children’s tears
Child Exploitation in the happiest place on earth
“It’s a hidden crime,” Mr. Carson says. “There’s no ‘track’ in Orange County, if there were you know how fast it would get shut down? It’ll take all of two minutes for the police to show up.”
The fictitious Hollywood versions of sex crimes divert from the true nature of the crime. Movies normally portray women in scantily clad apparel who stand at the corner or walking a street at 2 am, with bold makeup and hair, bent over to talk to the conveniently “lost driver” who asked for directions, and make big bucks for a few moments of their time. These women are portrayed as disgusting, lacking self-worth and serve as the scape-goat of judgement for society. In the narration, these people litter the streets of downtown urban ghettos, but never the affluent areas such as Irvine, CA. But it’s these very neighborhoods that harbor a dark, almost invisible secret: the selling and abuse of children and young women that occur by men of all backgrounds. The last place we would expect it to happen is here in Irvine, not to mention the amount of sexual exploitation of not grown adults, but children.
A person all too familiar with this distorted perception of what a “prostitute” is Jim Carson, the project manager of the Orangewood Foundation. In an interview, he narrated a conversation that took place over dinner with his friend Bryan, Bryan’s wife, and Oree—a victim of sex trafficking. While on the topic, Bryan asked Mr. Carson, “It doesn’t happen in South County, right?” Without missing a beat Mr. Carson asked him to open his computer and pull up the adult side of Craigslist—which has since been shut down—that showed a girl’s ad available in real time for either a body rub or escort— an escort being a date with presumed sexual intercourse, and a body rub being a massage with sexual intercourse. After finding the ad for an escort, the two called the number provided to prove how predominant the issue was. After about two rings, a female voice answers, and the pair asked for an outcall service. This is when the caller will drive to the girl’s location for the service. Concluding a short conversation, the girl texted him the address five minutes later. Bryan quickly googled it and found the meeting point was a mere 4.1 miles away from his house at the Irvine Suite – an area Mr. Carson has rescued many girls from.
“Who comes to date in Irvine?” Mr. Carson asked Bryan. “It’s here, and people are using it.”
According to Mr. Carson, just because you don’t see girls on the “track” doesn’t mean this issue does not exist. In the rapidly growing cyber market, sexual exploitation is harder to detect. He explains it doesn’t take a lot for someone to easily become a victim, especially children in the foster system that are already abused. Because of the close proximity and lack of awareness among communities sex trafficking becomes an “invisible crime.”
But of course, while movies portray those on the “corner” as fully grown women capable of making their own choices, no one sees the children coerced into this life. Unbeknownst to most, foster youth are at a huge risk of falling into the trap of sexual exploitation due to their lack of family support, instable childhood, previous abuse. Because this is magnified by the fear of homelessness after the age of 18, many of the victims fall for the fake and glamorized life of exploitation fed to them by their pimps. It is the gap between fantasy and reality that worries Mr. Carson.
A prior foster youth and survivor who details her hardships is 21-year-old Oree, who works closely with Jim Carson and the Lighthouse Foundation to bring awareness to the community and state about sex trafficking. Today, Oree talks to a variety of audiences, from firefighters to government officials highlighting issues and explaining the best measures to take towards exploited children.
From being trafficked from 11 to 15 years old, Oree understands the ins and outs of “the life” too well. Approaching 22 in a few months, Oree remembers all too well the time she was abused and used as a source of income at her own expense.
When she first got recruited into “the life”, she explained, “He was telling me what the quota is.” For five years, day in and day out across the street from Disneyland, Oree slept when the sun was up, and woke up at 10 pm to begin her day. She walked for hours, along numerous streets, was approached by numerous men of all professions—business men, fathers, ministers, officers to name a few—and was expected to make “x” amount of money if she wanted to sleep, eat, or avoid a beating. “Survival sex,” was what she named it, and for years of living in survival mode, her trust for people began to disappear. Her pimp was her only form of comfort and like many girls who want to leave, she had no one to run to.
Oree explained on an occasion when she had the opportunity to run, “I was running for the first two blocks in high heels, then I was trotting, then jogging, and finally I walked, and then I realized ‘where am I running to?’” before returning to the same man she so desperately thought she could get away from.
“The system wants to lock you up, and people look at you with f***ing disgust. Why would I want to go to that?” Oree says. Children in this cycle of shame, hurt, and abuse look at the world with a skeptical eye, and, “even though, majority want help they don’t think they can get it.”
Most children are not lucky enough to have someone who cares, and willing to work with them. “Social workers don’t care, police officers are untrustworthy, and everyone hates you.” Oree explains.
While Oree took the steps to gain agency over her life, there are many children and young adults at this moment who are unable to leave their abusers for multiple of reasons. Oree’s case was a perfect mix her determination to leave paired with Mr. Carson’s help that allowed her to make the transition from “the life” to recovery.
She went on and explained the children who get stuck in this life are so warped into thinking that it is their only way to happiness they can never picture leaving. And any child is susceptible to being a target.
While most children targeted and coerced into this life come from poor socioeconomic background, Oree explains that she has talked to numerous girls, from every background imaginable. “People tell me they only see minorities, or they don’t expect people of affluent background to be involved, and they are wrong.”
Pimps come in all forms and that is why you get girls from all different geographic locations. Oree ran through a quick run-down. The “Romeo” pimp plays the knight in shining armor role, the “Gorilla Pimp” uses brute force, “gangs” buy and sell girls, and the “CEO Pimp” falsely promises fortune through business connections—all contribute to the ongoing problem of this seemingly invisible crime.
For many young women exploitation, sexual, physical, and emotional abuse builds a dependent relationship with their “pimp” which makes it harder for people like Mr. Carson to intervene. He explains, children who have been belittled and beat down in their life, are easier to coerce with false stories of riches and glamor. While the public degrades the women for their choice, understanding what life is in their shoes paints an empathic picture as to why they begin and why they can’t leave.
A new wave of engaging in conversation regarding child exploitation has been changing public view. In the past 5-10 years, the epidemic was commonly misunderstood because in the children involved were classified as criminals. Even while underage, they were branded as criminals with the stamp of “prostitution” plastered across their RAP sheet. As per Mr. Carson, since a legally binding contract cannot be made between a child and his/her “pimp” officials have begun to stray away from labeling these individuals from criminals to victims. Ongoing research and education about the hidden crime has also began to thaw the stringent ideas surrounding it. With seminars and education provided by those previously involved in the lifestyle, people around the world view this crime as a modern form of slavery.
Legally in our nation, there are big changes happening in the last few years to combat children sex trafficking such as Prop 35 which increases prison terms for pimps, and making offenders register as sex offenders. “It increases prison terms for human traffickers, requires convicted sex traffickers to register as sex offenders, mandates law enforcement training on human trafficking, requires all registered sex offenders to disclose their internet accounts” (Ballotpedia). These main changes show that there have been big changes in human trafficking. Mostly with the training on human trafficking, there is a bugger emphasis on victim centered approach; this makes it so those trafficked are looked at as victims rather than criminals. Furthermore, implementation the prop has allows the courts to have more control over regulation and assigning legal labels to those trafficking individuals.
“We have come a long way.” With legislature changing, and the Orees of the world providing us education, people will slowly understand what sex trafficking is really like, Mr. Carson beamed a smile at me.