EDITORIAL: Campaign targets predators who drive child sex trafficking

A statewide effort to prevent child sex trafficking in Georgia has taken a new focus — predatory customers.

Georgia Attorney General Sam Olens and representatives of advocacy group Street Grace, advertising firm BBDO Atlanta, and the Justice Network announced the new campaign called “Unmasked.”

“When we think of the perpetrators of this horrendous crime, pimps and traffickers immediately come to mind,” Olens said at an Atlanta news conference Tuesday. “However, they are not the only ones responsible for the commercial sexual exploitation of children. Purchasers are to blame as well.”

Sex trafficking of children is one of society’s most heinous crimes, preying on the most defenseless of society. Childhood is stolen in a cruel way that is unimaginable to most people. These sexual assaults happen in both urban and rural areas of the state, but the underground sex economy in Atlanta alone is worth $290 million a year, The A.G.’s office says, citing a 2014 study by the Urban Institute. Officials say that is more than the state capital’s illegal trade in guns and drugs combined. GA Cares found that more than nine out of every 10 children who are victims Domestic Minor Sex Trafficking are enrolled in school.

“We have made important strides in Georgia against human trafficking, but the fight is far from over,” Olens said. “We must continue to educate our citizens about the atrocities that occur in their own communities and address the problem of demand. Now is the time for action, and I encourage Georgians to take a stand against human trafficking in our state.”

The Unmasked campaign began Tuesday with a public service announcement that premiered on the Justice Network and was to be followed with PSAs in print, broadcast and digital media.

Cheryl DeLuca-Johnson, president and CEO of Street Grace, said Tuesday that ending child sex trafficking requires “a strategic, coordinated effort to address demand. It is necessary to utilize awareness, data and research that supports the pursuit, prosecution and restoration of those that buy.”

Placing a spotlight on those who abuse these young victims is seen as a way to cut into the demand. Child sexual abuse, perhaps more than any other crime, can only operate successfully if the perpetrators expect to avoid public exposure. Wil Boudreau, chief creative officer of BBDO Atlanta, said that’s what the campaign is designed to do, expose “the customers driving demand. These perpetrators need to know they are not anonymous. They will be unmasked.”

Steve Schiffman, CEO of the Justice Network, said the partnership is helping his organization “to make communities safer not just in Georgia, but throughout the U.S. and give this campaign the national platform this critical issue deserves.”

Indeed, Olens’ office says that attorneys general of three other states — South Carolina, Arizona and Indiana — have signed on with the Unmasked campaign. The hope is that the remaining 46 states will join the program.

The damage that the sexual exploitation of minors does cannot be overstated, nor can their childhoods be returned to them. But the child sex trade business can be interrupted by cutting out the demand. And that demand can be cut making the cost of hurting these innocents high enough and by shining a light brightly on these soulless predators, ensuring that they can no longer hide in the shadows.

— The Albany Herald Editorial Board