafficked children are "throwaway children." We have had a handful of survivors of trafficking come through our workshop. They were, to a person, children from 'intact' families with whom they lived.
3. There are no communities inherently immune from this. None. Zero.
4. If you have a stereotypical image of a pimp in your head, lose it. Many of the monsters who sell children for a living wear a mask of respectability. It's why they're effective.
5. Every single survivor of trafficking who has come through our workshops was a survivor of child sexual abuse BEFORE she was ever trafficked.
6. Every single survivor who came through our workshops was trafficked by her family. Every single survivor's family was part of a conservative religious community- communities that had some element of purity culture at their core.
7. Purity culture begets sexual trauma because it attaches shame to normal sexual activity, and shame is a magnet for further trauma. Shame begets trauma begets shame begets trauma.
8. If you are going to tweet about something as deep and painful and important as the trafficking of human beings please take the time to educate yourself. #SayItSurvivor
