A Grave Concern

Secret Agendas, my second novel, highlights a heinous societal evil: human trafficking. When I heard about a girl who was found wandering the streets, terrified out of her mind who was incarcerated because, although she was a victim, the police had nowhere else to put her, I knew I had to use her story as a catalyst for part of the plot in my book.

In my opinion, human trafficking is our 21st century fight against slavery. How dare we look down our noses at our forefathers who failed to abolish slavery in 1776 by ONE vote when we are not doing what we can to abolish it in our century?

And it is going to take all of us. Each of us needs to do our part. Learn the signs, contribute to one of the dozens of groups that aid victims, talk about it, bring awareness of the problem to other people.

Did you know that most girls who are sex trafficked are purchased for about $95? Is that how much that girl is worth? Is that how much you are worth? Of course not. We are all worth so much more!

Did you know that Atlanta is the 5th largest city for human trafficking in the U.S.? That is very close to where I live. Girls are forced into slave labor during the week here in my home town and then transported across the state line to Georgia to ply their tricks for the weekend.

If you do the math and determine how many 'customers' a girl can service in one weekend, the pimp is making way more than $95!

Can you imagine the agony of the mothers whose little girls and boys have been kidnapped, seduced, or sold into slavery? And don't get me started on how they are using little boys as sex toys.

The point is that it is not just a problem for law enforcement, or of the parents whose children are missing, or even of morally depraved and perverted traffickers, pimps, and johns.

I believe we all have a little part to play, and if every one did their part, we could make a dent in this scourge on our society.

Universal Hotlin to rept abuse or get help: 888.3737.888