The Horrors of Sexual Trafficking, American-Style

Jaycee Lee Dugard's case is every parent's nightmare, a troubling reminder that the evils of this world are not confined to dark alleys in big cities. Behind Suburbia's illusion of safety lurks an often seedy and troubled reality. It is a world of sexual trafficking, where children are sold as sexual commodities.



Eleven-year-old Jaycee was hurrying to catch a school bus when she was snatched off the street by convicted rapist Phillip Garrido. For the next 18 years, Jaycee was held captive in Garrido's backyard in a nondescript neighborhood in Antioch, Calif. He allegedly fathered her two children.



But this type of tortured reality doesn't stop with Jaycee Lee Dugard. For example, Debbie, a straight-A student who belonged to a close-knit Air Force family living in Phoenix, Ariz., was 15 when she was snatched from her driveway by an acquaintance-friend. Forced into a car, Debbie was bound and taken to an unknown location, held at gunpoint and raped by multiple men. She was then crammed into a small dog kennel and forced to eat dog biscuits. Debbie's captors advertised her services on Craigslist. Those who responded were often married with children, and the money that Debbie "earned" for sex was given to her kidnappers. The gang raping continued. After searching the apartment where Debbie was held captive, police finally found Debbie stuffed in a drawer under a bed. Her harrowing ordeal lasted for 40 days. Three of her four captors have now been caught and charged (one awaits extradition).



Miya was 19 years old when a man and a woman, posing as agents for a modeling company, kidnapped her and forced her into a life of sexual slavery. Her captors also advertised her services online. Miya was eventually able to escape but not before suffering the trauma of captivity, prostitution and other harrowing abuses.



These young women somehow managed to escape the underground world of sexual slavery and trafficking in the United States. Others, however, are not so fortunate.



According to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC), approximately 797,500 children go missing every year. That works out to roughly 2,185 children a day. Many of these young people never find their way home again. Too many become victims of sexual trafficking and prostitution.