Social Media gone wild

By: Kayla Simms

What are the two words that scare a parent the most? Is it “I’m bleeding”? Is it chicken

nuggets? Or is it sex trafficking? Sex trafficking goes along with the sex industry. It’s a

multi-billion dollar business. Maybe as a child, adult, or a parent without any knowledge of this

industry but you might not think anything of it or maybe you don’t care about it,but you should.

You should know and be aware because you or your child might be their prey.

First, let’s talk about what sex trafficking is. Defined by sharedhope.org, sex trafficking

occurs when someone uses force, fraud, or coercion to cause a commercial sex act with an adult

or causes a minor to commit a commercial sex act. This meaning that if an adult or minor is

forced or manipulated into a commercial sex act, it is sex trafficking. Sex trafficking is centered

around ages 14-16 because the teens in this range are too young and naive to realize what’s

happening. This being said it does happen to those of younger and older ages. Many in society

call this action prostitution but under federal law it is considered sex trafficking. The reason

being that the victims need help not judgement or punishment.

Next, let’s talk about what a commercial sex act is. A commercial sex act means any sex

act on account of which anything of value is given to or received by any person. A commercial

sex act may include prostitution, pornography, and any sexual performance done in exchange for

any item of value, such as money, drugs, shelter, food, or clothes. This is getting down to the

point where these children have to commit a commercial sex act in order to survive. When they

do this they are “rewarded” with sometimes water and food at the max.
 Now, let’s talk about how this is happening. Traffickers find victims through social

media, home neighborhood, clubs/bars, internet, and school. Once the trafficker has a target they

must seek a way to lure them. To lure them they make promises of protection, adventure, love,

and opportunity/jobs. Traffickers will use fear, violence, threats, and intimidation to ensure

compliance and meet demand. Haylee Jenkins was lured into this world and almost taken. She

meet a 15 year old boy on instagram. They DMed for a little when he later introduced a few of

his friends to her. The mom started to notice changes about her daughter and looked into her

accounts. Looking up the names using google. Discovering the friends of the boy were actually

men. Haylee was to meet them in a few days. The mom met with the ​Cyber Task Force of

Portage Police department and after months of investigation they found the men and concluded

that they were indeed luring her. Fortunately, Haylee was lucky, but sadly many other stories are

not the same. Most of the time these children are lured successfully and never seen again.

Story time! This story is about a girl who goes by the name phalla. Her dad and mom had

died so she went to live with her grandmother. After living with her grandmother for a month,

one day they went to Kampong.

When they arrived in Kampong Som, her grandma brought her into the village to a nice

house, which her grandma said belonged to a friend. They stayed there for a few days and she

said that she saw many cars approach the house and then leave with young women. On the 4th

day, her grandma introduced her to the house owner and said: “I need my granddaughter to stay

here for several days, then I will come to bring her home.” The house owner said: “OK! Don’t

worry!”
 She waited for her grandma for more than several days but she never came back. She said

that she kept looking for her grandma, but the house-owner said that her grandmother wouldn’t

be coming back because she had sold phalla. She told phalla that she must make money but that

she couldn’t leave the house. Then, the house-owner forced her into the room and locked the

door.

That night, phalla heard someone turn the lock and she said: “Hello! Who are you?” He

said he was my Uncle and that he needed her to do something for him. She was afraid and didn’t

want to see anyone. She said that she was fully alert. She said that the man touched her and she

immediately pushed him away. That’s when he pushed her onto the bed and punched her. She

said that her mouth began to bleed and she called for help but no one answered. He put his arm

over her mouth to muffle her screams and then ripped off her clothes and raped phalla. When

he’d finished she asked him, “Why have you done this?” He replied, “You are mine for several

days. So, I can do whatever I want to you because I gave a lot of money to your boss. Don’t be

angry.” Then, he left the room.

After 3 months in the first brothel, she was sold to a new brothel owner in Kosh Kong.

The brothel owner and the “guests” forced her to have sex copying styles they saw in sex videos.

In the first month, she had 10 to 15 guests a day. She said she felt like an animal in the zoo. She

said that she never got money but she always got drugs,curses, and beatings. she quickly became

a drug user. After 2 months in Kosh Kong, she was sold to a brothel in Thailand where they

forced her to have sex with 20 to 30 men because she was new and pretty. She worked in this

brothel for 4 months.

 One day, she met a Khmer man who helped her escape with 4 others back to Cambodia.

She lived with him in Phnom Penh for a week after which he took me to work in a karaoke bar.

At the karaoke bar, she wasn’t allowed to go out anywhere. After a week, she ran away but they

arrested her and sent her back. phalla was put in a room under ground and beaten by the boss for

a few days. Then, they sold her to a foreigner. She was with him for 3 days. she said she didn’t

run away because she wanted to gain her boss’ confidence. After another month back at the

karaoke bar, the boss trusted her enough to allow her to go out unsupervised.

Two months later, she met a woman that used to live with AFESIP who told her about the

organization and gave phalla their phone number. She went to the clinic to ask for help. She

stayed at their center and studied sewing, English, and computers. Phalla has an unusual ending.

Fortunately she was saved and hopes to be a lawyer.

Next, let’s talk about how you can protect yourself or your child. When walking out and

about always be aware. Always pay attention. Even in big groups you can be pulled aside to

answer a strangers question. Traffickers can be men and women. Normally they will be dressed

nice and they will look like any other human around. Stranger danger is taught at a young age for

a good purpose.

Finally, let’s talk about accounts on social media.When talking about social media, what

should you do? In my opinion, getting rid of the app is too extreme. If that is the path you go

with then just keep reading to know why I disagree.

Whether you like it or not, In the world we live in the way people may keep in touch is

through social media. Also, maybe just be more strict with the account. Maybe you or your
child's face should not be shown on any public posts. The child could post photos about nature,

food, pet/animal, inspirational quotes, etc. Always make sure that the account is private.

Yes, people can hack accounts but when this happens there will be significant changes to

the account and then you can take down the account. When the account receives a friend request

make sure to double check with the other person that they actually sent the friend request. Also,

to make the parent happier and more relaxed, have the parent check the account daily, weekly,

monthly, or whatever you choose. Never post/do anything that you wouldn’t want your parents

or best friend to see. Plus, if the parent does see a post that they are uncomfortable with the child

can easily delete the post.

Another simple fix to that, because of screenshotting, is that the child must show the

parent what they are going to post before doing so. Plus, the parent, if they have the app, can

follow the child.What about snapchat? Personally, I don’t use snapchat because of its new

advances and updates. In this case I would recommend not to use snapchat because there is really

no way for a parent to regulate it. If you do decide to use snapchat I still recommend to make the

account private.

What about all the drama that comes with it? When it comes to drama you can’t prevent

it. It will be at school, work, and social media. Drama shouldn't be the cause for your child to not

have social media. It is a quick way to spread lies and rumors but so is the game of school drama

telephone. Someone at the school says “Jenny got a dog for christmas” to someone else and by

the end of the day it turns into “Jenny just got a dog because her dad feels bad for her because

she didn’t get the laptop she wanted for christmas and she threw a big giant fit.” Now everyone

thinks she’s a spoiled brat when really she just got a dog because it was christmas. People like to
twist and add things on to what has been said. At least through social media you know exactly

what was said. There’s a way of certainty when it happens through social media.

In conclusion, always be careful when on social media, at a store, on a jog, etc. Never get

lured in by a stranger that you have no clue about. If somehow you get in contact with a stranger

don’t respond. Tell someone immediately just so you can confirm that they weren’t a trafficker.

If you are a parent, talk to your child about this. Get more strict with your child(ren) account(s)

without deleting them. But even with this knowledge, have fun. Don't be too afraid to do things.