Is this the real reason we're still locked down?

Not the Virus, not the election but…

The Pandemic Is Increasing Child Sex Trafficking, But Not For Reasons You May Think

Since the start of the coronavirus pandemic, law enforcement agencies and nonprofit organizations have issued dire warnings that the intense isolation and increased time online would lead to higher rates of child sex trafficking.

In October, the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) noted that reports of online child sexual exploitation had doubled in 2020 compared with the previous year. The anti-trafficking charity Polaris said in June that calls to the National Trafficking Hotline had spiked 40% over pre-pandemic rates.

Most of these warnings focused on the risk of children being approached by online predators. The FBI said abusers were joining multiple social media platforms to target kids. Local media published stories declaring the pandemic was “giving sex predators more access to children.” NCMEC Vice President John Shehan said state lockdown orders could increase opportunities for offenders to groom children online.

“Child predators are using the dark net to discuss stay-at-home orders and use the opportunity to entice children to produce sexually explicit material,” an NCMEC spokesperson told Forbes magazine.

While the coronavirus has indeed increased the risk of abuse for children, experts said these perils are more closely related to family members and cuts to social services than to strangers on the internet.

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https://www.yahoo.com/huffpost/the-pandemic-is-increasing-sex-trafficking-but-not-for-the-reasons-you-think-104500562.html