“Pimpin aint easy” is the glorified saying connected with human sex trafficking. The saying made famous through songs by well-known rappers like Big Daddy Kane, ICE-T, and Snoop Dogg has made it apart of popular rap culture for decades. Popular couture has made the imagery of pimps laughable often depicting them in flashy over the top clothing, top hats and canes, and driving lavish luxury cars. This has made the true crime surrounding pimps and sex trafficking lost to the public.
Datqunn Sawyer has been sentenced on Thursday, April 5 to 50 years in a federal prison for his involvement in human sex trafficking. Sawyer was known as a pimp for his control of several young women on the streets of Chicago. Sawyer often targeted minors as young as 12 to force them into prostitution branding them with a tattoo. The tattoo branded on the women were symbols related to Sawyer’s rapper alter ego known as “P-Child”. Sawyer’s attorney argued for a lighter sentence saying that when Sawyer “fell prey” to the rap game’s popularization of pimping. His attorney also brought up that Sawyer’s father had abused him as a child and that Sawyer’s own father was a pimp.
The FBI sees human sex trafficking as the “most common form of modern-day slavery” and has become big business for organized crime. An estimated 293,000 American youths are currently at risk of becoming victims of commercial sexual exploitation (Hill, Rodriguez, 2010).
Media has a large part in the glorification of sex trafficking and also a large part in condemning it. There needs to be a larger effort in condemning the actions and the lifestyle of pimps. We need to raise awareness of human sex trafficking here in the United States.
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/ct-met-pimping-predator-0406-20120406,0,1975194.story
http://www.fbi.gov/stats-services/publications/law-enforcement-bulletin/march_2011/human_sex_trafficking
First of all, I'm not trying to make light of this very serious issue, but I think it is hilarious that this story made it to the classroom.
ReplyDeleteIt's awful to think that this sort of thing is going on in our own backyards. Wasn't he charged with human trafficking? That's a much more serious charge that pimping. I'm not completely naive to the facts but I guess I hold on to the stereotype that child prostitutes are smuggled in from Asia or Eastern Europe. And certainly not managed by some wanna be rapper from the south side of Chicago! I'm glad that he got 50 years!
I believe there are a few of our Professors in the Criminal Justice Department that work with human trafficking. My opinion is that human trafficking is modern day slavery and sex trafficking. There is something that needs to be done to solve this problem at hand but these issues are not just in America, many European countries have this problem maximized, but we need to work at solving this problem internationally, not just in the U.S.
ReplyDeleteAs for the story, Datqunn Sawyer, deserves to be sentenced to the maximum for making the women involved his "property" by branding them. That is crazy. In 2012, after slavery, after civil rights its obvious that his behaviors are completely wrong. We need to create more powerful programs that work to stop this. Pimping aint easy, but its illegal. His previous abuse from his father was a tragic thing, but what he chose to do to these women is completely wrong, but he deserved every minuet of the sentence.
I have honestly never thought of Pimping and Prostitution as modern day human trafficking. I always thought of it as just an illegal enterprise that had no meaning other than money. But when you really sit down and think about it really is an illegal enterprise that has destroyed many lives and spread disease to no end. I really have to hand it to the judge for not buying the sob story of Datqunn Sawyer and giving him what he deserved. Even though 50 years is a long time for a murderless crime, his victims will have to go through life knowing that they have been beaten, raped, doped up, and branded by this sick man. Pimping out women in general is wrong and it is even more wrong when they aren't even of legal age to make mature decisions for themselves. All in all this was a great read, funny title, and some justice was served to a man the greatly needed it!
ReplyDeleteAndrew Serena
This is a serious issue I believe, and I am glad dude got fifty years in prison. Nobody should be forced to have sex with people in exchange for money. That ain't right. Pimpin has been led to believe that it is not that serious, but when you think about what really goes on with "pimping" it is a real serious crime that everybody needs to be aware of.
ReplyDeleteIn pop culture today, most people don't think Pimpin is that serious of an issue, but it really is. More awareness and action needs to taken on it. Glad to see the courts did not believe the sob story of this guy and gave him the time he deserves, maybe this will become the standard now. 50 years for Pimpin.
ReplyDeleteFirst off rest in Peace to big daddy kane, extremely underrated rapper of his time.
ReplyDeleteHowever this was a fun post to read because it was different. 50 years should serve him right, because it is true that nobody should be forced to have unwanted sex. And I can see the connection to pimping and sex trafficking. After all they are pretty much the same. I mean look at the movie "Taken." Its scary to think that stuff like that actually happens, and even tho that film was hollywood, it does actually happen. I learned in my world criminal justice class that human trafficking is a major illegal source of income for most countries. It truly is shocking when you think about it. I hope they use this guy as an example. And is it just me or do that photo look extremely photo shopped?
Ha, the lawyer tried to blame popular culture for this man sex trafficking young girls. Even though "pimping" may be glorified in rap songs doesn’t mean it’s at all acceptable to actually engage in. This man deserves his 50-year sentence for forcing children into the sex industry. Honestly, this type of crime is so horrible and can cause serious emotional and physical damage to young children. It’s hard to believe that some people actually do this. I feel that we really need to crack down and punish individuals who are involved in sex trafficking because it really is a serious issue.
ReplyDeleteThis really is a terrible issue that exists everywhere in todays society. There are girls dropping out of junior high schools in the inner cities to go work with their moms on the street corner. Its really a sad reality that a lot of us don't have to deal with and therefore don't know just how frequently this type of thing happens. I think a big part of it is the general acceptance by pop culture. There are constantly rap songs coming out that glorify the life of a pimp and prostitutes and then these kids hear it and think that it is something that is cool and something that they should get into. The way that certain aspects of society seem to turn the other way and let this go on is really the root of the problem.
ReplyDeleteI think its good to lock up the pimps, but what happens to all the girls who are left on the street with incurable STDs and children who are at home by themselves or staying with family because mommy cant turn away from the money. Those women run to another pimp and continue on as usual. I dont think anything will change until we help both sides of the situation.
ReplyDeleteHaha. Good title it really made me wanna read your article in order to see where you would go with it. This was a very interesting article because it deals with a issue that is of great importance in today's world. I thought it was absurd that the lawyer in this article tried to blame popular culture for the crimes that this man did relating to pimping. However, I do believe that the man was definitely guilty and deserved the punishment that he received. It is unfortunate how these type of men objectify women and I feel that pimps should be prosecuted to the full extent of the law.
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