In the weeks since Sean “Diddy” Combs was indicted on sex trafficking and other charges, much of the conversation has focused on the celebrity fallout. What other famous faces will get swept up in the scandal? Who attended the music mogul’s infamous parties?
This sort of tabloid treatment is expected, but it misses the point. The crime for which Diddy is accused, sex trafficking, is serious, not sensational. The attention surrounding his indictment should be used to highlight the dark realities of this grotesque blight on our society, which is frequently intertwined with wealth and men of power.
Coincidentally, just two weeks after Diddy was indicted, I released Vegas Concierge: Sex Trafficking, Hip Hop, and Corruption in America, a book that explores how traffickers manipulate vulnerable young women into sexual slavery.
My book focuses on a yearslong investigation into a Las Vegas pimp who also happened to be a hip-hop music producer. In the wake of Diddy’s indictment, talk show hosts seemed eager for me to draw a connection between hip-hop and sex trafficking. But this, again, misses the point.
Hip-hop music, with its references to pimps and pimping, has made the vernacular of sex trafficking more common in America. But rappers rarely seem to be talking about enslaving women. Instead, pimping in hip-hop is often a metaphor for being suave or cool, an epic and prodigious lover, not a slave master.
Of course, the repeated use of those terms in rapping has undoubtedly dulled their sting in the collective consciousness. But the lessons of Vegas Concierge and Diddy’s indictment are not found in the entertainment industry or in celebrity but in our society’s wan acceptance of powerful men exploiting vulnerable women.
The crime of sex trafficking is born out of a predatory relationship. Its victims, often cruelly dismissed in our culture as whores or women of low morals, were almost always severely traumatized long before they even considered engaging in some kind of sex work.
These traumatic experiences, perhaps losing a brother to homicide or growing up in the foster care system, left them hollow and exposed and, therefore, easily manipulated by sex traffickers who brainwashed them into believing their only value was in selling their bodies.
Pimps, some of America’s most common sex traffickers, can be incredibly canny, employing a bevy of psychological tricks to ensnare their victims in invisible chains. Indeed, some openly talk about their techniques of manipulation in books you can purchase on Amazon.
But the power of a trafficker’s manipulation is only increased when he is also backed by money or fame. When you are a young woman beset by trauma and a rich, famous man preys on your vulnerabilities to entice you to trade sex for money or perhaps a spot in a music video, that is exploitation at its most heartless.
That is what we should be talking about when we talk about the Diddy case: the young women who appear to have been coerced, economically or otherwise, into sexual acts.
Based on the allegations, the Diddy case is not just a celebrity scandal. It is, principally, a human rights one, and it should be examined through the lens of compassion and care, not sensationalism and drama.
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Diddy’s indictment should be an opportunity for America to wrestle with the modern-day slavery that is occurring in our backyards. It should be a wake-up call to address this festering plague that we seem to ignore time and again.
The Diddy case isn’t “Page Six” news. It should be front-page news. Hopefully, the attention around the case will make eliminating sex trafficking the social priority it deserves to be.
Brian Joseph is the author of Vegas Concierge: Sex Trafficking, Hip Hop, and Corruption in America. He has worked as a newspaper reporter and investigative journalist for about 20 years.