Imani walker and malika saada saar human
You are also agreeing to our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy. News U. Politics Congress Extremism. HuffPost Personal. NEW: Games. From Our Partners My 5-To International U. Follow Us. Terms Privacy Policy. Show Full Bio. June 17, December 6, As Executive Director at Rebecca Project, she led a successful campaign persuading policymakers to pressure Craiglist to shutdown its adult services section, formerly a leading platform for child sex trafficking.
Contents move to sidebar hide. Article Talk. Read Edit View history. Tools Tools. Download as PDF Printable version. In other projects. Wikidata item. American human rights lawyer. This article has multiple issues. Please help improve it or discuss these issues on the talk page. Learn how and when to remove these messages. Seven of those years I was a child being sexually trafficked on the streets, Internet, strip clubs, massage parlors and even in the back of express papers.
Many children, like myself, come from various traumas previously to entering into foster care, and many times, are further exposed to trauma throughout their experience in the foster care system Youth within the system are more vulnerable to becoming sexually exploited because youth accept and normalize the experience of being used as an object of financial gain by people who are supposed to care for us, we experience various people who control our lives, and we lack the opportunity to gain meaningful relationships and attachments.
Many children, myself included, who grow up in foster care express how it is common household knowledge that many caregivers take them in primarily for the paycheck in which they are provided for the purpose of caring for the child These caregivers will make statements like "you're not my child, I don't care what's going on with you, as long as you're not dead, I'll continue to get my paycheck.
Imani walker and malika saada saar human
This creates a mind frame for the youth that their purpose is to bring income into a household For myself, as unfortunate as it is to say, the most consistent relationship I ever had in care was with my pimp and his family. T's testimony calls on us to no longer ignore a broken foster care system, and the dangerous intersection between child welfare and child trafficking.
It is critical that reforms are made to the child welfare system such that children are protected and safe while in care. More rigorous protocols must be established to screen foster parents and their families, funding for group homes must be re-evaluated, and when children in care are abused, they cannot be punished for disclosure. And for those children who are already involved in commercial sexual exploitation and trafficking, child welfare systems must identify, assess, and provide the appropriate interventions needed to help children heal.
Our most vulnerable children, like T and the other girls still left behind on the streets and listed on Backpage. Main Menu U.