article_snippet: And while institutionalized slavery has long been cast from America's history books, thousands of children still suffer from the bonds of sex trafficking.
article_snippet: Indeed, with the average age of a victim only 13 years old, these horrific crimes are stealing the innocent childhoods of kids across America.
article_snippet: Instead of treating people like these young girls as the victims these young girls are, these young girls are often thrown into the criminal justice system, labeled prostitutes and left with few options but to return to a nightmare that shockingly still exists in the United States.
article_snippet: Meanwhile, instead of treating these young girls perpetrators as child rapists and traffickers, instead of treating their perpetrators as child rapists and traffickers are often simply treated as "Johns" who, if caught, often pay a fine and go on instead of treating their perpetrators as child rapists and traffickers way.
article_snippet: All across the country, from Texas to Minnesota, young people are being robbed of young people innocence and subjected to unthinkable horrors and abuse.
article_snippet: We must do everything We can to free young people from the shackles of sex trafficking.
highlights_snippet: Trafficking stealing kids' childhoods .
  