NOT for Sale

PROSTITUTION refers to any act transaction, scheme, or
design involving the use of one person by
another for sexual intercourse or lascivious conduct in exchange
for money, profit or any other consideration

This month we are working in Baguio
City with Crossover Ministries, who reaches the prostituted women of this
city.  The faces of these women
have already been burned in my heart. 
They work as “entertainers” in clubs to support their families or pay
for schooling.  They are beaten,
raped, and abused on a continual basis as they lose a little of themselves more
and more each day.  Studies show
that in 9 countries surveyed 89% of people in prostitution would like to get
escape but don’t know how.  Most of
the women in Baguio were trafficked here from one of the poorest regions in the
Philippines, called Samar.  They
are brought to Baguio under false pretenses of schooling or a waitressing
job.  Their families are paid a
small amount of compensation to finalize the deal. Then they are forced into
prostitution once they are completely disconnected from their families, have
nowhere to turn, have no money, and no place to stay other than the club. 

 TRAFFICKING IN
PERSONS refers to the recruitment, transportation, transfer or harboring, or
receipt of persons with or without the victim’s consent
or knowledge, within or across national borders by means of threat or use of force or other forms of
coercion, abduction, fraud, deception, abuse of power or of position, taking
advantage of the vulnerability of the persons, or the
giving or receiving of payments or benefits to achieve the consent of a person
for the purpose of exploitation, which includes prostitution
of others or other forms of sexual exploitation, forced labor services,
slavery, servitude, or the removal and sale of organs.

            They
encounter all types of abuse as well as run the high risk for STDs and
pregnancy.  Women often have
multiple abortions or have children they cannot take care of who also become
victims of this destructive cycle. 
Many women have frequent bruises and black eyes.  Last year a woman was killed after
being beaten by a paying customer in a short-term hotel.  Some of these girls may be as young as
15 or even younger, but their fake documents show their age as 18, the
requirement by law to work as an “entertainer”.  68% of these BELOVED women show signs for post-traumatic
stress disorder.  Even though there
are laws in place to reduce and stop this form of human trafficking, the sad
reality is the law enforcement has been known to partake in these heinous acts.  The “entertainment” in establishments
is technically legal, but the trafficking of people, manipulation, and abuse is
not. 

There are 27 MILLION modern day slaves in this world today…
I will say it again 27 MILLION. 
Let that number sink in. 
There are 27 million people enslaved that feel helpless, hopeless, and
forgotten.  Slavery is not something
of the distant past or an issue to read about in history books.  It is an issue that WE CAN STOP,
EFFECT, AND CHANGE!