Tekla Roberts has a mission in life: To rescue girls, as young as 13, from commercial, sexual exploitation.
It's a life she knows well. Until six years ago, she was a prostitute.
"I was raped. I've been raped. I've been locked in basements. I've been locked in cars, locked in hotel rooms,” Roberts said.
The number of sexually-exploited girls in Texas under the age of 18 has always been a guess.
Until now.
A new study, conducted in November, found the number of teens sold for sex by escort services and on the Internet totaled 740.
Using statistical models, the research found about 4 percent were available through escort services typically found in weekly papers like the Dallas Observer. Ninety-six percent were hired through online ads in services like Backpage.com.
The research was prepared for the Dallas Women's Foundation.
"This is a big business we're talking about," said DWF president Becky Sykes. "Very lucrative, very organized, very easy to conduct with the Internet.”
The research, conducted by The Schapiro Group in Atlanta, also tracked how girls are moved around the country to go where the customers are.
"The city-to-city, state-to-state transition can be pretty quick, and we find that there is quite a bit of transience among this population,” said Alex Trouteaud, lead researcher for The Schapiro Group.
The Women’s Foundation paid for the research, hoping hard numbers will influence lawmakers in Austin to recognize that girls are victims. The foundation wants the state to fund programs for long-term care and housing.
"Real numbers, with real research backing them up, will get the attention of elected officials,” Sykes said.
Tekla Roberts says a 13-year old girl — who likely ran away from sexual and physical abuse at home — should not be blamed; she should be helped.
"To turn the other cheek and to ignore it is inhumane," Roberts said. "I believe it's our responsibility.”
She and others hope knowing the scope of the problem will make it a problem that's impossible to ignore.
The research will continue three times a year.
Another study is planned during the Super Bowl, a time when many believe sexual trafficking peaks in the host city. But that hypothesis has never been proven.
E-mail dschechter@wfaa.com
