My fellow San Diegans and I like to refer to our town as “America’s Finest City.” While that nickname makes it sound like things are wonderful here, this is not the case for everyone. The truth is that there is also a vibrant underground economy of drugs, labor, and sexual exploitation occurring in my city—and all over the country at large. A recent indictment alleges that about 100 young girls were recruited from middle- and high-school campuses in East County as part of a cross-country sex trafficking ring. Some of these young girls are forced to have sex with 10 or more adult men per day.
This weekend, the Junior League of San Diego hosted a rally to raise awareness given that January is National Slavery and Human Trafficking Prevention Month. At one point, a brave young woman took the stage to tell her story. She told the crowd about answering a modeling ad and being promptly raped when she came in for her “interview.” She later learned that her rape was videotaped and distributed as pornography. She courageously walked us through her struggles which have culminated in a piece of art meant to shed light on the young men and women affected by this issue.
There are myriad heartbreaking stories. As survivors tell them, people become increasingly, and more visibly, uncomfortable. But being uncomfortable to hear such horrific tales is an essential response; we must turn that discomfort into action. Human trafficking affects not just undocumented immigrants and the poorest among us. Victims are our sons and daughters. Our nieces and nephews. Our brothers and sisters. And, yes, our mothers and fathers. Hotels in my city and yours are allowing this stuff to occur, and it is incumbent upon the stakeholders within the tourism industry to declare “enough is enough.”
An ugly and uncomfortable secret is that the military is part of the problem. While I was in the military, many of my colleagues would discuss their weekend plans, which often included paying for sex either here or on the other side of the border. Sailors and Marines are certainly not prosecuted. At my last command, the senior enlisted Sailor briefed the crew to not participate in trafficking while we were overseas, and then hours later was spotted with multiple women he had paid to accompany him—and I know for a fact he’s moved up in the ranks rather than seen any punishment.
To be clear, I am not saying that the Department of Defense encourages this behavior; they require an online training on the subject annually. I would, however, argue that (in my experience) the issue is not taken seriously enough, especially at the unit level. When Sailors and Marines learn this behavior on deployments, they all too often bring it home and contribute to the trafficking economy.
This is a non-partisan issue. Everyone agrees that human trafficking is terrible, so what can we do about it? Let’s make 2015 the year that communities across the United States come off the map as destinations for human trafficking. We need to pay attention at restaurants and hotels where we dine and stay. We should give to organizations fighting every day to raise awareness, pass legislation, and care for survivors. And we must call our elected officials and make sure they know it is an important issue to us. I for one am willing to let go of the “America’s Finest City” rhetoric for a while—I’m looking for America’s Finest Citizens to do something about this unchecked scourge.
