Dear Editor,
Currently, any person who is convicted of pimping or procuring a minor under the age of 16 for prostitution may be ordered a fine by the court of $5,000. AB 12 (Abolition of Child Commerce, Exploitation, and Sexual Slavery Act of 2011) hopes to increase the $5,000 fine to $25,000.
Under our current legislation, a person convicted of stealing less than $2500 is fined three times more than someone who is sexually exploiting children. Is that fair? Is a $5,000 fine enough to be a punishment for child traffickers? Over 300,000 children in the United States are at risk of being forced into prostitution. Children as young as preschool age are being sold as sex slaves in the United States. Child sexual exploitation is organized crime and a business. Can the fine of an adult driving under the influence (DUI) compare to an innocent child being forced into prostitution? It is shocking that a DUI fine is actually more than the fine for human traffickers.
As Social Workers we often work with and counsel victims of human trafficking who explain to us in detail the unimaginable events of what they have been through. The events that they experience would leave any person scarred for life. These victims experience not only emotional and physical scarring, but can also be exposed to many health risks including a host of incurable sexually transmitted infections and possible drug exposure.
Would $5,000 be just enough to rebuild their life? Think of them as your own child. In the United States, where children are supposed to be valued and protected, sexually exploiting our children should have a much greater fine than $5,000 … don’t you think?
Social Work students and practitioners recently lobbied in Sacramento on April 10-11, 2011 to increase the human trafficking fine to $25,000.
Support our children! Support AB 12!
Irene De Alba, Danielle Estrada, Jessica Fetner, Valerie Lee, Esmeralda Murillo, Brianna Velasquez are graduate social work students.
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