Response to Sold by Patricia McCormick

After reading Sold I was so happy for Lakshmi and her eventual escape from sexual slavery. For me, it is hard to imagine how difficult that kind of life (if you can call that a life) must be. The most difficult part for me is realizing that this book wasn’t written a hundred or two hundred years ago, but was written in 2006. The fact that sexual slavery and human trafficking are still prevalent in the world today is, to me, unforgiveable. In my little corner of the world it is absolutely impossible to imagine which ultimately numbs me to such an extent that I am horrified by my own capability to grasp the severity of the problem. These girls don’t deserve this. They had simple, good intentions of benefitting their families but are instead have their most basic human rights exploited. How can that be justified? While Lakshmi may be freed in the story, I doubt the same can be said for the thousands of other girls this happens to annually. Another thought that comes to mind is how good my life was when I was thirteen. At that point in my life my biggest concern was whether or not to ride my bike to school. Not worrying about providing for my family or being sold into slavery. This story makes me appreciate everything that I have and all of the opportunities that are presented to me. There are so many things that I will never have to worry about and any problem I have now seems truly inconsequential to what these thirteen year old girls are experiencing.  The only way I can comprehend these girl’s struggles is to consider the illegal prostitution prevalent in my hometown. The similarities are numerous. For instance, the girls that walk Sprague Avenue are not there by choice. Most of them are driven there by drug addiction. Because they have no skill sets or higher education to fall back on, these girls have to prostitute themselves in order to survive. The only real difference is that Lakshmi was forced into sexual slavery against her will, whereas the girls in my hometown have no other choice but to become prostitutes. Rehabilitation programs are expensive and so are living expenses. I know I am generalizing here, but I do know for a fact that drug abuse is prevalent where I live and it is a major reason why these girls have nowhere else to go. I’m beginning to consider the irony of this, as I have more sympathy for Lakshmi then I do for the girls in my hometown whose story is almost as sad. I would fund a program to help girls like Lakshmi, but in my own country I pay taxes so police officers in my hometown can arrest the prostitutes walking the streets near my home. How does that benefit anyone? The simple answer is, it doesn’t.