Barely a mile from the Georgia Capitol building, Metropolitan Parkway provides a straight thoroughfare for motorists traveling from downtown Atlanta to the airport. 

Cutting through some of the most economically-depressed neighborhoods in the South, the street is the crux of much of the crime and urban blight that plague the lower-income sections of Atlanta.

STANCIL

The street, formerly Stewart Avenue, has been so synonymous with Atlanta’s underworld that a few years ago city officials chose to officially rechristen it “Metropolitan Parkway.” 

Recently, Metropolitan Parkway has garnered another odious distinction — it is widely considered to be the epicenter of child prostitution in the United States.

Some Georgia officials have recently taken steps to address Atlanta’s reputation as the national hub of child prostitution.

 In a brave and uncharacteristically rational move by State Sen. Renee Unterman (R- Buford), the proposed SB 304 seeks to rehabilitate child prostitutes and classify them as victims rather than imprisoning them or pressing criminal charges. 

Though the legal age of consent in Georgia is 16, currently all victims of the sex trade are charged with criminal prostitution, regardless of whether or not they are legally able to give consent. Under the bill, these children would be protected as victims of child abuse. 

These children — often younger than 12 — should receive our most sympathetic compassion and rehabilitation. The bill is a noble step in the right direction to solving this horrific and embarrassing blight on our state. 

However, Georgia’s so-called Christian conservatives have marched in lockstep against this worthy bill. This opposition stems from ignorance of the legislation and a misguided belief that SB 304 would decriminalize prostitution and lead to a society more permissive of the sex trade. This is not the case. 

In fact, in keeping silent for years about this appalling injustice taking place a stone’s throw from our Capitol, officials have condemned hundreds of children to the horrific lives of sex slaves. 

I am generally not a fan of Unterman. She is a vocal social conservative who has formerly championed various irrational, undue burdens to women seeking abortions. 

However, in SB 304 she has put forth a commendable effort in seeking treatment and rehabilitation for these unfortunate children. We cannot permit this shameful situation to stain our state any longer.  

The leaders of so-called Christian right would do well to remember the words of Jesus Christ, friend of prostitutes, who in the book of Matthew told a group of leading church officials that “the tax collectors and the prostitutes are entering the kingdom of God ahead of you.” Somehow, I can’t imagine the Georgia Christian Coalition has taken this passage to heart.

Let us all work together to secure the passage of SB 304, to ensure that no Georgia child be forced to endure the burden of child prostitution.

— Clark Stancil is a sophomore from Nelson majoring in landscape architecture