Child prostitution crackdown sees success, advocates say

By MASHAUN D. SIMON

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Melba Robinson knows it can be easier for a young girl to get caught up in prostitution than it is for her to get out of it.

As program manager for the Juvenile Justice Fund’s Center to End Adolescent Sexual Exploitation (CEASE), Robinson helps bridge the time between getting them out of the justice system, when they have been arrested, placed on probation or serving time, and walking them through rehabilitative treatment.

Her job entails more than providing case management and courtroom advocacy for the girls, but also building a relationship.

“It is hard for a lot of them,” said Robinson who also oversees Angela’s House, a home for girls recovering from exploitation. “Many of them come from broken homes, homes where there is a lot of conflict or homes where they have been sexually abused and run away to get away.”

Some of the common risk factors are parental neglect, physical and sexual abuse, behavioral issues and substance abuse, said Jen Bennecke, executive director of the Governor’s Office for Children and Families.

While most major cities are working to eradicate this problem, a statewide effort has been in existence for the last couple of years to address this issue in Georgia. Created in 2007, A Future. Not A Past., a public-private partnership also led by the Juvenile Justice Fund, works to build a barrier between potential victims and those focused on exploiting young children.

In just two years, they have made some strides.

Their goal, while it may seem to be unattainable, is to bring an end to child prostitution in Georgia.

According to the Governor’s Office for Children and Families, any where between 200 to 350 girls are prostituted each month in Georgia. And it is not just on the streets anymore. Today girls are also exploited over the Internet, through escort services and in hotels.

The numbers have consistently been the results of quarterly counts done by the researchers of A Future. Not A Past., said Kaffie McCullough, campaign director.

However, the numbers do not differentiate between girls that are being exploited for the first time and those that have been victims for a longer time, said Bennecke.

“Over half of these are generally through online services,” she said. “The rest being through escort services, street prostitution, and working through johns at major hotels.”

There are more young girls being exploited than there are people killed in major car accidents, added McCullough.

“We can no longer tolerate men buying sex from our children,” she said.

Robinson blames the media.

“Sex sells,” Robinson said. “The men who are doing this to our young do not see it as dehumanizing. They do not see forcing a young girl to sleep with 10 to 15 men a night as dehumanizing.”

McCullough agrees.

“We have over-sexualized clothing for six year olds and incredibly sexualized messages on TV all the time,” said McCullough. “Tremendous community collaboration is needed, and most importantly from the demand side.”

Pimps, said Robinson, can easily spot their next victims.

“It is almost like an art,” said Robinson. “Pimps will see them at a mall, or downtown, and just know ‘This girl must be a runaway.’ Next thing you know, they are having a conversation. All is takes is 48 hours.”

There is one girl in particular who stands out for Robinson. It was about two years ago when they met.

“She came from a home with a lot of chaos,” Robinson said. “To get away from all the drama, she would run away.”

The girl had a lot of siblings and was one of the oldest.

She ended up prostituting because of a friend she would stay with while on the run. What she did not know was that her friend was prostituting.

Once in, she could not get out.

“Her involvement was very violent,” said Robinson “Many times she was held against her will.”

The only reason she stayed in as long as she did was because of the threats on her life and the lives of her family by the pimps.

It is a business, said Robinson.

The experience of the young girl in Robinson’s story parallel’s the experience of a 14-year-old girl whose pimp was convicted last month.

Kenton Ballard, 32, of Atlanta was convicted on several charges including statutory rape, aggravated child molestation and pimping of a 14 year old runaway girl who was living with him.

According to investigators, Ballard abused the girl by pistol whipping her consistently. He was also having sex with the girl.

When he was not having sex with her, he would force her to solicit men on Atlanta's Metropolitan Avenue or bring men home to have sex with the girl.

He will spend 30 years in prison.

Another man, Zaccheus Obie, 26, who was prostituting his 16-year-old cousin, was convicted in June of one count felony pimping and sentenced to 10 years in prison. Investigators believed that before his arrest in January, he had been operating as a pimp for at least four years.

In the third year of their campaign, McCullough said they have been able to bring a lot of awareness to this problem.

Their first year was focused solely on awareness. In their second year, they were able to get more funding from the state and at the same time strengthen some of the laws currently on the books.

This next year they will focus on training doctors, law enforcement officials and other supporters on what to look for, what questions to ask and what signs to pay attention to when reporting abuse.

Prior to the passage of new legislation, whenever doctors or law enforcement officials suspected a child had been abused they could not report the abuse unless the person escorting the child was a parent. Now that is not the case.

“We have more eyes on the street,” said McCullough. “If a pimp brings in one of his girls for an STD, we can catch them and get that girl to safety.”

While they strive for a day when they have no more child prostitution victims, Bennecke said providing more services for the girls is a top priority.

One service in particular is after care.

“These girls have gone through some emotional and mental trauma,” she said. “And they need to slowly be acclimated back into their communities.”

Their approach, said Bennecke, will be called “STRIVE: Surviving Teens Reaching and Implementing Values Everyday”.

Through peer support meetings the goal of STRIVE is to help the girls say no to negative influences and practice “their life skills after treatment,” she said.

The group, which will be facilitated by two skilled female clinicians who specialize in working with victims of commercial sexual exploitation, will be focused on helping the girls build confidence through a process Bennecke calls, “self-discovery.”

Advocates will also work with family members to help them adjust to the girl's return to the household. STRIVE, which is expected to begin this fall said Bennecke, will be evaluated every other month.

And child psychologists will work in teams to help rehabilitate the girls.

“It is important to remember that these girls are victims,” she said. “They are teenagers, little girls who have grown up too fast.”