Posted by : Lizzie on 04/11/2009 at 15:49

886 children rescued from prostitution.

510 pimps and madams convicted.

These statistics markedly demonstrate the successes of the Innocence Lost National Initiative across the USA. Since its inception in 2003, the FBI has been working tirelessly in conjunction with the Department of Justice and the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children to rescue young children from sexual slavery.

Over 1,500 individuals in 34 dedicated task forces recently were a part of Operation Cross Country IV. This 3 day sting from 23rd to 25th October 2009 took place in 16 major cities in the US, resulting in nearly 700 arrests and another 50 children rescued from prostitution.

As well as these nationwide stings, in the last few years, the American law enforcement agencies have revolutionised their approach to children involved in prostitution. Previously, such children would have been arrested as perpetrators of a crime rather than being treated as a victim of sexual assault. Upon the arrest of a child and a "customer", if no money had been exchanged, the "customer" would have been jailed for statutory rape and the child would receive counselling. However if money had been exchanged, the child would be arrested for prostitution and the "customer" would escape with just a fine. While thinking in recent times has changed, children being seen more as victims of exploitation, the children themselves are still less than co-operative when picked up by the police, instead staying loyal to their pimps.

In Dallas, police Sergeant Fassett frustrated with the system which failed to help these children started looking through their old case files. Here, he found that 80% of prostituted children had run away from home at least four or more times a year. This discovery revolutionised his thinking and he saw an opportunity to be proactive in rescuing children before they became entangled in prostitution.

Sergeant Fassett created the High Risk Victim unit in the Dallas Police department in 2005. Any young person who runs away four or more times a year is flagged up as at high risk of becoming a victim of prostitution. If they are picked up by the police anywhere in the country, they are sent back to Sergeant Fassett’s unit. As the children will immediately become defensive and unco-operative if they broach the subject of prostitution, the police instead discuss with them a minor offence, such as truancy. As trust builds, the police and social workers can later move into discussions of prostitution. These repeat runaways are not treated as criminals, nor sent to juvenile detention, but rather taken to a dedicated shelter where they can receive counselling.

This new approach has seen phenomenal results. Three in four girls who receive the counselling do not return to prostitution and over 90% of pimps arrested in the Dallas County have been convicted as many of the children involved in prostitution turned to testify against their pimps.

We hope to soon be seeing this model rolled out across the whole of the country and to see other countries following in this example, encouraged to treat child victims of prostitution with the sensitivity they require.