The Solution

The Movement

In Quechua, a South American language, “minga” means the coming together of a community to work for the betterment of all. Minga, the organization, grew from a few kids having a yard sale to a fast-spreading movement of youth, adults, non-profit leaders, businesses, schools, families, and religious communities dedicated to ending the worst form of child exploitation on the planet.

We have created a “minga” that reaches across age groups; ethnic-, religious-, and socio-economic divides; and continents. As individuals, we can make a significant dent in this issue; but as a community, we can change the societal norms behind it.

After dozens of speeches and many community events, we have had individuals approach us and ask if child prostitution was real. Individuals that would not believe that this was happening in their own country, in their own town. Individuals that claimed this issue would never go away because, in their own words “boys will be boys.” According to UNICEF, a 51-year-old American schoolteacher visiting Ecuador stated:

“On this trip, I had sex with a 14-year-old girl [...] and a 15-year-old […] I am helping them financially. If they don’t have sex with me, they may not have enough food. If someone has a problem with me doing this, let UNICEF feed them.”

You can change how our world sees children.  Take action to show everyone that kids are not for sale.

Our Approach

As an entirely teen-run organization, Minga believes that we, as youth, are best able to reach our peers and motivate them to get involved in the fight to end the child sex trade. We seek to educate our peers by involving them in interactive mediums- online, in schools, at workshops, and through getting involved in Minga clubs at their schools. 

In order to combat as vast and multifaceted an issue as child sex trafficking and prostitution, we need to create an equally massive and comprehensive network of youth and adults committed to ending this terrible cycle of exploitation, starting out just by changing cultural norms.

We live in a world where “pimpin” is synonymous with “cool,” where young girls are over-sexualized in the media every day, where two million children are trafficked and prostituted every year. We are also the first generation that has the resources and the power to completely abolish extreme poverty within our lifetime.