This article submitted by KARA writer Sam Foerderer
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Black girls are at a particularly high-risk for child sex abuse. In Louisiana, Black girls are 49% of trafficking victims even though they only make up for 19% of Louisiana’s youth population. According to the FBI, 57.5% of all juvenile prostitution arrests are Black children.
Black girls are more likely to experience sexual and physical abuse than their racial counterparts. Children living with homeless parents are many times more likely to be sexually abused. Domestic violence and poverty are the primary reasons for homelessness.
A higher percentage of Black and American Indian children end up in foster care – this is a huge perpetuator of child abuse. 86% of likely sex trafficking child victims were in the care of social services when they went missing.
Black girls are also more likely to run away from foster care than their racial counterparts.
Homelessness is one of the main causes of trafficking. Although Black people only represent 13% of the United State’s population, they represent at least 33% of individuals forced into sex work.
Child trafficking most dramatically affects marginalized communities that face systemic financial and social obstacles. As a result of the history of racism and discrimination in the United States, children of color are at a particularly high risk of becoming victims of trafficking.
Systemic racism greatly increases disadvantages that put children at risk such as lack of employment, education, healthcare, child welfare, and food and water security.
Systemic racism contributes to the high trafficking rates largely through the justice system. Traffickers openly admit that if caught trafficking Black women they will likely face less jail time than if they are caught trafficking White women. Police are much more likely to interact with Black women and children violently and to mistreat them due to external and internalized racism.
“Missing white woman/girl syndrome” remains a huge problem when it comes to Black girls being trafficked. This syndrome states that the media tends to ignore missing Black and Indigenous women, instead treating it like it’s commonplace and expected. However, when a White woman goes missing, the media tends to focus on it, creating resources and often causing a national uproar (re. Gabby Petito in 2021) that is never amassed for missing BIPOC women.
It’s hard to change the behavior patterns of children sexually abused in their birth homes. The trauma child sex abuse causes rewires the brain and lasts forever without the right kind of help. The psychotropic medications being used on children in foster care (about a third of foster youth are forced to take them) don’t help much.
More KARA child sex abuse reporting and statistics
Sources
https://www.fight4freedom.ca/blog/trafficking-in-bipoc-communities
https://polarisproject.org/blog/2020/07/racial-disparities-covid-19-and-human-trafficking/
https://www.cbcfinc.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/SexTraffickingReport3.pdf
https://www.npr.org/2021/09/24/1040048967/missing-black-women-girls-left-out-media-ignored
What states have the most child trafficking?
California consistently has the highest human trafficking rates in the United States, with 1,507 cases reported in 2019.
…
States with the Highest Human Trafficking Numbers
- Delaware (3.84 per 100k)
- California (3.80 per 100k)
- Missouri (3.78 per 100k)
- Michigan (3.64 per 100k)
- Texas (3.63 per 100k
African American Human Trafficking Numbers Will Astound You.
– 62% of human trafficking suspects are African Americans
– 52% of all juvenile prostitution arrests are African Americans
– 40% of victims of human trafficking are African Americans
– Human trafficking victims are typically poor and have a history of exploitation, substance or sexual abuse, learning disabilities and inadequate support systems.
– Some argue that the demand for African Americans for sexual exploitation is higher than that of other races and the penalties associated with trafficking African Americans are less severe.
– Ohio received a “C” grade on the National Human Trafficking Report Card
Estimates suggest that each year at least 100,000 U.S.-born children become victims of sex trafficking. From 2000-2010, service providers in the NYC metropolitan area reported working with nearly 12,000 human trafficking survivors, many of whom were children.
#trafficking #childabuse #childsexabus #childwellbeing #kara #kidsatrisk