Atheism Or Starvation?

She stands on the street corners,

because it's her home now.

Under the bright lamp, her eyes have lost their glow.

They have dimmed.

But she's alert.. on the inside, at least.

Her heart skips a beat everytime a car slows down near,

Because maybe.. just maybe, it'll mean she'll have dinner for that night.

and then it'll be a few hours,

maybe even a few more days,

until she has to do it again.

It fills her mind with such shame and disgust,

putting a price on her body,

just to keep going.

Immoral, wrong, shameful.

Jesus, surely, would never approve.

But does she follow Jesus,

Or quit Him,

simply to relish in his precious gift

of Life?

 

In the US, the average age of entry into prostitution is 13.

In September, Governor David Paterson signed into law the Safe Harbor for Exploited Youth Act, which is intended to stop the practice of charging sexually exploited children as criminals.

 

Problem is, the law doesn't go into effect until 2010.

Until then, New York will continue to charge child prostitutes under the age of 16 as criminals, rather than treating them as victims. Boys and girls as young as 12 who are charged with prostitution are often sent to juvenile detention centers.

Their entry in the profession is often running away from an abusive home or being kidnapped. The average age of entry into the commercial sex industry is now 11-12 years old. According to a 2007 report from the NY State Office of Children and Family Services, more than 2,200 children are victimized through commercial sexual exploitation in New York City.

These stats made me cry.

 

 

{ #2 in Destruction of Innocence series. YES, I am wearing heavy make-up, i.e. red lipstick, and I tried to achieve the streaks of mascara look }

Done