Documentary screening highlights sex trafficking

BlueWater Cinemas in Parker was host to a special screening of the documentary film Tricked last week in collaboration with PAACE, the County Attorney’s Office and the Arizona Crime Prevention Association.

The film highlights the issue of sex trafficking, in which underage girls and young women are exploited as prostitutes, some as young as 13 years old. The ACPA’s Kathleen Winn spent a few days in Parker promoting the screening and speaking at civic organizations to spread awareness, saying that even Parker, AZ was not immune from such activity. She said she had seen a case involving a girl as young as 9.

County Attorney Tony Rogers said that aggressive prosecution of laws designed to prevent sexual exploitation was the ‘immediate’ answer, while the permanent answer is strong families.

“Our county motto includes the words ‘future unlimited'”, Rogers said. “That starts with paying close attention to our children while they are still children.”

Duce Minor of PAACE thanked BlueWater Cinemas for hosting the screening and told KLPZ 1380am that the issue is an important one, and often an invisible one.

Attention is being paid to sex trafficking in Arizona ahead of the Super Bowl, which tends to draw increased demand for paid sex to the state.