Need #1: Prevention of Slavery/Sex Trafficking of Women
Sex trafficking is one of the largest industries in the world and affects women drastically. “Victims number from 700,000 to 4 million annually. Police statistics indicate that less than 0.5 percent of these are male...every nation in the world is involved (Meroff 174).”
Many women are kidnapped and forced into labour or prostitution. Some women are deceived into thinking that a legitimate paying job awaits them in a new location. Also, a father, uncle or stranger might sell a young girl to brothel. Once there, she is told she has to work off her “debt”. Girls are beat and threatened until they comply.
The story of Srey Rath, who traveled from Cambodia to Thailand to work as a dishwasher, took a dark turn when she was turned over to gangsters who operated a karaoke bar/brothel. Rath and the girls who were with her were told that they had to work off a debt for the money the gangsters had paid for them. Rath was beaten and forced to take drugs. She was told that if she did not obey, she would be killed. She was required to smile at customers, be naked at all times to make it difficult for her to run away, and work fifteen hour days, seven days a week. The girls were not allowed to keep any money or ask a customer to use a condom.
Rath was able to escape from the brothel and when she arrived at the Thai border, she was sold into another brothel by a policeman. She eventually escaped from there and made it home safely (Kristoff xi- xvii). Many other women are not so fortunate. Brothels often use drug addictions to lure the girls back to them should they escape, or hold babies the girls give birth to as hostages.
The girls in the brothels are also at high risk for HIV AIDS because their sexual intercourse is unprotected and often forced. “Sex trafficking is an engine of the global AIDS epidemic (IJM).”
Help On The Way:
International Justice Mission (IJM) is an organization which lives by Isaiah 1:17: “Seek justice, protect the oppressed, defend the orphan, plead for the widow”. God's heart is that these needs be met and IJM works to meet the need of preventing slavery and sex trafficking. Gary Haugen, a United States lawyer, founded the organization in 1997 as a way to provide authoritative intervention in the cases of individual women in the sex trafficking industry (IJM). The mission is one of the leading organizations working against this huge problem, but there are many others who cropping up to do their share in the fight against slavery.
Apne Aap is one of these. The name means “self help” in Hindi. “Apne Aap prevents sex trafficking by building the capacity of girls, women and children in red-light areas and slums to get access to education, livelihoods other than prostitution, and safe housing by organizing themselves in small co-operatives (Apne Aap).” The organization works across India to assist women coming out of prostitution or to prevent sex trafficking through education and support.
There are even smaller movements that work to discourage the sex-trafficking practice. My father works for a military contracting company that will not hire anyone unless they sign a statement saying that they will not endorse sex trafficking in any way. This means that their employees can not participate in it, nor endorse it with their money when traveling on business.
Final Thoughts:
These needs cannot be ignored. They are so prevalent in our world today that one only needs to step outside their door to meet marginalized women longing to tell their stories of how they are being affected by these five issues and more. This is not even the beginning of the suffering that is not being spoken by women across America, and the immense trials of women who are silenced across the world. These needs are not being ignored, by a great deal of concerned people, both in the Christian and secular worlds. Awareness is being raised through publication of statistics and stories and organization of people who are willing to help make the change. However, there is so much more that needs to be done. People need to be made aware of the issues and the solutions. Please feel free to use the information on this blog to help inform others. If you want to learn more, I recommend "Half The Sky" by Kristoff and WuDunn. Many of the stories I used are from this recent, well-researched, and powerful book. And don't forget to pray for these women, and that above all, they will receive the strength and hope that comes from a personal relationship with Jesus Christ.
What Do You Think?
Works Cited:
Apne Aap, www.apneaap.org
International Justice Mission, www.ijm.org
Kristof, Nicholas and Sheryl Wudunn. Half the Sky. New York: Knopf, 2009.
Meroff, Deborah. True Grit: Women Taking on the World, for Christ's Sake. City: Authentic Media, 2004.
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