When people think of human trafficking everyone seems to think of a cargo container full of Chinese immigrants hiding from US customs agents. This is a stereotype that we have to break. Yes people do get smuggled into the US from Asia. But the real problem is young girls who are recruited into the sex trade right here in our own communities.
Television shows about human trafficking seem to keep this stereotype alive. Hawaii Five-O, the new series on CBS Television, started the season with just such an episode. I would imagine smuggling Asians into Hawaii is probably more common than the mainland, but it keeps the incorrect image in the eye of the general public.
The more compelling issue on child sex trafficking can be found in this ABC News report on trafficking of minors in Portland.
http://abcnews.go.com/US/child-sex-trafficking-resources-victims/story?id=11700413
This report looks at young girls in the Portland sex trade, where many have been forced into lives of prostitution. They use the technique of romancing young girls to lure them into the sex trade
We have to change our thinking about these young people. They may be breaking the law and be participating in criminal behavior but in reality they are victims and we need to see them as such.
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