I am not suprised by this sad to say. When I lived in British Columbia, I was the Country Director for Canada for the Canadian Domestic Program for Save the Children Canada. Most of my young staff were youth who were victims of the commercial sexual exploitation of children. I also sat on an international Save the Children Child Rights Committee. I attended the North American Summit with Canada, The US and Mexico to discuss the cross border trafficking issue of youth in North America. From there, I took a delegation of youth, my staff, to Yokohama, Japan to attend the World Syposium on the Commerical Sexual Exploitation of Children and Youth where 133 countries were in attendance. My staff presented a very high level paper they wrote called Exit Routes, which was written by experiential youth trying to help other youth exit the sex trade. The stories throughout the world are beyond shocking, I could be very detailed but not in this forum. In the United States, youth are sold within and outside of the country. They are raped and sodomized and beaten and threatened. They are pumped with drugs and alcohol and sometimes poison. They are cut off from families, friends and life as they ever knew it. Knowing about this issue is a begining, and I can tell you if you want to make a difference, start within your own extended families and friends and pay attention to the youth and teenagers-all of them. Because youth who seem strong and youth who are troubled are all equally vulnerable. Provide an open ear to a youth you may see in trouble on the streets, offer a cell phone so they can make a call home, buy them a meal and hear their story, offer to get them to a safe house or a police station. You will be amazed how close to home the issue can be sometimes.
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