I knew I would be working
with human trafficking here in Thailand. But I was never expecting this…
I feel like most of us have
seen, heard, or even read about human trafficking. We see the statistics…and
that is all it is.
A number on a page.
A video we once watched. A
story we once heard. But it was never real for us. It
never was staring us in the face.
So we can somehow still live our lives and pretend it doesn’t exist. But
it does.
I have learned this week that human trafficking has a name and a face. I met two girls at the New Star Bar
this week. We spent our time
playing pool and jenga. We had so
much fun hanging out that I almost forgot they were there to sell themselves.
Half way through our time together, a European man returned to the bar with
a Thai women on his arm. She was
returning from a “days work”.
And there it was…sex slavery…right in front of my face. I did not even flinch, my mind could
not even wrap around what all of this truly meant. As if the extinct of darkness or evil could not be
understood. And now I know that I
am forever changed…because I have seen the face and know the name of sex
trafficking.
Human Trafficking: the illegal trade of human beings
for the purposes of reproductive slavery, commercial sexual exploitation,
forced labor, or a modern-day form of slavery.
Trafficking primarily
involves exploitation, which comes in many forms, including:
Ø
Forcing
victims into prostitution
Ø
Subjecting
victims to slavery or involuntary servitude
Ø
Compelling
victims to commit sex acts for the purpose of creating pornography
Ø Misleading victims into debt
bondage
Thailand is a country with internal trafficking of
women and children for commercial sexual exploitation, and labor
trafficking. Ethnic minorities and
women and girls from the northern Hill Tribes are especially vulnerable due to
their lack of citizenship. Lack of legal status is the single greatest risk
factor for trafficking or other exploitation of highlanders. There is also an issue of
rural-to-urban trafficking, where ethnic Thais are trafficked from the
relatively poor areas of Chiang Rai, Phayao and Nong Khai to urban and tourist
areas.
Sex tourism remains a problem. According to the Thai
Government, there are no laws that specifically address sex tourism. Children
from poor families remain vulnerable, and there are some incidences of Thai
parents who force their children into prostitution.
Modern Day Slavery Facts:
- A child is trafficked every 30
seconds. – UNICEF
- The average age of entry into
commercial sex slavery in the United States is 13 years old. – United
States Department of Justice
- Human Trafficking occurs in
161 out of 192 countries. – The United Nations
- Up to 96% of women in prostitution want
to escape but feel they can’t. – United Labor Organization
- Human Trafficking is a 32
billion dollar per year industry. – The United Nations
- In some countries it is
estimated that 70% of men purchase sex. – Victor Malarek; The Johns
- There are nearly 2 million
children in the international commercial sex trade-Unicef
- An estimated 1.2 million
children are trafficked each year
- Human Trafficking Is The
Fastest Growing Criminal Enterprise In The World
- Human Trafficking Is The Second
Largest Criminal Enterprise In The World
- There Are An Estimated 27 Million
People Trapped In Slavery At This Moment
- There Are An Estimated 13
Million Children Trapped In Slavery At This Moment
- Human Trafficking Is Often Run
By Organized Crime
- An estimated 30,000 victims of
sex trafficking die each year from abuse, disease, torture, and neglect.
Eighty percent of those sold into sexual slavery are under 24, and some
are as young as six years old
- A Relatively Large Percentage
Of Young Women And Children That Are Trafficked For Sexual Exploitation
Will Become HIV Positive
- Approximately 20,000
Individuals Are Trafficked INTO The United States From Other Countries Every Year
- Human trafficking has been
reported in all 50 states, Washington, D.C., and in some U.S. territories.
- It is estimated that 14,500 to
17,500 people, primarily women and children, are trafficked to the U.S.
annually.
- Over 100,000 Of Our Own Young
Women And Children Are Subject To Commercial Sexual Exploitation In The
United States Every Year
- According To Interpol, Over
30,000 Young Women Are Missing In Romania
- The Average Age Of A Young
Woman First Being Trafficked Is 12-14 Years Old
- According to United Nations
Children’s Fund (UNICEF), over the past 30 years, over 30 million children
have been sexually exploited through human trafficking.
75% Of Human Trafficking Is For
Sexual Exploitation
75% Of All Victims Of Human
Trafficking Are Female
Over 50% Of All Human Trafficking
Victims Are Children
Sex traffickers use a
variety of ways to “condition” their victims, including subjecting them to
starvation, rape, gang rape, physical abuse, beating, confinement, threats of
violence toward the victim and victim’s family, forced drug use, and shame.
A human trafficker can
earn 20 times what he or she paid for a girl. Provided the girl was not
physically brutalized to the point of ruining her beauty, the pimp could sell
her again for a greater price because he had trained her and broken her
spirit,
which saves future buyers the hassle. A 2003 study in the Netherlands found
that, on average, a single sex slave earned her pimp at least $250,000 a year.
Regardless of nationality, victims
are systematically stripped of their identity, battered into gruesome
submission, and made to perform humiliating sexual acts on up to 40 strangers
every night.
Most are held in dingy apartments and brothels, forced to take
heavy doses of illegal drugs, and monitored very closely. Victims are often
thrown into such ghastly oppression at 13 years old. Some are abducted
outright, while others are lured out of poverty, romantically seduced, or sold
by their families.
Do
your part:
Pray
Slavery
is first and foremost a form of spiritual oppression that must be addressed
through spiritual means. Through prayer we can defeat the spiritual forces of
darkness that today enslave over 27 million people worldwide. Pray
once per day for the ending of sex trafficking.
Give
If you cannot physically fight against human trafficking,
you can still give to organizations that are battling against trafficking. Give to those that are on the
front-lines.
-Love Acts
http://www.lighthouseinaction.org/loveacts/
-Watch
the Nefarious documentary & host film screenings to bring awareness
http://nefariousdocumentary.com/
-International
Justice Mission: www.ijm.org
-Unearthed
Pictures: http://www.unearthedpictures.org/
-Love
146: http://love146.org/
-Not
For Sale: http://www.notforsalecampaign.org/
-Freeset:
http://freesetglobal.com/
-Nightlight:
http://nightlightinternational.com/
-Men
Against the Trafficking of Others: http://mattoo.org/
-Rapha
House: http://www.raphahouse.org/
-The
A21 Campaign: http://www.thea21campaign.org/
This is a trailer to the documentary called Nefarious. The movie will be coming out in May. I pray you take your family to go see it and allow God to break your heart for the hurting all over the world.
To learn more about the documentary CLICK HERE
