When I first heard about domestic minor sex trafficking (DMST), my reaction was a strong impulse to turn away from this horrifying cruelty. Participating in a study group helped me process my emotional response. Now I understand that exposing the tragedy is the only way to eliminate it.

Federal law defines DMST as “the commercial sexual exploitation of American children within U.S. borders.” It is the “recruitment, harboring, transportation, provision, or obtaining of a person for the purpose of a commercial sex act.” Minors are exploited not only when they are sold for sex, but also in pornography and sex-centered venues such as massage parlors and strip clubs.

One hundred thousand to 300,000 American children are trafficked each year, and the average age of these trafficked victims is 12 to 14. A 2007 Urban Institute study of eight major U.S. cities estimated the underground sex economy yielded profits between $39.9 and $290 million.

The tentacles of this global problem reach into every community. Not only large cities, but also small towns and rural environments like our own are places where unspeakable violence to women and children occurs. A victim of DMST might be held against her* will around the corner, on Main Street, or next door to you.

Raising awareness about DMST is one powerful tool in the ongoing effort to enact strong legislation that would arrest and prosecute the real criminals—the traffickers and the men who buy sex with minors.

Shared Hope International is a not-for-profit organization that “strives to prevent the conditions that foster sex trafficking, restore victims of sex slavery, and bring justice to vulnerable women and children.” Its Protected Innocence Legislative Framework annually rates each state on “41 key legislative components that must be addressed in a state’s laws in order to effectively respond to the crime of” DMST. The good news is that Pennsylvania’s grade went from an F in 2013 to a C in 2014. New York State has a D rating.

Legislation is not enough. The laws must be enforced and criminals prosecuted.

The most significant change could occur if the normalization of sexual exploitation and violence in our culture, and the objectification of women in media such as video games and advertising, were no longer accepted. We must teach buyers of sex with children that they are not entitled to satisfy their sexual needs at the expense of another human being. We must dispel the justifications many men use when they buy sex: that a victim makes lots of money, when in reality she* must give her enslaver every cent; that a DMST victim enjoys her life, when in fact she suffers unspeakable physical and emotional violence at the hands of her trafficker; that she is choosing the life, when in fact she has been kidnapped and coerced into slavery.

Every enslaved child is someone’s daughter, sister, granddaughter, niece. Every enslaved child is someone’s son, brother, grandson, nephew. We owe it to each victim to expose their enslavement and help eradicate the tragedy of their lives, one child at a time. Shared Hope is one of many online resources offering information and ways to combat DMST.

If you have information about a missing child or suspected child sexual exploitation, call the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, 800-THE-LOST, or visit missingkids.com.

(*While DMST victims are both boys and girls, for the sake of brevity, I use the pronoun “she.”)

[Marcia Nehemiah is a resident of Lackawaxen Township, PA.]