Reporting the Exploitation of Children

The campaign against human trafficking is enormous. Up until today, I have not become involved in the campaign. Where I've been most effective is on a personal level. What I mean by this is I do all I can to offer hope and resources to women who have experienced childhood sexual abuse, or know of a child who's been victimized. I am also an advocate of the campaign for prevention of child sexual abuse. However, offering spiritual and emotional healing for survivors is where the Lord has called me, therefore this is how I spend a great deal of my time.

Today, I was presented with an opportunity to do my part on Human Trafficking Awareness Day. A friend of mine happened to post a video on his Facebook page, which he noted was 'highly disturbing'. I had already been warned beforehand by another friend about the post. I was prepared... so I thought.

The video was named "School Dances Sure Have Changed.." I was expecting to watch a video of middle school students, engaging in risque' dance moves. To my surprise, this was not the case. (Perpetrators will use misleading titles/labels when posting these images) The setting was a small apartment patio in a poverty stricken community. Approximately twenty kids, mostly hispanic, asian, or black, were dancing to music. Nobody spoke English; I heard some Spanish and thick African accents.Their ages ranged from approximately three to thirteen years old. Every one of them was partnered with someone. Children do not dance this way!

At first, it reminded me of those music videos, with all the bumping and grinding. Then, the dancing escalated to actual displays of sexual positions and actions. Adult women were encouraging and coaching them. There were a couple women who actually engaged in the demonstration of these sexual acts with very small children.

I was sickened and enraged, as my blood began to boil. Let me tell you something else about this, though. I could see how someone viewing this video could get sexually aroused. Think about it. Watching humans performing in a sexual way draws out lust. This is how people become addicted to pornography. My instant reaction was to ask my friend to remove the video.

The next step was to report it!

This is where you report digital images on the internet containing child pornography and images that exploit children:

National Center for Missing and Exploited Children ---> Cyber Tipline (Click on link)

The Congressionally-mandated Cyber Tipline is a means for reporting crimes against children including:

*Possession, manufacture, and distribution of child pornography
*Online enticement of children for sexual acts
*Child prostitution
*Sex Tourism Involving Children
*Extrafamilial Child Sexual Molestation
*Unsolicited Obscene Material Sent to a Child
*Misleading Domain Names
*Misleading Words or Digital Images on the Internet

While researching the efforts being made to stop this sort of internet activity, I came across an encouraging press release. "Microsoft donates PhotoDNA technology to National Center for Missing & Exploited Children to disrupt the distribution of graphic child pornography online".

It only took me a few minutes to report this crime. Please do not take this lightly. This simple step can make a huge difference in a child's life. We all need to be more informed and make an effort to DO SOMETHING to protect our children.