Youth Radio Investigation: Arresting Youth In Sex Trafficking Raises Debate

Oakland, Calif., is known as a center for sex trafficking, with a specialty in children. In 2003, the FBI dubbed the city, part of the San Francisco Bay Area, a 'high-intensity child-prostitution area.' Police say Oakland youth are often trafficked from their hometown out to other sex hubs like Portland, Ore.; Los Angeles, Las Vegas and Atlanta.

Youth Radio is an independent producer. For more than six months, the organization has been investigating child sex trafficking in Oakland, Calif. In this two-part report, it pieces together what life is like for girls who are forced into prostitution — and how law enforcement continues to criminalize girls the state legally defines as sexually exploited victims.

Law enforcement officials and youth advocates say they're frustrated by California law, which makes it difficult to prosecute pimps and johns and easy to go after the children. Monday, in the first of a two-part Youth Radio report, two survivors of sex trafficking shared their stories. Today, Youth Radio explores what Oakland police and the FBI are doing to combat sex trafficking. : NPR