June 2, 2017 ▸ True Crime

Episode 202: Sex Trafficking: It’s Worse Than You Think

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On this episode of the Sofa King Podcast, we look at the horrible truth about human sex trafficking. While many people envision this as something that only occurs in the third-world or in areas known for sex tourism, this is a major, first-world problem. The underground sex economy in Denver is said to be close to $40 million a year, and in Atlanta it is $290 million! While many of the victims of sex trafficking in the U.S. are foreign, there are plenty who are natives to the country.

So, how do people get pulled into the horrible life of sex trafficking? There are several ways that range from recruitment by a single pimp to organized crime, family involvement, and even “gorilla recruitment” that is done by force. The most common, however is that people will get to know children (the average age tends to be between 11-14) through social media. They slowly start a grooming stage where they con the child into trusting or even falling in love with them, and by then it’s too late. They are lured into the sex life to keep getting the approval of the new love of their life, or to keep getting drugs they are now addicted to, or even to simply stay alive!

One of the biggest areas for recruitment in the United States is the broken Foster Care system. In study after study, the majority of sexual slaves in the country were once foster children. The dependence upon other people controlling their lives and even the perception of the child as a means for foster parents to make a paycheck make them easy prey. Plus, with the overwhelmed social system, there aren’t enough social workers to meaningfully check in on the welfare of the children in the foster system.

From the promise and lure of exciting foreign adventures to kidnapping and threats of murder and drug addiction, many young girls and boys are enslaved as sex workers. Listen in to find out how they are typically recruited and where they are taken. Also, we talk about a few organizations that are there to help stop sex trafficking as well as simple phone App called TraffickCam that can help locate sex slaves and prosecute their pimps. Somehow, we even makes jokes in the middle of all this evil!

Article on Foster Care: http://medicalkidnap.com/2016/04/15/the-u-s-foster-care-system-modern-day-slavery-and-child-trafficking/

Sex Traffic Map: https://polarisproject.org/facts