Imagine four generations of women who were forced into prostitution as children, growing up in that lifestyle and indoctrinating their own little girls into sex slavery. Imagine the devastation that creates in a family line. Imagine one mother with the courage to say, “No! This will not happen to my daughter.”
For Stephanie Larsen, this was her story and she was the one to break this generational pattern. Even though her own mother was a drug addict who lived in abject poverty, Larsen’s mom was committed to keeping Stephanie safe from the horrors which she, her mother, her grandmother, and great grandmother experienced. Growing up was not easy under these conditions, but Stephanie was able to attend BYU and is now happily married with children.
Never far from her mind were the traumas of forced sexual slavery that her maternal relatives endured. Larsen knew she had to do something to eradicate this terrible evil which destroys children on every level. She and her husband, Jess, and his brother and wife, Nick and Keshia Larsen, started Child Rescue Association of North America in Canada a few years ago. They opened a US branch in Utah in the beginning of 2010.
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I just got done listening to the story of Sister Larsen. I have written before and mentioned that I am a retired Police Officer. I was a little put off because of what I would have called a “failure to call it what it is”. In modern language, the Larsen women “pimped” their daughters out. Yes, they were prostitutes. In our comfortable homes, newer cars, sitting in the drive throughs at McDonald’s, Taco Bell or where ever. We don’t realize that not everyone has the same morals and ethics that we have. In some homes, one does what one has to, to put food on the table. Does this justify it? Absolutely not, and I hold Sister Larsen, and her mother in great esteem for breaking the mold and getting out of that lifestyle. And yes, I said lifestyle, because that is just what it is. Many people, young, old, male or female are in this type of business because it puts food on the table and clothing on their backs. Most of the time, it’s not glamorous, like TV or movies make it out to be. Many times these folks are beaten up, or worse and sometimes just for the fun it. People who use these services do not regard the people they hire as real people, just something to use and then discard, like a paper napkin or a kleenex. Sound terrible…it is and again congratulations, to Sister Larsen and her mother for getting out of that life.
Brad G.