It’s time I finally write about sex trafficking in the Philippines and working with wipe every tear- something that has changed my life. I don’t even know quite how to write about something so deep in my heart, but I feel a pressing on every part of my being to spread awareness in hopes that this stirs your heart to do something about it, like it did mine. This is my first blog in a three part series sharing basic information about sex trafficking in the Philippines, my experiences going into the bars, and my personal thoughts and prayers.
About a month ago, our parents had the opportunity to visit for a week and do ministry with us. (My mom got to come which was super sweet). We took a break from working with our normal ministry to partner with a non-profit organization called Wipe Every Tear. Wipe Every Tear’s purpose is to rescue women trapped in the sex trade and offer them a better future by providing free education, free safe-housing, three meals a day, allowance, sponsorship for their children, and much more. The founder of Wipe Every Tear, Kenny Sacht, flew out to educate us abut the sex trade and equip us to go out and speak to the “bargirls”. Over the course of two nights, we would be going into strip bars in a place called Angeles city to offer women who were trapped in the sex trade freedom. Angeles city, specifically walking street, is a place where over 15,000 women are being trafficked in the sex trade in a 1.5 mile strip. Let me just reiterate, a staggering 15,000 women, mothers, daughters, GIRLS, have been trapped and forced to sell their bodies for sex just so they can provide bare necessities like food for themselves and their families. For those of you who don’t know too much about sex trafficking, let me give you some context:
Sex trafficking is a form of modern day slavery in which people are typically tricked, forced, or manipulated to perform sex for little or no money…or in some cases for food. Sex traffickers, or pimps, use many tactics such as making false promises, keeping victims in debt, violence, abuse, and many other violations of human rights so they can trap the victims for their own profit. Sex trafficking happens all over the world, EVEN IN AMERICA. It takes place in bars, clubs, massage parlors, hotels, manual labor businesses, and a multitude of other places. Sex trafficking in the Philippines almost always starts with poverty. People are born in places like slums, where they cannot afford houses, education, medical care, even food. I’ve visited some of the slums and the things my eyes have seen…well, it makes sense. I’ve seen children digging through mounds upon mounds of rotting trash and dead rats and animal feces just to find old scraps of food that they can boil and re-cook into a “meal”. If these kids can’t even afford to buy a bowl of rice, there is no way they get the chance to go to school. And let me tell you, education is EVERYTHING here. You can’t even have a minimum wage job without having a college education. These kids aren’t even getting elementary school educations. So families do whatever they can every day just to survive. This is not living. And THIS is what makes them a target for sex trafficking. Women and girls, some as young as 14 or 16 are offered work in a province far away. Usually they are told they will be working in a bakery or hotel or supermarket and will be provided with living quarters. So they hop on a bus or boat or plane with the money the “pimp” gives them and travel hours upon hours to their new “job”. When they arrive they are told those jobs are not available, and now they are in debt to their pimp for the travel fair and the living quarters. They are handed a uniform which isn’t a uniform at all- a bra, thong, and a pair of heels. They are told to stand on a stage with a number, not even a name, a NUMBER, and dance for the customers in the bar. “Customers”. As if they are buying a product. These “customers” are typically middle-aged white men on sex vacations. (I’m not trying to be racist or sexist, I’m just telling you how it is). These men will watch the women dance until he has chosen the one he so desires. He will call her down from the stage, buy her a drink, or two or three and force her to do whatever he wants. She doesn’t want to be there, she is uncomfortable. You can tell by her body language and you can see it on her face…I have seen it on her face. Sex trafficking is illegal in the Philippines (as it is in most places) but men are still allowed to pay an “early work release” in which he has bought the woman for the night. And according to the bar owners/pimps/mama-sons (usually former bar girls) and the man, he now OWNS this woman for the evening or the whole night or until she goes back to work the next day. And she has to do whatever he says. Rape, abuse, drunkenness, violence are often the result. And then it’s back to work. “Work”. A place where she fears she will be abused by her boss if she does something wrong. “Work”, where she is forced to dance in heels until 2 sometimes 3 in the morning. Nowhere is safe. This is the reality that many women and girls live in all around the world, but specifically in Angeles city.
If you’re anything like me, maybe you’re angry and overwhelmed and you’re asking yourself…Okay HOW do these people ever get out of this cycle of poverty and slavery? Where is the hope? I’ve asked myself this question repeatedly, usually followed up with many, many tears. No human being, no matter their age, race, religion, ethnicity, financial status, sexuality, or family background should ever under any circumstance be treated or sold as an object. No one should, but millions are every single day. With a problem so big, we as humans can only do so much. There are amazing organizations out there like IJM and Wipe Every Tear that rescue women and offer safe houses and better futures and I so firmly stand for what they do. Even so, there is still an overwhelming number of women and children caught under the hand of oppression. I’ve racked my brain for an answer of what hope these people have and honestly, the only hope is in Jesus. My plead is that you pray big prayers as I have learned to do. Intercede for women all around the world. Pray for freedom and justice and health and safety and healing and a means to go to school. If you feel led to donate to one of these organizations, donate. If you feel led to take action, I encourage you, see what you can do in your own community. Like I said earlier, sex trafficking happens in America- it’s a huge issue in Fresno where I live. There’s plenty of ways to get involved and do something to set our sisters free.
A message to fathers who are reading this:
Please, please show your daughter and wife what real love is. Please make them know that they have immense worth and value and that no one can take that away from them. I pray that you will be men of fidelity and honor and that you too will know that you are known and loved deeply by God.
Thank you mom and dad for loving me so well and speaking worth into me. I’m grateful beyond words.
Next week, I will write about my experiences going into the strip bars in Angeles city. Make sure you keep up to hear the full story!
