No Such Thing Campaign

In 2015, Rights4Girls teamed up with renowned survivor activist T Ortiz Walker Pettigrew to launch the No Such Thing campaign— a national movement to make clear that there is no such thing as a “child prostitute”—there are only victims and survivors of child rape. The award-winning campaign has not only succeeded in changing our language, but it has also helped change the laws in several states to protect children from being criminalized for their own exploitation.

Over 5,000

THE NUMBER OF TIMES THE MEDIA USED THE TERM 'CHILD PROSTITUTE' PRIOR TO THE CAMPAIGN LAUNCH

<500

THE NUMBER OF TIMES THE MEDIA USED THE TERM 'CHILD PROSTITUTE' SINCE THE CAMPAIGN LAUNCH

80%

THE DECREASE IN JUVENILE PROSTITUTION ARRESTS SINCE THE LAUNCH OF THE CAMPAIGN

Our Wins

Successfully campaigned the Associated Press to revise its Stylebook to instruct writers to avoid using the phrase “child prostitute” or similar terms when reporting about child trafficking victims.
Succeeded in getting the LA County Sheriff’s Department to commit to ending the arrest of all children under the age of 18 on prostitution charges in LA County—the largest county in the country—and to instead connect trafficked children to services.
Successfully advocated the LA County Board of Supervisors to unanimously pass a bi-partisan resolution declaring that there is “no such thing as a child prostitute” and encouraging law enforcement agencies to approach child trafficking as they would other forms of child sexual abuse.
Worked with local partners to pass the “No Such Thing” law in California, rendering all minors under the age of 18 in the state of California immune from prosecution for prostitution and prostitution-related offenses.
Leveraged the campaign to achieve policy wins in Pennsylvania and Georgia, while inspiring several other jurisdictions to make changes to their laws— protecting thousands of trafficked youth across the country.
Shifting the culture— our “no such thing” messaging continues to be used by lawmakers, advocates, and influencers to change the narrative around victims and survivors of child sex trafficking while shedding new light on cases such as that of Cyntoia Brown, Alexis Martin, and other child trafficking survivors that were sentenced to life for protecting themselves against their exploiters.

NST Fact Sheet

Too often, the media, law enforcement and others refer to victims as "child prostitutes," masking the pain and violence exploited children endure on a daily basis. In many states, underage girls continue to be arrested and jailed for prostitution offenses, even when they are under the age of consent. This must change.

>>Read about our campaign goals

Media Guide

We know that how the media discusses issues informs how the public perceives them. Learn about what the media can do to more accurately report on child trafficking.

>>Read our media guide

LA County Case Study

In Fall 2015 we launched our No Such Thing campaign in Los Angeles furthering our goal to end the criminalization of child sex trafficking victims through policy change. With LA County being the largest in the country, these advancements marked an important step toward encouraging other jurisdictions to treat victims of child sex trafficking as survivors in need of services, rather than offenders.

>> Read the case study

NST Video

The No Such Thing campaign seeks to eradicate the very notion of “child prostitute” in language and in law. Hear from survivors why there is No Such Thing as a “child prostitute.”

>> Watch our campaign video