Several years ago, I was watching Lifetime (go ahead and laugh...I love Lifetime), and a movie came on that just struck my interest. Not in a good way though. It was called HumanTrafficking and my heart broke into millions of piece
s realizing that this isn't just a movie. This is a reality. It is a movie based on things that actually happen in this crazy world of ours. My stomach hurt. My heart ached. My eyes were opened to a new world that I didn't know occurred around me. But I couldn't just sit back and and think to myself, "interesting movie...gosh, how sad." No. I need to act on what I saw. It changed me, and I want to help change this awful situation! Human trafficking by definition is: a criminal activity in which people are recruited, harbored, transported, bought, or kidnapped to serve an exploitative purpose, such as sexual slavery, forced labor, or child slavery.
Can you imagine that? Being taken away from everyone you know and love and being sold to men all around the world to use and abuse you for their own sick pleasure. Just sit and think about it. You're probably sitting in your nice office at work or home with your high tech computer, reading this. Just stop. Think about everything being taken from you. Your life. Your family. Your innocence. When I was watching this movie, all I could tell myself was, "Thank goodness this doesn't happen here in the United States!" Yeah right. Americans are one of the top buyers and sellers of sex slavery.
Here are a few statistics about human trafficking:
*Trafficking in women is the 2nd largest global organized crime today, generating approximately $12 billion a year
*There are 1.39 million victims of commercial sexual servitude worldwide
*Over 25% of sex trafficked victims are trafficked from Southern and Eastern Europe
*90% of victims trafficked into Europe end up in the sex industry
*Tragically, only 1-2% of victims are rescued, and only 1 in 100,000 Europeans involved in trafficking are convicted.
I'm hoping that shook you up a bit, because I know it gives me the shivers! Basically, I just want you to become aware of this horrifying epidemic going on all around us. I saw a documentary on HBO that told a few stories about suburban trafficking. You wouldn't think so, but in nice gated communities right around the corner from you, children are being bought and sold into sex slavery. It doesn't just happen in shady cities and countries, but in very wealthy areas all around America. Most of the buyers and sellers with sex slavery are very well to do men and even women with lots of money, and live lavish lifestyles. A lifestyle that includes ruining the lives of millions of women and children, stealing their innocence. Open your eyes and realize that this is going on around you.
If you feel led to do so, please check out a few of these websites of which I am a member. Educate yourselves on this saddening topic, but don't just stop there! Tell others about it. Just making people aware of this situation can slow down the process of human trafficking. Donate to some of these organizations to help them build shelters for the girls who are rescued from their slavery. Donate money to help them hire psychologists and doctors to talk to and heal the girls who are rescued. Donations also help these women and children get back home to their families to start a new life, free from slavery.
The A21 Campaign--Abolishing Injustice in the 21st Century http://www.thea21campaign.org/
Not For Sale http://www.notforsalecampaign.org/
Human Trafficking--Power Through Knowledge http://www.humantrafficking.org/
My goal in posting this is not to scare you. I just want to make you aware of this very real situation in our world. Think about it. Pray about it. Act on it.
"All that is necessary for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing." --Edmund Burke
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