Cyntoia Brown
The story of Cyntoia Brown not so uncommon of too many sex trafficking survivors often facing penalties for what should have fallen on the predators. The book, Girls Like Us, by Rachel Lloyd and the semi adjacent 2007 documentary, Very Young Girls, also conveys this fact. The number of youths locked up as a result of being trafficked, raped, abused, etc primarily of color has been staggering. Charged with everything from “prostitution” even if they’re a minor they lawfully aren’t able to consent, weapons, or in cases such as Cyntoia’s charged with murder for killing her buyer after he began displaying menace towards her as all predators tend to do. The issue of race often plays a role into this as most buyers of the sex trade are middle aged — middle class to upper class white males in cases such as Cyntoia’s the fact her buyer was a middle aged white male real estate agent an “important” figure in the community that she killed in self defense as a 16-year-old gave her the charge of First-Degree-Murder even though she was obviously the victimized entirely by not only the buyer but a pimp by the name of, Kut-Throat. Nonetheless Cyntoia Brown remained behind bars for over 15 years when all the while like so many sex trafficking survivors youths especially should have been offered services NOT a sentence. People like myself have worked extensively with these children, spoken with these children (because that’s what they are despite the archaic term “Child Prostitutes” which they are not they are sex trafficking survivors) they’re just that kids honestly in every way preyed upon by true super predators often their whole life, child rapists, pimps, sex traffickers, buyers, the system, their addict parent or caregivers, mental illness, racism, societal biases, everyone and system around them. 75% some demographers have estimated as high as 85% of the sex trade involves Girls/Women of color of the 75% a prove 50% are certainly minors. We are speaking on domestically and abroad combined. In America 300,000 American youths yearly are introduced into the sex trade some estimates have shown as high as 500,000. Many of them have stories not so unlike Cyntoia Brown.
