There is estimated to be up to 27 million people enslaved around our world today. This is more than at any time in history, including when the transatlantic slave trade was at its peak. These past four months I have been given the opportunity to come face to face with the people behind these statistics. I have laughed with them, cried with them, and fallen in love with them. But these people aren’t just stuck in chains an ocean away, many are in our own backyards.
To help better understand what slavery often looks like in the States, these are some stories I’ve heard and ones just like them time and time again directly from people we have worked with and from various organizations here in the States:
A 13 year old girl runs away from her home because of abuse or even just a fight with her parents. She goes to her local mall or bus stop, undecided what she’ll do next. Within 48-72 hours of running away, she will be approached by a cute guy in his early twenties or late teens. He comes up to her and asks why such a beautiful girl looks so sad. They start talking, he buys her some lunch, and the grooming process begins. She goes with him and eventually falls for him. He will rape her, beat her, and force her to work the streets to ‘earn her keep.’ She may even fall in love with him because she longs for his affection, anyone’s affection. But she is now under her pimp’s control, regardless of her desire to stay or go. If she is not arrested and put in jail as a criminal, within 7 years she will die from homicide or HIV/AIDS.
A pregnant 22 year old mother with her 3 year old, 2 year old, and 11 month old are thrown out in a dangerous part of town in the middle of the night by her boyfriend. She is scared and has no idea how she will protect them and provide for her children. Someone meets her on the street and calls up a recovery home and shelter for women and children. Her life and the lives of her children are saved. But she is the lucky one. Many in this situation will turn to prostitution to survive. And although it may appear to be a choice at first, these women too are forced into it by their lack of options.
A migrant worker in south Florida thinks he is simply obtaining a job harvesting fruit. Soon he finds himself not just picking fruit, but beaten, nevery payed, and forced to eat and live in sub-human conditions. Tricked into debt bondage, he has no way of escaping and often his children will be born into the same fate of harvesting the cheap crops that we eat.
These are some statistics on these issues:
-The average age of entry into prostitution in the USA is 13 years old.
-90% of runaways become part of the sex trade industry. Many are lured within 48 and 72 hours of leaving home.
-There is an estimated 100,000-150,000 sex slaves in the USA. 300,000 American children are at high risk for being trafficked.
-The average life expectancy of a child after getting into prostitution is seven years, with homicide or HIV/AIDS as the main causes of death.
-1 in 4 girls is sexually abused before the age of 18. This increases dramatically among homeless youth.
-There is an estimated 400,000 forced laborers throughout Europe and the USA
-The State Department estimates between 14,500-17,500 foreign nationals are trafficked into the US every year.
This month my team and I have been partnered with an organization called Street Grace. Street Grace’s mission is to help put an end to the sexual exploitation and prostitution of children in the Atlanta area and beyond. They serve mainly as a network that connects local churches and organizations who are also working towards eliminating the commercial sexual exploitation of children (CSEC). Through Street Grace we were partnered with two organizations: Foster Care Support Center and 7 Bridges to Recovery.
Foster Care Support Center was set up to help foster parents support their foster kids. They supply children with summer and winter wardrobes, toys, and other basic necessities. This ministry lessens the financial strain of taking in foster kids and thus enables more families to provide a loving and safe home. We also spent a lot of our time working with an organization called 7 Bridges to Recovery. 7 Bridges is a ministry that goes out on the streets of Atlanta most nights a week, taking meals, building relationships, and sharing the love and hope of Christ with those who are living on the streets. With everyone they meet, the opportunity to leave the streets is available because of the various ministries and shelters they have and are partnered with. One part of their ministry is the Garden. The Garden is home to over 65 women and 35 children, and there we had the opportunity to help out in various ways, build relationships, play with kids, have sleepovers, and essentially were welcomed into their giant family.
