rapeculturerealities:

Last month, Huffington Post Senior Enterprise Reporter Michael Hobbes noticed a shocking story from Georgia emerge. It travelled from local news outlets, to the Associated Press, to The New York Times and cable news. According the headlines, 39 children had been rescued in a child sex trafficking bust.

Except, that wasn’t quite true.

Missing children had been located — but almost all of them were found separately in a two-week operation that crossed state lines. In fact, the U.S. Marshals Service that found them doesn’t even investigate child sex trafficking cases. So why the headline? According to Hobbes, it’s a PR strategy used by law enforcement that plays well with the press. But it’s not harmless. The misleading idea that child sex trafficking is rampant stokes fear in the public, lends credibility to conspiracy theories, and can lead to negligence of more widespread and pressing child safety issues.

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