Posted March 8, 2010 at 10:57 p.m.
Sexual exploitation and abuse of children is becoming more common, according to an expert who spoke in Oxnard on Monday night.
Speaking to about 65 people at the Café on A on International Women’s Day, Anne Bissell said the Internet is partially responsible.
“We have become a nation of sex addicts and many people are addicted to images of children,” said Bissell, an expert and author on issues of sexual exploitation.
Bissell spoke at the event sponsored by Soroptimist International of Oxnard as part of the organization’s 3-year-old campaign to stop human trafficking.
Soroptomist International is a women’s volunteer service organization that focuses on issues facing women and girls.
Bissell said that the issues of domestic violence, sexual assault and child trafficking are intertwined.
She survived sexual abuse by a family member and ran away as a teenager, only to be sexually exploited by an employer.
Bissell decried abuses of the sex industry.
“There’s a lot of glamour around the sex industry,” she said. “Unfortunately that has made it easy for pimps, predators and psychopaths.”
Special Agent David Wales of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement spoke about what authorities are doing to track down and prosecute human traffickers.
“It’s modern-day slavery,” said Wales, explaining that immigrants are often brought to the United States under false pretenses and made to work without pay or are sold into prostitution.
Wales said that in 2008, ICE investigated 432 cases of human trafficking in the United States, including 262 cases involving sexual exploitation.
None of those cases were in Ventura County.
ICE has launched a public awareness campaign called In Plain Sight to make people aware that human trafficking may be happening right before their eyes.
“No one should be forced to live in fear, isolation and servitude, especially in a country which prides itself on its freedoms,” said Wales.
A group of 17 high school students from the S-Club, a junior Soroptimist organization at Fillmore High School, attended the talk, which was preceded by a march around downtown Oxnard.
“I think that it was very interesting and very personal,” said Vanessa Villa, 15.
Villa said her association with the S-Club has made her aware of the issue of sexual exploitation and human trafficking.
Bissell said she is working to develop educational programs for schools to help young people recognize predators so they can stay safe.
On the Net:
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Sexual exploitation, abuse of kids rising, expert warns » Ventura County Star
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