Human Goods

Looks like the FBI is really doing something about child prostitution. In a dramatic sweep across 16 U.S. cities, the Bureau, in partnership with the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, rescued 21 children from prostitution rings and arrested 389 perpetrators.

Susan Saulny of The New York Times reported,

The sweep was part of an annual roundup to draw attention to the issue. It marked the fifth anniversary of the Innocence Lost National Initiative, which was undertaken by the F.B.I. to address child prostitution and has led to the conviction of 308 people on a variety of federal and state charges. In all, 433 exploited children have been rescued as a result of the initiative, federal officials said.

At a press conference, FBI director Robert S. Mueller III attributed the rise of children in prostitution in part to the popularity of social networking sites and the host of problems that ride in on the internet wave

According to ABC News, the government hopes that,

some of the girls and women who were arrested in the sweeps will provide more information to go after key organizers and pimps…

… which leads me to question why such girls were arrested, and what will happen to them if they don’t cooperate in prosecution. For women, especially those who have been controlled by pimps since childhood,
who are asked to testify against the men who have manipulated and terrorized them for years, that can be a lethal prospect. Hmmm….

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