FBI Rescues Child Prostitutes - But What Happens After Age 18?

I read this story  yesterday - FBI, Police Rescue Child Prostitutes Around US - with mixed feelings.

The FBI has rescued 48 suspected teenage prostitutes, some as young as 13 years old, in a nationwide sweep to remove kids from the illegal sex trade and punish their accused pimps.

On one hand, I am truly happy that these teenagers have been rescued from the sex industry, which is a world where there are many more female victims than victories. But, I find it frustrating that once a girl reaches 18, the FBI is not so kind to her existence as a prostitute. After her 18th birthday, the criminals are not usually the pimps or the patrons, but the women themselves. Any woman who is over 18 and caught working as a prostitute are led into a cycle of incarceration without a real means to rehabilitate a broken world that is often filled with violence, drugs and psychological abuse. Interestingly, if you are a U.S. citizen who is above 18 and  you are a prostitute and arrested you will be considered a criminal, whereas an international human trafficked person is considered a victim. The distinction in the law frustrates me because in my mind, it perpetuates a cycle of punishment for the U.S. prostitutes without rehabilitation. While I obviously don't think it is a bad thing to rescue victims of international human trafficking - I think we need to offer the same opportunities to U.S. citizens who happen to fall into the world of prostitution. Because for a majority of them, it is not a choice, but the result of a difficult life experience.

From what I've researched, it appears that there is a serious lack of commitment from federal and local law enforcement when it comes to changing the difficult reality for many prostitutes in America. Unfortunately, the limited Human Trafficking division within the Civil Rights section of the FBI is typically no match for the complicated, deceitful and manipulative prostitute rings in the United States, which are often run in tandem with the drugs and arms trade. In addition to a lack of resources on a federal level, at the local level most of the law enforcement officers are not trained on how to detect someone who is trafficking or being forced to prostitute. Another thing that stymies law enforcement is the fact that a majority of the prostitutes and trafficked victims are terrified of testifying in court against their pimps or traffickers because they know something can happen to their family or they will be beaten to death.

While there are vocal sex workers out there who will dispute the victimization of prostitutes, I consider those advocates to be privileged in the fact that they can choose to participate as a means of sexual expression, freedom and exploration. In my mind, these are not the same women who are being illegally abused and mistreated by pimps around the United States without a real choice to leave their situation.

As the FBI becomes more involved in rescuing children caught up in the business, I would also hope that the federal agency looks out for the adult prostitutes who probably entered the industry at a young age, but were not rescued soon enough. We need to be arresting more pimps and patrons of the business and stop punishing women who are forced into prostitution. Just because a woman is 18 doesn't mean that being a prostitute was her choice. As Erica Barnett wrote at Shakesville earlier today, "To suggest that a teenage prostitute, once she turns 18, crosses an invisible threshold from victim to victimizer ignores the circumstances that cause young women to "take up" prostitution in the first place."