Minor Sex Trafficking: How Well Michigan Protects Children
(CBS Detroit/PATCH) The fight to stop human-trafficking continues in Michigan. The state ranks sixth in the nation when it comes to the number of human trafficking cases reported.
Most U.S. states are showing improvement in efforts to protect minor children from sex trafficking, which especially affects those in foster care and runaways, according to a new report. Michigan received a "B" for its efforts to prevent sex trafficking and provide justice to victims
Shared Hope International said sex trafficking is a booming industry that thrives because of a serious demand for commercial sex with minors. "Every day in America, children are being bought and sold for sex," the non-profit, non-governmental organization wrote in its 2018 annual report. "And they are waiting for you to notice."
Commercial sex acts may include prostitution, pornography and sexual performance, whether from pimp-controlled trafficking, gang-controlled trafficking, familial trafficking for basic needs or drugs or "survival sex," when a minor becomes involved in commercial sex acts to meet basic needs such as food or shelter.
Children are most likely to fall into the net of sex trafficking between the ages of 14-16. Pimps most often find them on social media, but also in their homes or neighborhoods, clubs or bars, school, and the internet.
According to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, one in seven endangered runaways in 2017 were likely child sex trafficking victims, and 88 percent of those children were in the care of social services or foster care when they went missing.
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