Chipping Away at Sex Trafficking in America

I’ve written a good deal about sex traf f icking in other countries over the years, f rom Cambodia to India, Pakistan to Philippines. But I probably haven’t written enough about the problem right here in America, and in the last f ew years I’ve tried to remedy that. My first aim is to remind people that this is a major problem at home, and that a lot of prostitution is less voluntary than people usually assume. The second aim is to show that the problem isn’t hopeless, and that there are things we can do about it.

So that’s the point of my Sunday column from Nashville. This is Middle America, and it seems as if on any given day there are between 50 and 100 women selling sex in Nashville. Some are selling sex of their own f ree will, some are enslaved by pimps, and some fall somewhere in between on that continuum. Sheila Faye Simpkins, the protagonist of my column, is an extraordinary women working with a couple of equally extraordinary organizations to make a difference.One, Magdalene and Thistle Farms, Italked about in my column.If Ihad had a bit more space, I would also have mentioned End Slavery Tennessee, where Simpkins does a great deal of her outreach work assisting women at risk.

So read the column, help spread the word about trafficking in America, and post your thoughts!