What’s worse is this statement almost pleads my case more than his. According to the Human Trafficking Hotline, “Victims of sex trafficking are frequently recruited to work in strip clubs across the United States. Women, men, and minors may be recruited to work in strip clubs as hostesses, servers, or dancers, but then are required to provide commercial sex to customers.”
An article at With Two Wings’ blog further clarifies that, “Although many may think that women working in adult entertainment do it because they want to, researchers have noted that 70% of females who are trafficked are trafficked into the commercial industry, which included porn, strip clubs, and massage parlors in the United States.”
So, maybe some people don’t want to know all that. People want to be able to frequent strip clubs guilt-free not knowing that the “entertainment” they are watching is actually a sexual assault crime of a minor or a woman who was trafficked by her own mother while in her teens. They don’t want to know that out of the ten females on the stage, seven of them have not chosen to be there, and some only wish they could go back to being the little girls they ought to be.
I don’t think bliss is what comes from ignorance. Ignorance comes from ignorance. Stagnancy comes from ignorance. Complacency comes from ignorance. Perpetuated abuse comes from ignorance.
And now that you are no longer ignorant of this information, what will you do with it? Will you take stock in your own vocabulary and jokes? Maybe you could schedule a family meeting and use this new information to reestablish expectations and be part of the cultural shift we need with our words. Talk to your teachers, your pastors, your boss and create grassroots initiatives to create this small but mighty cultural change. Or maybe you could find a place to volunteer to help the women and children who want out of this life? It’s all your choice. But please do something.
Let’s choose together that we don’t want ignorance to prevail because it feels easier to us. Author Belinda Bauman once said, “You can’t solve the world’s problems with sympathy.” Sympathy keeps all of this at arm’s length and requires no change on our part. Instead, choose something even as small as changing up your words and see what a difference you can make.
For more opportunities to help, find us at AwakenReno.org
