This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2017, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.

"Even the darkest night will end and the sun will rise."

— Victor Hugo, "Les Miserables"

Victor Hugo's masterpiece "Les Miserables" resonates because of its message of redemption and forgiveness – for the thief, the dogged police chief and even the lowly prostitute. The particular human tragedy of prostitution reveals the desperation a woman finds herself in when the only thing she has left is her body. And shamefully, a woman's body has always been currency.

The trafficking of sex slaves is even more heinous. Vulnerable girls are often manipulated or abducted into sex slavery. It takes superhuman efforts to break free from pimps and captors. Wonder woman-like efforts.

In 2016, one out of six runaways reported to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children were child sex trafficking victims. Eighty-six percent of those victims were in the care of social services or foster care when they ran away.

The non-profit Operation Underground Railroad, well known in Utah for its collaborative missions with Attorney General Sean Reyes, performs extractions of child victims used as sex slaves throughout the world. Especially noteworthy is O.U.R.'s emphasis on rehabilitation in aftercare centers. The organization recognizes victims cannot be rescued and left to deal with the aftermath of such ordeals alone.

Beth Jacobs was trafficked as a teenager after she was abducted from a Minneapolis suburb. For six years she was forced to have sex with men. When she finally escaped, redemption was not in sight. She had no education, no job training and no support network. And she had a criminal record that followed her closer than her pimp had.

There's no question that young women trafficked into prostitution should not be shackled with criminal records once they have broken free from their captors. The Legislature recently passed House Bill 274, Human Trafficking Modifications, which simplified the process to vacate convictions received while subject to force, fraud or coercion. This was a necessary bill to ensure that victims of sex trafficking are treated as victims, and don't have to overcome the stigma attached to people with criminal records.

But victims of trafficking aren't the only sex slaves who should be able to clear their records. Garden-variety prostitutes should also have that same opportunity – for who really raises their hand and says, "I want to be a prostitute?"

Desperation drives such decisions. And the market. That there is a market at all prescribes prostitution as a crime against women. Such a woman willing to change her own course deserves redemption too.