Myspace Layouts at Pimp-My-Profile.com / Girly Bold
Myspace Layouts at Pimp-My-Profile.com / Girly Bold
RUNAWAYSAccording to the National Runaway Switchboard, every day, between 1.3 and 2.8 million runaway and homeless youth live on the streets of America. One out of every seven children will run away before the age of 18.
Seventy-five percent of runaways who remain at large for two or more weeks will become involved in theft, drugs, or pornography, while one out of every three teens on the street will be lured into prostitution within 48 hours of leaving home.
Teens leave home for a wide variety of reasons, including trouble in school, arguments with their family, problems that arise due to their sexual orientation, and the influence of predators.
Throwaways are defined as youth who have left home because their parents have abandoned them, asked them to leave, or subjected them to extreme levels of abuse or neglect. Many in this group may have spent time previously with relatives or had periods of residence in foster care.
When Your Teen Returns HomeBe happy that your child is back home. Many teens fear the initial meeting with their parents. Remain calm. Express relief and tell your child you love him/her and that together you will solve any problems.Make follow-up phone calls. Let all your contacts, including the police, know your child has returned home. Police may need to speak or meet with your child.Allow time to settle in. Your child may need a shower, a meal, clean clothes, or sleep.Get medical attention. Visit your family doctor to address any medical concerns.Talk with your teen. Discuss how you can work together to prevent him/her from leaving again. Acknowledge some problems take time and effort to solve. Be sure you resolve the problems safely and reasonably.Look for assistance and support. People and organizations in your community can help counsel your family. Asking for help is a sign of strength and shows you are taking the issue seriously. Visit your state's Family Help page for resources that can help and support your teen and your family.
325,000 children are reported as being sexually exploited in the United States annually. Of that figure, 121,911 ran away from home and 51,602 were thrown out of their homes by a parent or guardian.Among runaway and homeless youth, approximately 30% of shelter youth and 70% of street youth engaged in prostitution in order to meet their daily needs for food, shelter, drugs, etc.75% of children who are victims of commercial sexual exploitation are from middle-class backgrounds.40% of the girls who engaged in prostitution were sexually abused at home, as were 30% of the boys.
National Runaway Switchboard
1-800-621-4000
If you have any information, please call
1-800-843-5678 (1-800-THE-LOST).
..
According to a Barna study, of the 33 million teenagers in America today (the largest group of teens since World War II, according to the U.S. Census Bureau):
*83% believe that 'moral truth depends on the circumstances.*Only 6% believe that moral truth is absolute.*Only 9% of born-again teens believe in moral absolutes.*By the time they are adults, only 4% of this generation are expected to believe in the Bible-based Judeo-Christian principles upon which America was founded.
It's time to take a stand!
Tina's Story
I was 14 years old when I was forced into prostitution.
Like many teens at that age, finding my own identity and defying my parents were top on my list. So when a man came into my life and showered me with attention and listened to me when I complained about my parents, I did not think twice that he was ten years my senior. After all, he said I was mature for my age and told me I understood him better than anyone his own age. Little did I know, he was laying down the seeds of manipulation. It did not matter what my parents said, to me they did not understand me and
he was the only one that "got me". After six months, I
thought I loved him, at least that is what he told me,
so I did what I thought my heart was telling me and
ran away to be with him. We ended up in Cleveland,
Ohio. He told me we were going to meet the rest of the
family.
I had no idea the "family" meant myself and three other girls. After I was introduced to the "family," I was told what my role would be. I would go out to "work" that night and bring him back the money. How else would we build our dream home? He assured me he would always love me no matter what, but he needed to know how much I loved him by making sure I would do anything for him.
Later that evening, his friends came by the motel. At first, he told me to have sex with someone. I did not
want to so his friends raped me. Afterwards, he said "that wouldn't have happened if I would have just listened to him at first." I blamed myself instead of being angry at him for being raped. I was angry at myself for not listening to him in the first place. After that, he picked my clothes out, told me what to wear, what to say, how to walk, what to say to "Johns" and how much money I was to bring back to him. He then forced me to go out into the streets.
When I first went out into the streets, when I met my first John, I felt like this was something I did not
want to do. I walked around the streets back and forth for hours. Finally, I got into a car because we were always being watched and I knew I had to get into a car sooner or later. Our quota was $500 and I had only made $50 that night to give back to the pimp. As a result, he beat me in front of the other girls to make an example out of me and then he made me go back out until I had made the money. This is the same man that took me out to eat, listened to me when I wanted to complain about my parents, gave me words of advice. I was now seeing a side of him that I never saw before - a brutal side where he repeatedly hit me in front of the other girls to teach us all a lesson.
Not only was I shocked, I was scared. What would happen to me if I did try to leave and who would believe me if I told them what was going on? I worked from 6 until 10PM the next night without eating or sleeping. I came back with the $500, but in his mind I still had not learned my lesson. He sent me back outside until 5AM the next morning. After the second day, he finally bought me something to eat, but as a punishment to learn never to defy him again, he locked me in the closet. Since that night, I was locked in the closet on numerous occasions and had my finger broken which never set right. None of us were ever allowed to see a doctor so we endured our pain by
pushing it deep down inside and trying to forget it ever happened.
I can't count the number of times people have asked me "why didn't you just leave?" "Couldn't you escape?" To
that, I simply say "do you ask a child that is kidnapped why they didn't try to leave?" No, we automatically say they are a victim; it wasn't their fault. Now I know it was not my fault that a pimp manipulated a child. Under federal law, a child under 18 years who is commercially sexually abused is a victim of trafficking. However under local law a child is charged with child prostitution.
The pimps who are trafficking young women and girls on the street have a great marketing tool: the media. You can turn on the TV now and see pimps glamorized in TV shows, music videos, and movies. Young people use "pimp" in everyday conversation: "my ride is pimped out," "your clothes are pimping." They do not understand the reality behind the term.
Pimps prey on young women and girls by finding their weakness and then exploiting it. It is easier to manipulate children, and by the time children become adults, they are broken down and dependent on a pimp.
After the pimp gets into your mind, it's easy for him
to maintain control, much like a domestic abuser. From
then now on you have to call him "daddy" and he will punish you if he feels like you have stepped out of
line. You are required to bring him $500-$2,000 every
night. You are not a woman, you are always a "bitch"
or a "ho" and are reminded of that daily. You are part
of his "stable." If you do not want to follow the rules, then he may sell you at anytime to another pimp.
Polaris Project, a non-profit anti-trafficking organization in Washington, DC, reported that a pimp who had three young women and girls in his "stable" were each were bringing back $500 every day. Do the math -- the pimp was making about $24,000 a month or $642,000 a year tax free by selling sex with girls and young women he controlled and then keeping all the money.
In the dictionary, the definition of slavery is the "state of one bound in servitude." If someone sells you to someone else, is that not slavery? If someone forces you to do things against your will and you are not allowed to leave, is that not slavery? Then I ask you why, when pimps traffic young women and girls on the streets of America, isn't this a form of modern-day slavery?
What happened to me 15 years ago is still going on today. I now work as a Street Outreach Coordinator for Polaris Project, and I can see that it is not getting any better - it is only getting worse. We see girls and young women every night being forced onto the streets, beaten, and raped to make money for the pimps.
http://216.128.14.181/polarisproject