Wednesday, April 23, 2014

Misidentification of Victims



Stephanie Vu testified that at the tender age of 12, she became a victim of sex trafficking. She was lonely and met an older boy who bought her things and took her to clubs. After a few months, he demanded something in return. He demanded that she dance at a strip club, because he needed money. She began skipping school and dancing in strip clubs. She described how she was forced into prostitution and lost control of her life.
The police picked her up and realized that she was a reported missing child. She was returned home, but only to return to her trafficker. After Vu suffered much physical abuse, a probation officer sensed that she was a victim and got help for her. Two organizations enabled her to recover a normal life: Shared Hope International and Youth for Tomorrow. When Vu was 15, she was sent 3,000 miles from her home because there was no recovering institution closer.
“Appropriate protective shelter and services are critical for the protection and restoration of child sex trafficking victims, but they do not exist in most of the country,” Vu said. 
Stephanie’s case is not unusual. She said that she was one of the lucky ones. Other child sex trafficking victims are frequently misidentified as troubled youth: delinquents and runaways.
Vu said that misidentification is the main reason that trafficking victims are held as criminals and do not get access to services they need. “I was misidentified many times until, finally, a probation officer who knew about sex trafficking spotted the signs in me and got me the help I needed,” she said.
The 2014 omnibus spending bill signed into law last month included nearly $14.25 million for grants to help victims of trafficking and $67 million for missing and exploited children programs, according to Rep. Frank Wolf (R-Va.), chairman of the subcommittee. 
In her written testimony, Vu wrote of the customers who bought sex acts from her that they had “disregard for my young age.” McCain said that these customers should be called what they really are—“child abusers.”
Reference Article

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