While I'm still exploring and will probably use this blog for Thesis related information, I also want to include information that I find about various topics, having to do with women.
For the past 3 months (probably more), my Netflix viewing has definitely been on hiatus. In fact, I've had the same 2 movies sitting with our DVD collection that whole time. Today, I decided to watch one of the documentaries I was waiting to see.
Very Young Girls is a film about girls who enter into prostitution and their journey, as well as their integration into and help from GEMS (Girls Educational & Mentoring Services.)
Did you know that the average girl in the United States enters the sex trafficking industry when she's 13 year old? How f*cked up is that?!
This film documented actual footage that 2 pimps took, in hopes that some day their lives as pimps would be made into a TV show. This combined with some of the ridiculous music out there today that glorifies the sex trafficking industry just goes to show how much more attention we need to give it, and how wrong it is. I was thrilled to find out that the documentation they created helped put them behind bars for 10 years.
The girls who participated in this film came from all different backgrounds with regard to their family structure and location in NYC. In a way, they compared prostitution for a young teenager to drug addicts; you only begin to help yourself when you hit rock bottom. I couldn't believe how brainwashed some of these teens were and how they were treated like common criminals.
True, I don't believe that any young teenager really believes that prostitution is normal. However, listening to these girls it's clear that as they entered this life they were completely brainwashed by their pimps (who were usually at least 15 years their senior) about their worth and what love is. The mind of a teenager is incredibly fragile, in that it is a peak time in a person's life when their thoughts, beliefs and convictions can be easily influenced. Pimps prey on these impressionable girls and fully use it to their advantage. Finally, they end up taking all the money while they are NOT the ones selling their bodies and ultimately destroying their self worth. The only thing they provide for these girls are a crappy place to stay and a regular supply of drugs so they will keep doing what they do and not feel anything, which is killing them slowly in the end.
It was very interesting, and I highly recommend it.
