CNN Covers Child Sex Trafficking

Child sex trafficking happens here in Chicago every single day. Many of the survivors who have escaped from their pimps and traffickers are brave enough to tell their stories and to help fight for changes in laws to help others escape the trade.

This Sunday night, Jan. 23 at 7 p.m. CST, CNN will be airing a story about the commercial sexual exploitation of children. They will focus on the story of “Selena”, a 13-year-old from a middle class family who ran away from home and was pimped—she was forced to have sex with strangers for money. A person did this to her, and yet she is the one struggling to fund the resources to recover. It’s called “Selling the Girl Next Door” and you can read a preview here.

As we’re bombarded by these images of young girls, it’s critical to think about what’s not being represented—the faces of the people (mostly men) who are buying sex. These “johns” face little to no consequence for their actions, and they know what they’re doing is wrong. CNN reports:

We posted our own ad, using a photo of CNN correspondent Amber Lyon when she was 14 years old. She told the men who called that she was underage; most didn't care.

CAASE is proud of our End Demand Illinois campaign, which advocates for laws and practices to protect survivors of prostitution. We want harsher penalties for the people who buy sex, and more resources for women to exit the sex trade. To learn more, visit www.enddemandillinois.org.

Ask the Next Mayor: How Will You Prevent Violence in Our City?

What questions would you ask the next mayor of Chicago? Now’s your chance to ask!

We’re collecting questions about violence against women, girls and LGBTQ people to use at a nonpartisan public forum with the Chicago mayoral candidates on February 15.

Send your questions to Chicago2011MayorForum@gmail.com, or share them with us on social media: post to our Facebook wall, tweet us @TheCAASE or leave a comment on this blog entry. If you’d like, let us know your age, profession and what neighborhood you live in, so we can share this information with the candidates.

The deadline for questions is Tuesday, February 1. We hope you can join us at our forum on February 15 at Chicago Kent College of Law.

For more details visit http://www.caase.org/event.aspx.

Photo by Tom Carroll.