By Ann Christina Peterpaul, Contributing Writer

I have been reading a lot about the horrors of child sex trafficking and, at the same time, wondering about men who are the customers of this business. How could a grown man pay to have sex with a child? We are talking about children from the age of approximately 12 to 16. Who are these people who assault a child, and what brought them to that point? 

Sex trafficking is a big-time industry across the world. Certainly, it is not carried on by a few perverts. It is something that millions partake in across the globe. There is a lot of money to be made by the perpetrators of this industry, and so that is their raison d’etre. Why isn’t more done to stop it?  Tim Swarens of the Indy Star, who spent a year investigating the sex trafficking of children, said that about 10,000 children from the U.S. are trafficked in a year, and globally the number is more than 1 million. Swarens maintains that buyers are rarely held accountable. According to Swarens, little attention has been given to stopping the demand (the children), Prosecuting traffickers and rescuing victims is given greater priority. 

Why is there such a huge demand to have sex with children in the first place? What is wrong with people who do this? The customers come from all walks of life — pastors, lawyers, professors and more. I have read that traditionally, in all parts of the world, men feel entitled to sex. The men who seek out children for sex view them as commodities and not humans. These children are objects they purchased to be used accordingly. Traffickers who sell children view them the same way. The fact that all these men have mothers, and perhaps sisters, is of no consequence. A trafficked child is a piece of meat in their eyes.

Treating girls and women as property is prevalent in patriarchy. Men rule, and the role of women is to cater to their needs. Women are subordinate and are to be treated as such, with far less rights. Patriarchal norms are still prevalent in the U.S. where women continue to fight for their rights. This notion that men feel entitled to sex is an integral part of patriarchy. Once again, women are to be used and often discarded, which is intrinsic to sex trafficking. 

A society based on treating everyone in a dignified and egalitarian way will not easily lend itself to objectifying one gender. Childhood is a good place to start. Starting at the elementary level, schools should develop curriculums that emphasize the equality of girls and boys and how everyone is entitled to basic rights because we are all humans. I am not saying that the only way to stop the plague of sex trafficking is to develop a holistic curriculum that includes feminism. It is simply one crucial way. Community leaders, churches and other local groups have a role to play. Parents must start raising their children in nonpatriarchal ways. Parental education is not the scope of this essay, but it does point to the need for enlightenment on all fronts in the elimination of patriarchy.

In recent years feminism has taken a backseat, and it is time for it to get in the front and center. Women of all ages and backgrounds must push for a feminist and holistic agenda in our schools. We must cooperate with men who are our allies. When girls are forced into prostitution because patriarchy rules, they are not only degraded, but the ripple effects of this degradation sullies all of us. As a woman, I feel humiliated. I feel ashamed for myself, my daughter, my sister, my mother. It affects all of us.