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These words are from Nicholas Kristof’s New York Times Op-Ed two days ago. Kristof point out an ugly truth: forced prostitution is not merely a problem in faraway countries; it’s happening right here to our American girls, in our American cities and towns.

Kristof tells a heartbreaking story from Atlanta. Here are links to stories from Houston, and Los Angeles, and small towns in Iowa. According to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, hundreds of thousands of children are surviving through dozens of sex acts each day and frequent beatings.

Kristof calls us to our consciences:

Solutions are complicated and involve broader efforts to overcome urban poverty, including improving schools and attempting to shore up the family structure. But a first step is to stop treating these teenagers as criminals and focusing instead on arresting the pimps and the customers — and the corrupt cops.

“The problem isn’t the girls in the streets; it’s the men in the pews,” notes Stephanie Davis, who has worked with Mayor Shirley Franklin to help coordinate a campaign to get teenage prostitutes off the streets.

Two amiable teenage prostitutes, working without a pimp for “fast money,” told me that there will always be women and girls selling sex voluntarily. They’re probably right. But we can significantly reduce the number of 14-year-old girls who are terrorized by pimps and raped by men seven nights a week. That’s doable, if it’s a national priority, if we’re willing to create the equivalent of a nationwide amber alert.

Thanks to Mr. Kristof, who consistently speaks out on behalf of women (including via his column on unused rape kits). What do you say, readers? Can this be happening in our cities and towns?

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Editor’s Note: Check out more stories by No Quarter writers on Nicolas Kristof’s excellent columns about oppressed and abused women. See especially Reverend Amy’s shocking story about rape kits that languish on shelves for years while the rapists remain unidentified and free: Kits Languish On Shelves For Years, Or “Hey, It’s Only Rape After All”.