I looked for anything that said Seattle was highly ranked for child sex trafficking in the US and didn't find anything.
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The article was taken from a Seattle/northwest area source so I image they were posted about their area inclusively. I added that it is actually a national problem.
I think it is more an impression that the writer of the article had than based on any factual research or statistics. Like you said, it is alarmist, and I think shouldn't be published w/o facts to back it up, rather than an anecdotal situation by one mother.
The girl in the article was a runaway. Only a troubled kid is a runaway. The family has to take some responsibility rather than just saying any kid at all is going to be swept off the street and used as a sex slave. If your kid has run away, there is a problem in the home. I'm not excusing sex traffickers, but they couldn't function w/o vulnerable children to prey on.
You may be correct that Seattle or Washington state isn't as high on the list of human trafficking as the article suggests although it is a big problem here. Yes, the problem is worldwide, no doubt. Seattle or Washington does play a big role in it, since we do border Canada, have several international ports and large rural areas that some of those states don't have, and I'm not saying that we are the only state that does. Washington is/was unique in that we were one of the first to pass very strict laws against human trafficking, although few if any have been prosecuted under those laws because most of those crimes have been dealt with under other similar laws. Also understand that human trafficking isn't just about the sex trade. It also encompasses labor workers, whether for agriculture or sweat shops both here & abroad.
I do disagree about where traffickers get their victims.....atleast to a point. Yes many are runaways, but don't be so quick to discount kidnappings. The child porn/sex trafficking business problem includes infants, toddlers and the very young that wouldn't have the choice to runaway. There is always a good chance that unsolved kidnappings are for trafficking........especially when several are reported within a relatively short period of time. And don't forget those girls that were kept for years in that creeps basement or the other that was kept in a shed that finally escaped after years of confinement. None of them were runaways.
I also disagree about all runaways being victims of a bad home & the parents solely responsible. Yes many are such, but there are also many kids especially nowadays, that when they hit that rebellious stage & don't agree with home rules.....take off on their own. Other possibles would be a one parent home, the kid feels wronged in some way even though the parent is doing the best they can and the kid runs.
Kids under 18 (and even some older and many adults too) don't really know their ass from their elbow and are vulnerable to anyone with a slick story.
