Somebody's Daughter: The Hidden Story of America's Prostituted Children and the Battle to Save Them

by Julian Sher

Overview

They are America’s forgotten children, the hundreds of thousands of child prostitutes who walk the Las Vegas Strip, the casinos of Atlantic City, the truck stops on interstates, and the street corners of our cities. Many people wrongly believe sex trafficking involves young women from foreign lands. In reality, the majority of teens caught in the sex trade are American girls—runaways and throwaways who become victims of ruthless pimps.

            In Somebody's Daughter: The Hidden Story of America's Prostituted Children and the Battle to Save Them, meet the girls who are fighting for their dignity, the cops who are trying to rescue them, and the community activists battling to protect the nation's most forsaken children. Author Julian Sher takes you behind the scenes to expose one of America’s most underreported crimes: A girl from New Jersey gets arrested in Las Vegas and, at great risk to her own life, helps the FBI take down a million-dollar pimping empire. An abused teenager in Texas has the courage to take the stand in a grueling trial that sends her pimp away for 75 years. Survivors of the sex trade in New York, Phoenix, and Minneapolis set up shelters and rescue centers that offer young girls a chance to break free from the streets. “The sex trade is the new drug trade,” says one FBI special agent, and Somebody's Daughter is a call to action, shining a light on America’s dirty little secret.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781613748084
Publisher:	Chicago Review Press, Incorporated
Publication date:	04/01/2013
Edition description:	Reprint
Pages:	352
Sales rank:	894,807
Product dimensions:	5.90(w) x 8.90(h) x 0.90(d)

Table of Contents

Author's Note v

Prologue: What Happens in Vegas… 1

Part 1 Innocence Lost

1 The Girl from Jersey 17

2 High-Risk Victims 35

3 Maria's Dilemma 59

4 The Wealth of Knowledge 75

Part 2 Confronting the Pimps

5 Taking on Pimp Culture 91

6 "He Was Untouchable" 107

7 Takedown 127

8 "She's Not Your Ho Anymore" 139

9 "Like Attacking the Mafia" 161

10 In the Dead of the Night 179

11 "Judge People by Courage" 187

Part 3 "Girls Are Not for Sale"

12 Courtroom 18 221

13 No Safe Haven 237

14 Unequal Laws 251

15 Finding Their Own Voice 277

16 Making the Invisible Visible 299

Epilogue: "Caught in Between Two Worlds" 317

Afterword 324

Acknowledgments 329

Resources For Help 331

Sources 335

Index 337

About the Author 346

What People are Saying About This

Ellen Hopkins

Unsettling, uncomfortable, unforgettable. Every parent should read Somebody's Daughter , and then share this book with their teen. Knowledge is power. (Ellen Hopkins, author, Tricks and Fallout)

Lois Lee

Describes America's failure to address the needs of American children forced to prostitute right here in the United States. (Dr. Lois Lee, founder & president, Children of the Night)

Ernie Allen

[A] powerful and compelling book ... as riveting and disturbing as this book is, it is also uplifting and hopeful ... [Sher] showcases some modern-day heroes whose courageous efforts are rescuing kids and bringing those who prey upon them to justice. It is inspiring. We need more such heroes. (Ernie Allen, president & CEO, National Center for Missing & Exploited Children)

Rachel Durchslag

A brutally honest look into the hidden world of prostituted children in the United States. A compelling book that will touch hearts and minds and inspire people to take action. (Rachel Durchslag, executive director, Chicago Alliance against Sexual Exploitation)

From the Publisher

"If you ever watched Pretty Woman and wondered how Julia Roberts got out on street in the first place—read this book. Somebody's Daughter exposes the grit behind the glamour, the exploitation behind the elegance, and the violence and abuse that are the true story of the women and children hurt on our own streets, in our own cities in America."  —Laura J. Lederer, president, Global Centurion, former senior advisor on trafficking, U.S. Department of State

"Unsettling, uncomfortable, unforgettable. Every parent should read Somebody's Daughter, and then share this book with their teen. Knowledge is power."  —Ellen Hopkins, author, Tricks and Fallout

"A brutally honest look into the hidden world of prostituted children in the United States. A compelling book that will touch hearts and minds and inspire people to take action."  —Rachel Durchslag, executive director, Chicago Alliance Against Sexual Exploitation

"Somebody's Daughter describes America's failure to address the needs of American children forced to prostitute right here in the United States."  —Dr. Lois Lee, founder & president, Children of the Night

"Masterful, absorbing . . . To date the most definitive account of sex trafficking of children in the United States and the culture that supports it."  —Norma Ramos, executive director, Coalition Against Trafficking of Women

"Parents every day suffer the anxiety and sorrow of a daughter or son who has run away or is missing. There are few books as well written, insightful, and motivating as Somebody’s Daughter.  Julian Sher, in his extraordinarily masterful manner, has brought out the truth of this well-organized, underrecognized and continuously growing threat to children in America."   —Dr. Sharon W. Cooper, consultant, National Center for Missing and Exploited Children

“[A] powerful and compelling book . . . as riveting and disturbing as this book is, it is also uplifting and hopeful. [Sher] showcases some modern-day heroes whose courageous efforts are rescuing kids and bringing those who prey upon them to justice. It is inspiring. We need more such heroes."  —Ernie Allen, president & CEO, National Center for Missing and Exploited Children

"Compulsively readable account . . . that elevates a collection of horrifying statistics into a cinematic, fully dimensional story."  —Bust

Laura J. Lederer

If you ever watched Pretty Woman and wondered how Julia Roberts got out on the street in the first place—read this book. Somebody's Daughter exposes the grit behind the glamour, the exploitation behind the elegance, and the violence and abuse that are the true story of the women and children hurt on our own streets, in our own cities in America. (Laura J. Lederer, president, Global Centurion, and former senior advisor on trafficking, U.S. Department of State)

Norma Ramos

To date the most definitive account of sex trafficking of children in the United States and the culture that supports it. (Norma Ramos, executive director, Coalition against Trafficking of Women)

Editorial Reviews

"If you ever watched Pretty Woman and wondered how Julia Roberts got out on street in the first place—read this book. Somebody's Daughter exposes the grit behind the glamour, the exploitation behind the elegance, and the violence and abuse that are the true story of the women and children hurt on our own streets, in our own cities in America."  —Laura J. Lederer, president, Global Centurion, former senior advisor on trafficking, U.S. Department of State

"Unsettling, uncomfortable, unforgettable. Every parent should read Somebody's Daughter, and then share this book with their teen. Knowledge is power."  —Ellen Hopkins, author, Tricks and Fallout

"A brutally honest look into the hidden world of prostituted children in the United States. A compelling book that will touch hearts and minds and inspire people to take action."  —Rachel Durchslag, executive director, Chicago Alliance Against Sexual Exploitation

"Somebody's Daughter describes America's failure to address the needs of American children forced to prostitute right here in the United States."  —Dr. Lois Lee, founder & president, Children of the Night

"Masterful, absorbing . . . To date the most definitive account of sex trafficking of children in the United States and the culture that supports it."  —Norma Ramos, executive director, Coalition Against Trafficking of Women

"Parents every day suffer the anxiety and sorrow of a daughter or son who has run away or is missing. There are few books as well written, insightful, and motivating as Somebody’s Daughter.  Julian Sher, in his extraordinarily masterful manner, has brought out the truth of this well-organized, underrecognized and continuously growing threat to children in America."   —Dr. Sharon W. Cooper, consultant, National Center for Missing and Exploited Children



“[A] powerful and compelling book . . . as riveting and disturbing as this book is, it is also uplifting and hopeful. [Sher] showcases some modern-day heroes whose courageous efforts are rescuing kids and bringing those who prey upon them to justice. It is inspiring. We need more such heroes."  —Ernie Allen, president & CEO, National Center for Missing and Exploited Children

"Compulsively readable account . . . that elevates a collection of horrifying statistics into a cinematic, fully dimensional story."  —Bust

From the Publisher

"The sex trade is the new drug trade," writes Sher (Caught in the Web), who draws attention to the 300,000 American minors trafficked and prostituted each year in his thorough, deeply affecting study. Scaffolding his arguments on the narratives of two such children--Maria, a former prostitute "turned out" at the age of 13, and Felicia, who became involved with her pimp at 14--Sher follows how young people, frequently runaways, find themselves in the clutches of predatory adults. He introduces the reader to the networks of rescue organizations that offer succor and the law enforcement agencies that too frequently victimize the children further, prosecuting prostitutes rather than their pimps or johns. He also studies how representations of pimping in pop culture (from Grand Theft Auto IV to rapper Ice-T's film Pimpin') normalize--even glamorize--exploitation. While the horror stories of the young girls "in the life" are vividly recounted, the author depicts them with sensitivity and respect; and his book strikes a rare balance between revealing trauma and hope, and between the stories of abused children and their advocates. (Jan.)

Publishers Weekly