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Claudine O'Leary
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Claudine commented on the article |I'm a person who actually works with children who are trafficked so I do know what I'm talking about. Young people want options; they don't want to be caught up in law enforcement-defined solutions.
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Claudine commented on the article |Oh, wait - it was Fox News who used their names, not the Chronicle.
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Claudine commented on the article |
I'm surprised the Houston Chronicle decided to name the perpetrators, thereby identifying the 14 year old - a sexual assault victim. Perhaps she has a different last name but now everyone who knows this young person - knows what happened. And the 14 year old is robbed of her right to confidentiality and certainly will be impacted because of the disclosure.
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Claudine commented on the article |
I'm opposed to whole philosophy that views teens being pimped out or otherwise in the sex trade as kittens to be rescued instead of actually listening to what youth have said they want and don't want.
Youth find raids terrifying and they are interrogated by law enforcement who accuse of them lying at every turn (I know this many direct experiences of supporting youth afterward).
Police arrest scores of young adult women who have the misfortune of being over the age of 18 and thus subject to local prostitution charges (and this is covered up with reports that hundreds are arrested in these raids, as if all adults are being arrested for pimping out children when in fact, the vast majority are simply over the age of 18 and being charged with selling sex).
So I'm unimpressed. I've worked in different ways for over 19 years to support youth in the sex trade. If you offer real, nonjudgmental opportunities for youth they will come to you on their own. I have teens coming to me all the time.
Youth workers across the country are struggling with the ways that these raids are hurting our connections with youth (both minors and young adults) We don't need "rescues"; we do need more resources.
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Claudine commented on the article |
The idea that all youth located by law enforcement need the kind of rehabilitation that you're referring to is a big assumption to make. Certainly all of us youth workers could use more safe housing options for youth who've been pimped out or involved in the sex trade in other ways (and we see many, many boys and trans youth who are in need too).
But very few are interested in a facility environment like the ones offered by COTN and the like. Plus it can be dangerous for youth from other cities to go to those places because when they run from there (which happens more than people realize), they're in an unknown environment.
Additionally, many minor youth leaving pimps (including those located in raids) stay for a while in runaway and homeless youth shelters that prioritize family reunification as a federally defined standard of success. True enough, some of the same issues that led to leaving home may still exist but sometimes youth want to be home.
Fact is we need more local options that fit the range of needs of youth including those who've been pimped out by family members or outside exploiters, having sex for survival, dancing for cash at parties to make the money you can't get from your foster care group home, and many more ways.
/Of course, I'm completely opposed to the whole "raid and rescue operations" philosophy and practice so I'm not surprised about the resulting lack of services for youth.
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Claudine commented on the article |CNN is reporting that they found Shaniya and she has been murdered. http://www.cnn.com/2009/CRIME/11/16/north.carolina.missing.girl/
Too sad to say anything else right now. -
Claudine commented on the article |The one thing I always say to teens when I do educational groups at high schools or youth programs is stop putting down girls as hoes, hookers, whores, bustdowns, flippers, jumpoffs, __________ (insert current teen slang for putting down girls for having sex/having "too much" sex/having too many sexual partners/having sex for money here).
I find it deeply ironic when someone thinks they care about trafficking but is quick to disparage a girl's sexual reputation in their own school.
Many of the girls I know who have been pimped, trafficked or had sex for money or survival got a reputation as a "ho" in school or on the neighborhood way before they ever did it. And it's really difficult for youth to effectively exit and get re-connected in school or the community if other youth are going to be so mean.
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Claudine commented on the article |Oh and more specifically Scott, some of the reasons youth can't handle those terms are
(1) it's a label that means you'll be forced into contact with law enforcement, restrictive environments like shelters and detention centers, meetings with a million social workers who will analyze and label you even more,
(2) it still sounds like a label that will be difficult to get off your file that social workers keep on you, and
(3) it doesn't feel like it reflects the complexity of youth lives while they are trafficked, exploited, involved.
I think a term should resonate with the people it's supposed to define. And right now, teens are rarely hearing terms from adults that feel meaningful or helpful to them.
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Claudine commented on the article |
Scott - The term survival sex, as I used it, actually comes from homeless youth street outreach workers. It started there because teens didn't relate to the word prostitution.
When I say "can't handle the term" I mean talk to any youth worker who works with teens involved in the sex trade: being trafficked, exotic dancing, survival sex, sex for gifts, whatever and they will tell you that youth do not like the terms: "sex slave," "modern day slave," "trafficking victim," "prostitute," "commercially sexually exploited youth," or any number of terms that adults have come up with.
So what happens often is you have one way that adults talk about it and another way that teens talk about it. And as a youth worker, I'm a bridge between those two worlds. I'm aware why adults use the terms they do but I believe passionately we need to listen to youth and find terms we can agree on.
Anemone - Part of it may be wanting distance from a term that says victim. But it's also about wanting distance from a term that reduces youth to nothing but a victim. That somehow they are lying if their story doesn't match a certain pre-determined narrative.
Ironic since I know many teens who try to get the attention of law enforcement after being victimized and are called liars repeatedly.
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Claudine commented on the article |
I hear you about imperfect terminology and the challenge it presents. I don't like either term (human trafficking or modern slavery) for myriad reasons.
My top reason though is I work with teens who are involved in survival sex, sex for gifts, street level prostitution, and many other areas of the commericial sex trade. Over 18 years and thousands of youth later and I've only run into a handful who could handle the term "modern-day slave" or "trafficking victim". So I can't picture using a term that doesn't resonate with the very people it claims to represent.
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