Why the sex-trafficking crimes of Ghislaine Maxwell is a wake-up call for the US | Opinion

Editor's note: This column talks about sexual trauma that some readers may find upsetting. If you are a victim of sexual trauma and need help, please visit the Kentucky Association of Sexual Assault Programs website at www.kasap.org or call (800) 656-HOPE (4673). You can also contact the National Human Trafficking Hotline at (888) 373-7888.

Young girls, some as young as 14 years old, were stalked and groomed by a New York socialite with connections to the elite. Soon to be raped by wealthy male associates for profit. Do you think that statement is about the ongoing Ghislaine Maxwell human trafficking trial?

Yes. Partially.

Unfortunately, this scene is not relegated to this one socialite or her male clients but is also played out every day all across Kentucky and America. From New York City down to South Florida, across middle America and to the west coast, the practice of grooming, buying and selling children and adults for sex is a multi-billion dollar industry that affects every American whether they know it or not. Human trafficking knows no socioeconomic, sex, race or religious boundaries.

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The systematic raping of innocent American women, men, boys and girls is a growing scourge upon our national conscience. The question remains as a society, what are we going to do about it. Will the Maxwell trial awaken the American public to the horrors of sex trafficking and the prevalence of the problem in the United States and in Kentucky?

A young woman known only as Carolyn testified at trial that she was just 14-years-old when Ghislaine Maxwell sexually abused her and was later abused by financier Jeffrey Epstein. Carolyn's story of being "groomed" by Ghislaine Maxwell to serve Epstein and his high-level clientele with young girls is not just one case.

Polaris reports that the National Human Trafficking Hotline received a 19% increase from 2018 to 2019 in the number of victims and survivors of sex and labor trafficking reporting their situations. The 2019 Hotline report identified over 22,000 victims of trafficking, including over 14,000 sex trafficking-specific cases with an average age of 17-years old.

The National Hotline also reports that since 2007, there have been 373 cases and 869 victims of human trafficking reported in the state of Kentucky.

The U.S. Department of Justice Office of Justice Programs Bureau of Justice Statistics reported over 2,900 federal and state prosecutions of sex trafficking cases between 2016 and 2020.

The statistics surrounding victims of trafficking, reporting the crimes against them and the number of reported cases of trafficking reported to the federal government are frightening. Yet, the hidden nature of the crime indicates that the problem of sex trafficking in the United States is severely underreported.

Researches at the Justice Department's National Institute of Justice concluded in August 2020 that the total number of human trafficking incidents identified by law enforcement and social service agencies is significantly smaller than reported.

The scope of the problem within our country is being severely underreported, causing tens of thousands of victims of trafficking to be undiscovered and suffering at the hands of traffickers and buyers like Jeffrey Epstein and his clients, and thousands currently being groomed by operators like Ghislaine Maxwell.

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The Epstein trial and now the Maxwell trial have garnered the attention of the national and international press and the American people for at least a few moments. Victims of trafficking across our country deserve justice, and their stories deserve to be heard by every American.

However, the American public must not turn our attention away from the epidemic of sex trafficking or the victims left behind. The press must continue to cover this mostly hidden crime, and the American people must become more aware of potential grooming and trafficking activities in every community.

To combat this horrific crime, we must collectively get educated. We must allow ourselves to be enraged that children are being sold for sex in our communities.

We must all be vigilant in ensuring that our young people are not being groomed by pimps such as Ghislaine Maxwell or sexually abused by sex buyers like Jeffrey Epstein and his clients. Immediately report suspicions of sex trafficking to local authorities or contact the National Human Trafficking Hotline at (888) 373-7888.

If you see something, you must say something. It is a moral imperative to take action for those who cannot take action for themselves.

Kevin Malone, Chairman, U.S. Institute Against Human Trafficking and member of University of Louisville Athletics Hall of Fame.

This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: Sex Trafficking crimes of Ghislaine Maxwell is a US reality | Opinion