To give girls in the sex industry “a future not a past”– this is the mission of many organizations around Atlanta fighting child prostitution. Yesterday, I took 4 students and one dad to Candler Park to take part in this 5k. Although they were happily the loudest and some of the slowest on the course, it is clear we are building momentum for this cause.
Did you know that 7200 men purchase sex from adolescents in Georgia every month? Did you know that 42% of this happens north of the Perimeter? These are stats I learned yesterday; they are certainly staggering. So how DO you stop demand? This report from the Barton Law and Public Policy Clinic has some good information about the penalties men who take part in this industry face. Part of stopping demand is increasing enforcement of the law.
But this type of behavior must start somewhere. What causes men to buy prostitutes? How do we teach our men and boys to respect women as people and not a conquest? How do we fight the desire for men to dominate women and use them as sexual objects?
Check out this (graphic) TEDIndia talk on sexual exploitation in India.
Moxie 
Wow, Moxie. Thank you for your post and for your steps…
Exciting to see more and more become aware of this horrific epidemic and take steps to TEACH and change mindsets. I’d love to step with you in the future…
Wow, that is astoundingly sad. I grieve for the girls as well as the sickness of the perpetrators, truly brokenness (false intimacy) . What was the response of your students and parent?
Way to go, Moxie! I’m impressed by your ability to get your students connected with what’s happening in their own city.
I too love that this incident is not being ignored…..wondering if your conversation with them provoked any different way of thinking about the n word. giving them a chance to process and give you some feed back about their feelings about the ‘label’.
kudos to the parents who taught their children not to use it…reminds me a little of middle school boys saying ‘that’s so gay’
Really it is a different generation and they may not have the same understanding of the n word as generations who were more impacted by racial prejudice.