dharmapalan

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Rebecca believes that if we end the stigma surrounding child sex trafficking, we can truly change the world. 

Rebecca started a major billboard campaign in her city, spreading messages of awareness. “Being a prostituted teen isn’t a choice — it’s slavery,” read the billboard. “Teens sold for sex aren’t prostitutes — they’re rape victims,” read another.

“We need to love our children. We need them to understand that we love them. And not just your own children, but all children in this country,” she says. She also details different types of “pimps” — guerrilla and romeo — who target young women. 

“We need to show women of color and empower them and have them know that they don’t need to allow their bodies be there for the sexual exploitation of men,” she says. “The greatest impact we can have is in our own communities. Sometimes we just need to dig our feet into the soul of the Earth…because we can make the greatest impact right here at home.”

Rebecca Dharmapalan is a 19-year-old artist. She had a friend in high school whose boyfriend used to pimp her out in order to pay his cell phone bills. When she finally refused, he beat her so badly that Rebecca never saw her friend again. 

“I was on a mission to change the way people saw child sex trafficking in America. That it was a real, tangible thing. So what I did was make film…I realized that art was extremely powerful,” she says.

Oakland, California is one of the most diverse cities in the country, but as any city, “with diversity comes this harsh underbelly of violence.” So, Rebecca used art to change a major city problem. 

“100,000 children are trafficked in the United States. And hundreds of thousands more are at risk of having their bodies sold,” she says. 12 is the average age of entry. “Girls were being sold ten to fifteen times a day…these are girls in the United States of America. In our own backyards. In our communities. This is right in front of us.”