By Renee Unterman, Buford, Ga. | On October 18, the FBI announced over 239 arrests for trafficking and prostitution as part of Operation Cross Country X, a nationwide initiative conducted in partnership with local law enforcement agencies. Nearly 70 of those arrests were from locations in Georgia including Alpharetta, Marietta, Dunwoody and Gwinnett County.
Unterman
A total of 82 of the victims were children rescued as a result of this operation. Only the week before, in a separate incident, two Gwinnett police officers rescued a 13-year old girl from someone they believe planned to sell her for sexual exploitation.
Unfortunately, this is just the most recent example of the very real problem of child trafficking and exploitation in our nation and in our communities. According to Georgia Cares, the state’s coordinating agency for victim services, 469 cases were reported from 102 of the state’s 159 counties in FY2016. That’s nearly 500 young girls and boys whose lives have been forever changed by predators looking to make quick cash by selling a child for sex.
The incredible work being done by Gwinnett County and other law enforcement leaders is just the first step in rescuing these children. Young trafficking victims cannot simply walk away from the person who tricked or forced them into these unimaginable circumstances and resume a normal life. They have been wounded mentally and physically and require sustained treatment. They need safe housing, as they often have nowhere else to go. For them to have any chance for a successful future, they need help getting back on track with their education and development of life skills. These children need a support system that will help them believe in themselves again and give them the foundation they need to start anew.
As Georgia voters, we have the opportunity to give child trafficking victims the support they need and the future they deserve. By voting yes on Amendment 2 in the general election, we will create as much as $2 million in annual, constitutionally-dedicated funding that will be used exclusively and in perpetuity for child victim services. This funding would come from new fines on convicted traffickers such as the ones arrested through Operation Cross Country X, and a new fee on certain adult entertainment establishments, with which there is a proven correlation with child trafficking.
Amendment 2 is about much more than funding. It is about healing. It is about hope. We know that 75 to 80 percent of these young victims, with an average age of only 13, are indeed able to go back to school, secure jobs and work towards a successful future. We cannot return their innocence, but we can restore their dreams.
There are those who say they are against Amendment 2 because they disagree with the concept of constitutionally-dedicating funding or collecting fees from a particular industry. To them I would respectfully suggest that sometimes even a principle held for good reason should be overridden. For many of these young victims, this funding literally could mean the difference between life and death – do we really want to leave that up to the politics of annual appropriations?
For the 82 young people rescued this week, for the hundreds rescued last year and for the thousands who will need our help in the years to come, I implore all Georgians to say yes to Amendment 2 this fall. Your vote is their future.
Renee Unterman is of Gwinnett County representing District 45 in the Georgia Senate. She chairs the Senate Committee on Health and Human Services and authored the bill placing Amendment 2 on the November ballot.
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