The Demand-Side Economics of Child Sex Trafficking: A New Approach
This past October, a Dallas-area man sentenced to in federal prison for trafficking children for sex. The case offered a rare glimpse into a dark underworld most Americans don’t realize exists, right in their own backyards.
Because of the hidden nature of this crime, many Americans don’t realize that sex trafficking is not just an international problem. Every day, hundreds of thousands of people are being sold for sex against their will right here in the U.S. Eighty percent of them are Americans, and most of them are children.
Stories like this in the alternative media are becoming more and more commonplace and if viewed from within an economic rubric, it becomes more troubling. Not because of the sheer volume of both money and the lives of children, but because of one of the fundamental concepts of economics... the Law of Supply and Demand. The reason there's any supply at all, is because of demand and that's the sickest part of this story and others like it. If there was no demand, supply would dry up. However, an entire industry has sprung up around this sickness and the US Government has become the largest supplier. The Mondale Act of 1973 and the Safe Families Act of 1997, instead of keeping children safe from abuse has benefitted sex traffickers.
Another method used by traffickers is social media, although the two often go together. After CPS removes children and puts them in foster care they understandably become depressed, looking for support and validation wherever they can find it... often on social media where an army of traffickers await.
The 2017 Federal Human Trafficking Report found that of the 661 active sex trafficking cases last year, 65.8 percent involved child victims. And there are potentially hundreds of thousands of victims beyond that number who have not yet been found.
Some of these children are young teens, lured into capture by older men or women who have befriended them on social media. Some of them are children as young as 3 or 4 who have been kidnapped, or sold into the industry by a relative or guardian.
These problems have prompted Kevin Malone, a former executive with the Los Angeles Dodgers to do something. He's started the "U.S. Institute Against Human Trafficking. This organization "...work[s] with victims, rescuers, policymakers, community leaders and faith groups, we have learned that while attacking the problem from the supply side is important, there is only one sure way to stop human trafficking in America: We have to end demand." Finally somebody gets it... without demand, supply dries up! For years we've gone after the pimps, pornographers and suppliers, which in and of itself is important, but does little to actually solve the problem. Until we end demand, someone will inevitably step up to fill the supply.
Rescuing victims and arresting those who are selling them is noble work, but it’s reactive, and a full step behind the predators. Moreover, it doesn’t address the real problem.
A 1 in 5 men in the U.S. today have bought sex at least once. These are seemingly ordinary men — they could be your neighbors, your co-workers, your children’s friends’ fathers. American men are purchasing sex in greater numbers than people from any other nation in the world.
Until we decrease the number of people willing to pay for sex in this country, every rescued victim will just be replaced by another.
I think it's important here to separate sex between consenting adults from paying for sex with children... one is a natural predilection, the other a moral sickness akin to cancer. If I have any exception to Mr. Malone it's because he fails to separate the two. He is correct about our living in a "hypersexualized" society, a condition bordering on moral degeneracy... this atmosphere has grown to include all sorts of perversions (just look at the "Trans" movement) and now pedophiles are clamoring for acceptance.
The uncomfortable truth is that our hypersexualized society has created an environment where paying for sex is considered acceptable, even if illegal. Child pornography is also illegal, and yet, disturbingly, it is the fastest growing online business today, with estimated annual revenue of over $3 billion in the U.S. alone. And almost half of child pornography websites in existence worldwide are U.S.-based sites.
Moreover, the US is also the largest consumer of child pornography as well as pornography in general. In fact, pornography generates more revenue per year than all professional sports combined. This shows the size and scope of the demand-side of this problem. " As long as the demand for sex buying exists, traffickers will fill the supply with victims — even if it means using coercion. The average annual profit generated by a woman in forced sexual servitude is $100,000. That’s an enticing number for a criminal looking to make easy money."
The cycle will not end unless we end demand. This can be achieved at the policy level by legislation that focuses on the sex buyers rather than those being sold. Studies have shown that men arrested for buying sex are less likely to buy sex again in the future. This has prompted Malone and his organization to implement their "flagship program," Trafficking Free Zones where they work in collaboration with "community leadership, law enforcement, businesses, schools, medical facilities and community-based organizations."
Given the abject failures of addressing the problem from the supply-side, this may prove more successful. One thing we can say, after taking into consideration the amount of income generated by the sex industry, is that what we're doing now isn't... the problem is growing bigger day by day and it's our children that are paying the price- some paying the ultimate price after being trafficked for ritual abuse. We, as a society, can no longer stand on the sidelines and hope this will just go away. Nor can we ignore this any longer- taking a "as long as it doesn't affect me personally, it doesn't exist attitude. I say kudos to Mr. Malone and his organization, we need more like them.
We see a lot of repulsive things in the process of researching and even supporting our community members. By far the child sex crime - which should include subjecting them to indecent, sexualized freak shows - is the most disturbing act, perpetrated by the most vile form of humans. This unfortunately makes it difficult to view much of this content, with any consistency.
One of the important factors we have to consider is many of the victims are being shipped in and out of the US. There are said to be hubs of this trafficking in the countries of some of the US's so-called greatest allies.
Much of Europe is also plagued with this problem. Substantial and frequent cases are suppressed by the MSM and most of the established goverment. Those people, and anyone else hiding these horrors from the public are our enemies. One would hope that the USA can look at this as an international issue, the pain shared by our true friends throughout the West and beyond. There is much work to be done.
Europe is a cesspool, particularly the UK, Holland and Belgium. Asia isn't much better. As long as there's a dollar to be made these demons will continue to prey on our children and it's getting bigger with the whole trans/homosexual lobby pressing to normalize perversion!
That is true ... friend ... you are right.
As long as the leaders of countries and industries not only profit from this, but often are the customers as well this will always be covered up, with random whistle blowers crucified for sharing.
That's why it's crucial that as many of us as possible keep exposing them!
You hit the nail, I have a publication written halfway, that I have not yet published, in which I try to explain precisely the same from a macroeconomic perspective. The problems of our current society can be reduced and simplified, in the current absence of morality.
The love of money is indeed at the root of all evil! I look forward to reading it.
Excellent point that is avoided by our "leaders". As we have discussed in the past, who are the coyotes selling the kids to? Who's at the end of the supply chain? Who is "ordering" these kids? We must tackle this problem from all angles at the same time. Otherwise nothing will change.
Exactly!
Sad to read the article and know the severity of the problem. Yes money is at the root of it. But so is the morality of those doing it as the bar has sunken to all time lows. Thanks @richq11
I believe the two are related. Money is a big part of what is driving the bar lower! Thanks my friend!
It's the same with anything...if no-one wanted drugs, there wouldn't be a drug problem. All these problems we see in society are reflections of the true nature of our society. Evil.