Over the past few years, our eyes have been opened to the injustices that are taking place around the world in the form of human trafficking. Women who think they are leaving their country to earn money to send to their families by working honestly who f ind themselves sold to another human for the purpose of profit through their prostitution. Laborers who sign on with a certain employer who never reduces the debt they owe. Children as young as 6 or 8 years old who are sold by their parents in areas of extreme poverty to pimps who profit from their innocence. Governments who look the other way in exchange for their own pockets being lined. Financially speaking this is big business- the third largest criminal profit producer in the world.
Our eyes were first opened to these injustices through our time living in Central Asia. We came to learn that we had lived in close proximity to the area in which this was occurring in our own city. Traffickers advertise in newspapers in the ‘stans’ about work in our city. Women would come to work and be sold there before being trafficked into usually Greece or Germany. This was happening right under our noses and we never knew. God began giving us His eyes for these women and began to send us on a trajectory as a family to somehow be a part of “laying a foundation of justice so God’s glory could be revealed”.
We thought that this looked like law school and then working for International Justice Mission, an amazing organization that uses the legal system to put pressure on other countries to enforce their anti-trafficking laws, changing this problem from the top down.
Well, we all know that J is no longer in law school but our passion to advocate for these women has not diminished. This weekend, I went to a volunteer training seminar on how to be involved in eradicating this issue. Modern day abolitionists, they call themselves.
I was surprised to learn how prevalent it also is in the US. In fact, we watched an impactful movie, ‘The Fields of Muhan’, recorded through the eyes of a child sold by her mother into sex slavery. The movie leads you to believe that it is most likely taking place in an asian country only to reveal a glimpse out of the window of her bedroom/jail cell. An American flag, proudly waving in the wind.
A few stats:
“In the 4th quarter of 2007, 30% of all the National Human Trafficking Hotline calls were from Texas.”
“Of the 450,000 children who run away from home each year in America, 90% are lured into the sex industry.”
“The average age of entry into the commercial sex industry in the US is 11 to 14 years of age.”
Areas in which people are trafficked for include: prostitution, exotic dancing, servile marriages, agricultural work, landscape work, domestic servitude, begging/street peddling, restaurant work, construction work, carnival work, hotel housekeeping, and day labor.
It is overwhelming to know that these things are going on in our own country. But, here are ways that we can make a difference.
Click here to learn about Defenders USA’s truck stop campaign. Familiarize yourself with warning signs and be aware when going in and out of truck stops.
Google your city and trafficking to see how you can be involved in your area. In our particular city, the YMCA works to rescue international adults and Catholic Charities rescues international children. They even have a children’s home specifically for international children rescued from trafficking. Can you imagine being a child, possibly sold by your parents and now in another country?
There is even an organization in our city that sets up host families for victims who have been rescued. They are pushed through different organizations during their adjustment phase and the host family is the one relationship that remains constant during this critical time of healing in their lives.
Host an awareness party this November through International Justice Mission. Click here to learn more about this opportunity to show their new documentary “At the End of Slavery” in your home. This is step one to being involved. You never know how this may stir the heart of someone you invite!
Go here to the National Human Trafficking Resource Center to familiarize yourself with what types of trafficking you may be exposed to so that you are able to notice irregularities such as video cameras in nail salons that are pointed on the face of the employee as opposed to the room or the customer.
Or, click here to learn about the FBI’s Innocence Lost Project.
Be inspired. Become an abolitionist.
