Sex trafficking has spiked during the pandemic, as kids and teens in lockdown spend much of their waking hours on social media where traffickers and pimps can easily reach them, says anti-trafficking activist Jaco Booyens.
Near the U.S.-Mexico border, traffickers are exploiting U.S. border policies and children are being “sold like cattle,” Booyens says.
Police funding cuts have compounded the crisis. Departments targeting trafficking tend to be small and highly specialized—and they’ve been the first to go in the defund the police movement, Booyens says.
In this episode, Booyens breaks down the causes of the child sex trafficking crisis in America and the links he sees between sex trafficking, the pornography industry, and the spread of comprehensive sex ed curricula across the United States.
