OPINION: Protect Black Girls in the Sex Trade, Not the Pimps Who Sell Them

Growing up in Chicago, abuse was the norm.My friends and I routinely witnessed violence and we experienced it for ourselves. As a young girl I remember thinking, at least the prostitutes are being paid — when I get abused, I have nothing to show for it.That perspective led to me being purchased at age 14. After 25 years of being trafficked between pimps across the Midwest, I fought to get out and now, all these years later, I fight to help other young Black girls who are caught in the cycle of degradation and exploitation.It is with those girls in mind, girls who deserve to have better choices than getting paid for the abuse they would suffer anyway, that I come together with Rights4Girls and others to call on elected officials in Illinois and Illinois residents to rethink this long held notion that selling sex is empowering.The danger here is not just a few misguided opinions.There is a movement that is gaining steam around the country to decriminalize the sex trade entirely — including buyers, pimps and brothels. This policy would not just harm the community at large, but it would fall hardest on Black and Brown girls given they...