Colorful lights decorate the shops and bright signs flash attractively. The streets are crowded with tourists and locals. Bars and pubs are blasting popular tunes from Justin Bieber and Lady Gaga. People hand out fliers promoting restaurants and different events going on.
It’s a busy night in downtown Siam Reap, Cambodia. During the day, there aren’t many things happening as most tourists are visiting Angkor Wat, the largest ancient Hindu ruins in the world. But at night, everybody is visiting downtown, and they flood into the bars, restaurants and night clubs.
I am wandering around trying to find a grocery store. It’s hard to pass through this mass of people on the street. I look into the bars and there are lots of tourists, mostly men with young girls attending them. I don’t like the scene at all—these girls look too young to work in the bars. I keep walking, and my eyes can’t help looking at similar scenes bar after bar.
Suddenly I feel a tap on my shoulder. I look back and see a man. “Are you looking for someone to have some fun with tonight? A girl? A boy?” he says. I am speechless for a few seconds, and in such a shock I snap back a loud “No!” and run away.
I feel so disgusted that somebody just asked me whether I want to have some “fun” with a girl or a boy. There are millions of thoughts and questions that run through my head. Do I look like a pervert? Is this what they do to tourists around here? What if other tourists said yes to the offer? Why did he say girl or boy? Does that mean children are being prostituted around here? I can’t believe this just happened to me. I have heard about the sex trade in the news, but I never actually believed it.
That encounter with the pimp in Cambodia happened three years ago. Since then things have changed in me. After lots of research and reading, I became more aware about the issue of sex trafficking. The sex trade is one of the fastest growing industries in the world that parallels with sex trafficking and modern day slavery.
I found out that human trafficking generates $32 billion in profits each year—and the number is growing. Nearly 2 million children are exploited in the commercial sex industry. It’s overwhelmingly the poorest of the poor who are victims of trafficking.
Now that you’ve heard about sex trafficking, what are you going to do about it? Most times people are so overwhelmed to the point that they don’t know what to do. It’s okay to be broken and overwhelmed by the horror of sex trafficking, but don’t just stop there. Awareness must lead to action, and there are many ways we can fight against sex trafficking.
Follow organizations that fight against injustice today on social media to get updates and news. A good place to start is by looking through the coalition partners from the END IT Movement. Most importantly, we can pray. Pray for those who are being trafficked that they will taste freedom soon. Pray for the traffickers to stop trafficking innocent women, men and children. Pray for more people to be aware and respond to the cause.
Now let’s journey back with me to Cambodia. Imagine that it’s you wandering the streets of Siam Reap. A pimp approaches you and asks you the same questions he asked me. How would you respond?
You can make a difference with your voice and actions. You can start now.
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One of the countries that I will be going next summer through the World Race is Bulgaria. As quoted in Route 2’s countries description: “Organized crime is an issue as is human trafficking. Bulgaria is mainly a source of trafficking in persons yet also, to a lesser extent, a transit point and destination of trafficking.” You can make a difference in Bulgaria! Help me to be a light in dark places in Bulgaria next summer by supporting me financially!
To be able to go on the World Race i need to raise $16,285 among other expenses. If you want to support me, click “Support Me” on the left side of my blog. If you have further questions, don’t hesitate to contact me! Thanks so much! 🙂
Sten
