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.
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| 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
