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The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Human trafficking is never an easy topic to discuss, particularly when it involves the sexual exploitation of children and women. But Meg Beyer, a senior at Agnes Scott College, will be spending the next few years studying ways to combat the crime.
Beyer was one of two Georgia students recently awarded a coveted Marshall Scholarship, which annually gives a small number of American college students the opportunity to study at any university in the United Kingdom. Beginning next year, Beyer will study at the University of Nottingham. Here, Beyer talks about Atlanta, protecting children and why pimp should be a dirty word again.
Q: There are many forms of human trafficking, from forced domestic labor to forced migrant labor. Why did you decide to focus on sex trafficking?
A: Human trafficking, in general, is something I'm concerned about, but there have been some recent studies and concerns about the influx of trafficking victims into places where major sporting events are going on. My project going over to London is focusing on the increase in funding for [anti-trafficking] policy measures that are being put in place before the 2012 Olympics. There will be policies on training officers, increasing police presence in certain areas, increasing funding for victim services, all kinds of stuff.
Q: The FBI, the United States Justice Department and the United Nations all note Atlanta as one of the top centers for sex trafficking, particularly of children. Now, is that mostly American children?
A: The definition of trafficking, which is a U.N. standard, says that any time a child is involved, it doesn't necessarily have to be across [state] border trafficking. The trafficking definition isn't based on whether or not a child is brought in from another country, it's based on the idea that they're being sexually exploited for profit.
Q: Why do you think Atlanta is so high on that list?
A: The fact that we have the busiest airport in the world presents the opportunity not only to have young people and women trafficked in and out for sex, but also brings in a lot of potential johns, or customers, on a regular basis. Then the amount of convention space we have, major athletic teams, combined with the busiest airport in the world gives us the opportunity to have a lot of prostitution here.
Q: Back in October, the FBI arrested 35 people in Atlanta in a nationwide child prostitution sting in which 700 people ultimately were arrested. Some of these kids were as young as 10. What happens to these kids?
A: It really depends. Sometimes people are incarcerated. But, if the federal government is involved and takes over the case, they've started to recognize that these kids need some help. So the Department of Health and Human Services partners with NGOs (non-governmental organizations) to create safe houses. But there aren't enough of them and, when you help a kid escape from something like this, the support services aren't strong enough for them not to engage in the same sort of behaviors. There are a lot of [kids for whom] this situation presented itself because there weren't a lot of other options. These situations don't just correct themselves. So if you don't have a lot of services, especially for such young minds, the recidivism rate back into prostitution is just outrageous.
Q: Pimps, especially, are kind of glorified in pop culture these days. In some circles, calling someone a pimp is a compliment. "Pimping" or "pimp out" are popular verbs. So what role does pop culture play in this trafficking problem?
A: It has a definite impact. And the sexualization of children in media, in advertising, is really playing a whole new role as well.
Q: Three years ago, Mayor Shirley Franklin launched a "Dear John" campaign to target those who purchase child prostitutes and to vigorously prosecute the johns. But do programs like that really make a dent in the problem?
A: It's galvanized public opinion against sex traffickers, which is a really important first step. But programs like that have to be paired with other forms of services to be really effective. One of the first steps is just educating people about the fact that, if you purchase the services of a prostitute, you're generally not purchasing the services of someone who's willing to be there.
Q: What's been the impact of the Internet on trafficking, particularly with sites such as Craigslist, which came under fire for its erotic services category.
A: It's increased everyone's access. The issue is that when we cut off that resource ... then we don't give police officers the ability to have one place that they can go to look out for these [johns and pimps]. It's a Catch-22. It's a great idea to cut off resources like that to decrease the ease with which people can get access. If we make it more difficult for police officers to find these sites, we're shooting ourselves in the foot. But it's better than the alternative of giving people an easy way to access children.
Q: After Nottingham, then what for you?
A: Finishing my Ph.D. in the U.K., then coming back here and going to law school, then going to work for the Department of Justice. That's where you see the human trafficking prosecutions.
http://www.ajc.com/news/the-stain-of-human-239220.html
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