PIMPS AND ‘HO’s. “Johns” and “tricks.” Not the expected topic
for an after-school workshop for middle schoolers. But as a
social work intern with FAIR Girls, a Washington, D.C.-based
nonprofit dedicated to preventing human trafficking, I am
teaching these barely adolescent girls and boys about the type
of trafficking that most endangers U.S. citizens and permanent
residents. (FAIR stands for “free, aware, inspired, and
restored.”) Take Action on This Issue Human trafficking is often
portrayed as an international problem, not something that
happens in the United States. But the heart-wrenching fact is
that the average age of entry into prostitution and pornography
for U.S. citizens and permanent residents is between 12 and 14
years old. A minor working in prostitution, pornography,
stripping, or any other commercial sex work is by definition a
victim of human trafficking, according to the Trafficking
Victims Protection Act of 2000. (If one is over the age of 18,
he or she must prove “force, fraud, or coercion”