Every 26 Seconds A Child is Sold into Slavery

It has really been on my heart to get involved with an organisation that fights against human trafficking but despite my efforts I had not found one that really stood out. Then I was contacted by Bethany, an advocate for Destiny Rescue (and a cousin of some friends of mine) about promoting Destiny Rescue in the church. I wanted to promote it even wider so I asked her to write this post to raise awareness of the amazing work of Destiny Rescue. So please take the time to read this. I will be revisiting this after Christmas to see what we, as a community can do to help.

Approximately 1.2 million new children are trafficked each year – most of them lured, bribed, or forced into the sex trade. It’s pretty easy to quickly read over that, but let’s go over it again.

Every 26 seconds a new child is sold into slavery.

Approximately 1.2 million little girls have their innocence and childhood stolen each year and in exchange receive sexual, physical, and mental abuse.

Little girls like mine and your daughters, granddaughters, nieces, and maybe even sisters undergo horrific abuse all day, every day.

And that’s just the stats for new kids. There all already millions of other children who have been coerced into the sex industry and are forced to have sex with an adult several times a day. They are trapped and have no way of escape unless people like us decide to stand up and say that this is not ok.

My name’s Bethany. I live in Canberra, I’m one of 13 kids, an evangelical Christian, and a Destiny Rescue advocate. I’m passionate about seeing children’s innocence protected and rescuing and restoring little girls so they know they are more valuable than the Crown Jewels and have a chance to fulfil their dreams.

To perfectly honest, the whole sex trade issue was something I kinda knew about, but because it wasn’t in my face 24/7, I lived as if it didn’t exist. Then a friend of mine went on a Destiny Rescue overseas team trip. She came home and gave a presentation at my church about what she saw. I couldn’t forget it. Then in April I went to a screening of Trade of Innocents, a movie about the sex trade in Cambodia. I now  had a “face” for the sex trade and I couldn’t sit around and do nothing. So I sponsored a 15 year old girl through Destiny Rescue and applied to become an advocate.

So, you’re probably wondering why Destiny Rescue is so amazing. Here’s why. They are a Christian based, non-profit organisation who are dedicated to rescuing children and preventing them from being forced into human trafficking. They work closely with government agencies and international non-government offices to gather valuable information and leads. They see that the criminals are brought to justice and provide a rescue home for all the children they save. Here the children are given medical attention and they receive group therapy and counselling. Here they can feel safe, eat nutritious meals, and receive a valuable education. Destiny Rescue also provides them with training so that once the girls are able they can leave the Rescue Home and provide for themselves in a decent job. They have Destiny Rescue coffee shops and a hair salon which are run by these girls.

Another thing I love about DR is that they don’t just try to fix the problem, but also offer prevention care. They identify children who are in danger of being enslaved and offer their families help in the form of self-sustaining projects.

 

But most importantly they teach the girls of a God who understand humiliation and suffering and who reaches out to them in love. A God who can give them freedom from the anger and who can redeem their past. I’ve read testimonies of girls who come out of brothels in such deep hurt that anger and torment are their only companions. But yet as God works through Destiny Rescue these girls miraculously find peace and happiness and are able to fulfil their dreams.

Now, I know there many other organisations whose mission is to rescue the sexually exploited, and honestly I can’t say I’m up to speed on all their differences. In the beginning the reason I chose Destiny Rescue was because it was the organisation right in front of me. It could also have been that they have a lot of orange around and that’s my favourite colour. J But now one of the reasons I love Destiny Rescue is that their focus is on children. I know the sex trade, regardless of age, is horrible and disgusting, and I can’t really think of a word that describes the filthiness of it, but children being forced into it make me 500% angry. I mean how dare they think they can take girls as young as 5 years old, and for a sometimes a couple of thousand take away her virginity and innocence. How dare they put a price on someone Jesus died to save. Oh, it makes me angry.

But let’s look at the positives. What can we do to change this?  You can partner with Destiny Rescue and …

1.    Become a 26 seconds member and commit to $40 annually

2.    Become a 26 seconds partner and commit to $26 a month

3.    Sponsor a rescue or prevention child for $45 a month

4.    Give the one-off generous donation of $1500 which will fund the rescue of a child

5.    Go on one of their overseas trips to see their work firsthand

6.    Volunteer and go overseas for up to 2 years to fill a needed position.

7.    Or perfect number 7, you can become an advocate like me and tell your friends and family all about Destiny Rescue and the work they’re doing. I’m currently the only advocate in Canberra (as far as I am aware) and I’d love a few partners.

Other things you can do is purchase jewellery handmade by some of the girls. They are actually phasing this out, so I’d highly recommend jumping on the website and having a look. There is some really beautiful things on there. I also have some jewellery on hand so if you live in Canberra give me a bell and I might be able to arrange to get some to you. They do also have some t-shirts, so if you’d like to get the message out I’d highly recommend it. I have one and it’s really comfortable and you feel awesome wearing it. My Dad also has one and it’s one of his favourite shirts, so it’s a good one for the guys too. :)

http://www.destinyrescue.org/aus/  is the main webpage and has more info. You can buy jewellery and coffee and some shirts here http://www.destinyrescueshop.org.au/ or you can visit http://destinythreads.com/  which is a store that sells t-shirts and has new designs each month.

I don’t feel like I’ve covered everything 100% so if you’d like to know more please contact me and I’ll help you out as much as I can. Otherwise you can contact the Destiny Rescue office and the friendly and lovely people there will be able to tell you everything you’d want to know.

Oh, and one last quick reason why I love Destiny Rescue. Its president and founder is an Australian, but that’s a whole other story. :)

“He who passively accepts evil is as much involved in it as he who helps to perpetrate it” – Martin Luther King. Jr.

Thanks Bethany!

If you have time also watch this beautiful video from Destiny rescue.

Broken to Beautiful

What do you think readers? After Christmas can we raise $1,500 to rescue a child?

Linking up with Essentially Jess for:

A P Word That I Really Can't Stand Hearing

I was doing the grocery shopping last week and as I stood at the checkout I saw this magazine:

It has been a while since I read a Dolly Magazine but as I looked over the cover, one story stood out for me. "Pimp Your Formal". For most people, this type of title is nothing special but for me after reading and researching human trafficking recently....it totally offends me.

We all know what the word "pimp" means. The dictionary defines a Pimp as:

pimp
/pimp/
Noun
A man who controls prostitutes and arranges clients for them, taking a percentage of their earnings in return.

However, somehow this word has now become a fun way to describe making something better, funkier and more glamorous than it already is. The urban dictionary describes pimping in this way:

"More commonly used nowadays as making something cool or better"

I see it all the time. There are TV shows that use this title such as Pimp My Ride, apps that offer you the ability to pimp your phone or your profile etc. I know that nothing serious is meant by using this word but humour me for a moment and really think about the meaning of this word.

Pimp (person who sells another person for sex/person who has forced a little girl to have sex with multiple people/person who sells a child for sex) your formal/ride/phone etc. When you think of it like that it kinda loses the funniness doesn't it?

I'm not sure when the idea of being a pimp became so appealing or so much fun. I can think of so many movies and musicians that have encouraged the idea of a pimp as having it all and being above it all. I know people who have dressed up as a pimp for parties (see picture below) because "pimp" fashion has been made out to be funny. Being a pimp has been glamourised as though it is something to aspire to.

Don't get me wrong, I do see how it is somewhat funny, but I don't think it is harmless. A pimp is a person who preys on the weakness of another person. It really isn't something to joke about and it certainly shouldn't be made out to be something to aspire to, or be thought of as a way to make something cool or better.

I'm not sure if the removal of the word pimp from advertising, or reminding people of its true meaning achieves anything in the fight against human sex trafficking or against the sex industry at all. But it may. If we stopped glamourising the sex industry and making it ok to sell others for sex (even some thing to aspire to), maybe demand for it could decrease. I don't know but I think it is worth a try.

I'm willing to try anything to save someone from having to sell their bodies for sex.

What are your thoughts on this issue?


Linking up with Essentially Jess for IBOT

Human Trafficking: Could it Be Happening in Your Own Backyard?

This is a topic I have been thinking about and wanting to write about for a long time. I wish I didn't have to write about it. It breaks my heart to read about it, but we need to be aware of the evil that is lurking in our own backyards and work on preventing it.

When I hear the words "Human Trafficking" the first thing I think of is people in other countries being sold into slavery mostly in the sex industry (it makes me vomit that there is even a sex industry).

It wasn't until recently that my thinking was redefined. I heard a story about a young girl, from a good family, a Christian family, who was struggling with normal teenage feelings. She didn't feel she fit in with her friends or her family and she had dreams of having nice clothing and hanging out with "cool" people. She met some guys who she thought could show her this life, they gave her clothes, took her to parties and made her feel special. However, after a while she was forced into prostitution. In order to keep her quiet, they took photos of her performing sexual acts and warned her that if she told anyone the photos would be shown at her church and they would also go after her sister.


After I heard these stories, I thought that could happen to anyone. That could have happened to me. As a teenager I did many stupid things and put myself in dangerous situations. It reminded me of a time I got into a car with some men I didn't know (I'm pretty sure they worked at a strip club in Sydney). They said they would drive us home (my female friend and I, both of us around 16). On the way home, the driver was pulled over by the police. The police officer questioned why we were in the car with these people, and warned us never to be so stupid again. We all got back in the car and were delivered safely home. In some ways it is a pretty non eventful story, but now, as a mother and after reading about human trafficking, I wonder what if things had been different? Did that police officer save us from something that night? (I wouldn't be surprised if he followed us home to make sure we arrived safely).

I was fine, but there are others who are not. Girls, sometimes as young as 13 years old are actively being recruited and sold as prostitutes.  The quote below was taken from the FAQ page of sharedhope.org:

"Many pimps often use a “lover-boy” technique to recruit girls from middle and high schools. A lover-boy will present himself as a boyfriend and woo the girl with gifts, promises of fulfilled dreams, protection, adventure – whatever she perceives she is lacking. After securing her love and loyalty, he will force her into prostitution."

I have been reading so many stories lately like this story about girls being recruited through Facebook targeted because they are posting about struggles with parents and friends. Parents of young girls who sell their children to men for sex.  These articles are shocking to read but they make me realise that we can't pretend it isn't happening.

This is from the U.S. but it would be a similar situation here Click here to read it in detail.

These girls need our help, they are living a life I would never wish on anyone. They are forced to have sex with multiple (sometimes 30+) men per day, are given drugs to cope with it, are subjected to physical violence and are highly likely to contract an STD.

What can we do?

This is a question I keep coming back to. What can I do? There are so many wonderful organisations such as the A21Campaign and Shared Hope International who are doing so much across the world to free people from slavery. Of course they always need donations, and I continue to pray, and I raise awareness in posts like this but I want to do more.

I want to take a stand and say that as a society we need to do more to reduce the demand for prostitution and pornography. We need to stop saying that pornography is ok and fun and harmless and that it is ok for people to use prostitutes  We need to teach our children that the internet (pornography) is NOT the place to learn about sex and that there can be serious consequences (for many people). According to the Shared Hope Website:

"In a study of 932 sex addicts, 90% of the men, and 77% of the women indicated that looking at pornography “played a significant role in their addiction. Viewing pornography essentially rewires the brain and drastically influences how dopamine and other chemicals are received and used in the brain"

  We also need to be teaching our young people that there are people in the world who may take advantage of them. They need to keep their online security setting high and parents (I believe) should check their accounts regularly. 

These issues are not new, there are just new ways that these people are recruiting their victims.  The world has been full of these horrible things since people turned their backs on doing things God's way. That doesn't mean we can do anything to protect our loved ones and to help those who have suffered at the hands of evil people. We need to stand up to protect those who cannot protect themselves.




Linking up with Jess for IBOT over at www.essentiallyjess.com