My focus to Equip, Empower, Educate, Uplift and Encourage our communities to get actively involved. **Just a real conversation to have, something truly to consider** We need to understand how important it is to use our voices and make a stand to get the proper healing and aid, for self-stability.
Dehumanization and objectification- are prerequisites for the guilt-free purchase and consumption of human beings, and Black women and girls have historically been dehumanized. Black female's bodies have always been commodified in some way, either to breed for labor or to use for sexual pleasure. As a result, Black females have been excluded from definitions of "respectable" and/or "proper" womanhood, sexuality, and beauty, influencing how their right to bodily autonomy and agency is viewed. Even before a young Black girl turns five years old, society has determined what she needs and how she will act. Traffickers are then bred and trained to see them in this way, and thus feel entitled to treat them as such. We even have language that suggests that Black women are deemed "unrapeable."
Criminalization-Black women and girls are seldom seen as victims. They are often blamed for their victimization or perceived to have “deserved" it. As trafficking victims, Black females are typically arrested for prostitution instead of being provided with resources. Black girls are arrested more for "juvenile prostitution-child exploitation (for there is no such thing as child prostitution for children cannot consent" than any other group of their peers, accounting for 40% of these arrests. Even when law enforcement does recognize the exploitation, there are not supports in place that do not further marginalize girls of color, a simultaneous means of protection and punishment. Research also shows that traffickers target Black women more often because they believe getting caught trafficking Black women would land them less jail time.
Sexualization-Black girls are viewed through a hypersexual lens. Growing out of roles forced upon them during slavery, Black females are viewed as promiscuous and sexually deviant, even from a young age. As a result, they are less likely to be believed when they report sexual violence and the sexual identity of Black girls ends up being determined more by how society views them than by how they view themselves. A juror from Kelly's 2008 child pornography trial, where Kelly was acquitted, said that he did not believe testimony from Black women because of "how they dressed" and "the way they act." With both the notion that Black women are inherently sex-crazed beings and the view of Black people as property, white men have used slavery and its progeny to perpetuate a culture that aggressively sexualizes Black women.
Internalization- Black girls statistically tend to internalize the racism and oppression they face, which can impact their sense of self-worth and, in turn, make them more susceptible to exploitation. For example, when society is constantly telling Black girls that they are responsible when someone violates her body, they take on responsibility that isn't theirs to take on. They don't talk about it - they hide, feel ashamed, and feel powerless. This internalization and the acceptance of the negative cultural stereotypes of their gendered racial identity undermines Black girls'
development. It doesn't just affect their levels of confidence, making them a target for traffickers, but the likelihood they feel they will be believed/supported if/when they need to reach out for help.
When we look at there are over 300,000 reported cases of someone experiencing some sort of sexual human trafficking a year in Houston Texas .
now 40% of sex trafficking victims and survivors that are reported are African-American women. that is the highest percentage of any race.
Considering only 13 % of the youth in the US are black.
51% of all prostitution for youth under the age of 18 are black.
Black girls criminalized and charged as perpetrators and not victims only 33% of youth are characterized as victims if a crime.
vs 61 % of the white youth are characterized as victims .
That's why it is important to look at the racial roots to understand why we must provide intervention, Prevention and Restoration services to victims and their families as well as our families who are living at provety level. If we want to truly make a difference, we must only look to the problem to find solutions that are effective to further combat these devastating injustices that are still rocking our communities.
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