Over the last couple of months, I've been mentoring a student from Johnson High School in Hall County.  She wants to be a writer. So beginning this week, she'll be posting her comments on issues that matter to her. She'll be doing this until the end of the semester.

Here's her first entry.

Craigslist and Human Trafficking

By Binh Chung

On September 8, craigslist finally removed its much contentious adult section from its website. This decision came after many attorneys general, human rights advocates and law enforcements pressed for the shut down. The site, Craigslist, has been accused of being a marketplace place for child sex trafficking.

In America, it is estimated that 100,000 children become a slave to sex trafficking each year. The president of the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, Ernie Allen, states that "internet services have made it possible to pimp these kids, offering them to prospective customers with little or no risk."

 At the House Judiciary subcommittee hearing on Sept. 15, Craigslist's director of law enforcement pleaded that taking down Craigslist's adult section is useless, because "those who formerly posted 'adult services' ads on Craigslist will now advertise at countless other venues." Therefore, advocates will have a harder time chasing down other less known sites to crack down on sex trafficking.

This logic works both ways. Considering the fact that other sites lack the convenience and popularity of craigslist, sex traffickers will have a complicated time locating customers. This, in turn, will actually reduce the number of trafficking and sex purchases.

A proponent for Craigslist, Danah Boyd, wrote an article in the Huffington Post urging craigslist to reopen its 'adult section.' She suggests that "Craigslist is in a tremendous position to actually work with law enforcement, both because it's in their economic interests and because the people behind it genuinely want to do good in this world."

We can confirm that her first point is true. Craigslist is projected to bank 44 million dollars from sales of sex ads this year. However, allowing ads that victimize children to run for nearly a decade makes craigslist's image as do-gooder questionable.

What happened on Sept. 8 was only a small victory. The next step for Craigslist should be to take down its adult services to all countries in the world, not just the US.

Ms. Chung is a Senior Honor's Student at Johnson High School in Gainesville, Georgia