Sex Traffickers Using TikTok to Lure Children, Youth Therapist Warns

Contact Your Elected Officials
The Epoch Times Header

TikTok may be providing opportunities for sex traffickers to groom children, a youth therapist has warned.

Dr. Katie Guinn has spent the past 10 years providing in-home family therapy to young people and their families in the Acadiana region of Louisiana. She’s the regional director of The Center for Children and Families, a nonprofit organization that provides advocacy, counseling, and other services for families in need.

The need for mental health services among young people has skyrocketed in the past two years, according to Guinn, who said she’s encountering more and more children who have been victims of sex trafficking.

In providing a definition of the term, she said that “sex trafficking involves engaging in sexual activities against the will of a person for an exchange of goods.” The transaction isn’t always associated with money, but can also include drugs, food, or shelter, for example.

As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, Guinn said, a relatively new concept has emerged, which she called “cybersex trafficking.” The goal of luring children and adults into sex trafficking remains the same, but in this approach, she said, “everything is virtual.” Websites and a variety of phone apps with messaging capabilities are utilized to communicate with users, who are often minors.

Victims and participants can upload content, such as photographs or videos, and a transaction occurs using cryptocurrency. According to Guinn, “this new realm of sex trafficking is incredibly difficult to track and learn more about because it constantly and instantly evolves.”

What is known, she said, is that children are particularly vulnerable.

“For a child or another victim to be susceptible to sex trafficking, there first has to be a vulnerability,” she said.

A vulnerability can be defined as “something missing in a child’s life that needs to be filled.” This void or need can come in many forms, she explained.

“It can be connection, survival, love, substance abuse, shelter, food, stability, and more,” she said.

“In the last three years, the biggest need we have seen in children is connection, [as] kids have been incredibly isolated as a result of the pandemic.”

Guinn identified connection as a human need that is as significant for a child as eating or breathing.

“People need connection, especially children,” she said.

By J.M. Phelps

Read Full Article on TheEpochTimes.com

The Epoch Times
The Epoch Timeshttps://www.theepochtimes.com/
Tired of biased news? The Epoch Times is truthful, factual news that other media outlets don't report. No spin. No agenda. Just honest journalism like it used to be.

No Kings Exposes Odd Things!

The “No Kings” protests held around the nation are not grassroots spontaneous people’s protests but are highly organized events by paid provocateurs.

President Trump Needs Much Better Protection

President Trump faces threats from foreign adversaries and domestic radicals prone to violence, people suffering from severe “TDS.”

Science Has Finally Come For Transgenderism

British biologist Richard Dawkins said “trans women are men,” calling transgender ideology a movement that undermines biological truth.

Trump is Coming for Antifa

Liberals say there is no organization called “Antifa”. Conservatives say Antifa is real and we now know how it is funded. What should we believe?

The Pentagon vs. the Free Press (or What’s Left of It)

Reporting what the government would rather not have reported is not just an essential function but a duty of a free press in a representative system.

Cleveland-Cliffs Stock Jumps as It Eyes Rare Earths Production

Cleveland-Cliffs’ $400M Defense Logistics Agency deal and rare earth mining prospects boosted its stock to yearly highs on Oct. 20.

FBI Confirms Hunting Stand Near Trump’s Air Force One: 4 Things to Know

FBI’s deputy director said forensic tools are being used to investigate a hunting stand found overlooking President Trump’s Air Force One in Florida.

Trump Says US May Import Beef From Argentina to Lower Prices at Home

President Trump said on Oct. 19 that the United States might purchase beef from Argentina as part of an effort to address rising meat prices in the country.

Government Shutdown Could End This Week: White House Economist

In an interview, Kevin Hassett stated that a chorus of Senate Democrats thought it would be “bad optics” to reopen the govt before the “No Kings” rallies.

President Signs Rare Earth Agreement With Australia’s PM

President Trump hosted Australian PM Albanese at the White House, where both leaders signed a new agreement on rare earth mineral cooperation.

Trump Says Insurrection Act Is ‘Strongest Power a President Has’

President Trump detailed plans to invoke the Insurrection Act to address rampant crime, calling it the “strongest power a president has.”

Army Corps of Engineers to Pause $11 Billion in Projects During Shutdown: Vought

Russ Vought, director of the White House’s OMB, has added to the growing pile of federal projects paused during the government shutdown.

Trump Signs Executive Order Putting New Restrictions on Federal Hiring

Trump signed an executive order directing federal agencies to restrict hiring, with exceptions for immigration, security, and political appointees.
spot_img

Related Articles

Popular Categories

MAGA Business Central