I’ve seen videos about sex trafficking, I’ve seen a movie
about it, I’ve read about it, I’ve even walked the streets of Tampa, where the
biggest sex industry in the US is held. But, it has never hit me so hard, as it
did today.
Every Tuesday night I attend a college group at The Chapel,
called Vintage. Our goal is to raise
$9,000 to help stop little girls from being sold into sex slavery, in
Cambodia. We are hoping to raise much
more than our goal. I was given a mason jar with the word, “RAISE” on it. We are using these jars to collect money. I
was thinking about these little girls all morning. How their innocence has just been stripped
away from them, and there is nothing that they can do about it. I kept trying to imagine what their life must
be like…I can’t even find the words to describe some of the things that I read
today. These facts, which are so
true…that’s what kills me, girls all over the world are being sold into
prostitution and many of us don’t even know about it!
When I thought of the idea of writing a blog post about
getting the word out and trying to figure out a way to raise money I figured
that it would be best to research what I would be writing about. Here are some
facts that I got from http://facts.randomhistory.com/human-trafficking-facts.html.
-
13
million children around the world are victims of human trafficking.
-
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.
-
Ludwig “Tarzan” Fainberg, a convicted
trafficker, said, “You can buy a woman for $10,000
and make your money back in a week
if she is pretty and young. Then everything else is profit
-
Most human trafficking in the United States
occurs in New York, California, and Florida.
-
Human trafficking around the globe is estimated
to generate a profit of anywhere from $9
billion to $31.6 billion. Half of these profits are made in industrialized
countries
-
Due to globalization, every continent of the world has been involved in human
trafficking, including a country as small as Iceland
…as young as six years old…!! I don’t even know what to say!
Is this really what our world is coming to?
At The Chapel, we are partnering with Agape International,
and specifically raising money for girls in Cambodia. All the proceeds will go
to Agape International. Here are
some facts about sex trafficking, in Cambodia.
-
Prostituted girls, most of them aged 15 to18 years of age, are found in
the Svay Pak red-light district of Cambodia. Many girls are much younger. Most of them are smuggled
in from Vietnam and all are bound by
contracts, which last from six
months to over a year. Svay Pak has the largest number of prostituted
Vietnamese girls. ("The Street of Little Flowers," rewritten from
'Children of the Dust,' by MIKEL FLAMM and NGO KIM CUC, Bangkok Post, 23
February 1997)
-
Virgins, who have been sold to brothels by
trafficking agents, are confined to the brothel or a hotel room until the first
client comes. Due to the belief that sex
with a virgin has rejuvenating properties, her first client is charged an
expensive amount. Advertised as "special commodities," virgins are
also attractive in that they are less likely to have AIDS or other sexually
transmitted diseases. The customer pays
from $300 to $400 (7,500 to 10,000 baht) to have sex with her for one week
in a local hotel chosen by the brothel owner. ("Children of the
dust," rewritten from 'Children of the Dust,' by MIKEL FLAMM and NGO KIM
CUC, Bangkok Post, 23 February 1997)
-
When recruited by brokers in a village, the girls'
families are told they will be employed and be able to send money home. After
the girls are purchased, usually for
about $150, they are brought to a hotel room or safe house where they are
kept until they can be sold to their first buyer for $300 to $400 for a week.
But after this, the girl is considered "used goods" and her value
drops dramatically to as little as $2
per sexual transaction. (Laura Bobak, "For Sale: The Innocence of
Cambodia," Ottawa Sun, 24 October 1996)
Some of these girls in Cambodia are even sold into slavery
by their own parents! That is disgusting!! A mother and father are willing to
let their child’s innocence, purity, and their life be taken away from them
just for money! That is so heart breaking!
I hope this post will help people to realize what is going
on in our world today and how serious this situation really is. If you would
like to make a stand and help donate to this cause, you can go to www.vintagetruth.com and click on the
RAISE tab and then just follow the directions, or contact me at autiephotography@gmail.com
Proverbs 22:9 "Generous hands are blessed hands because they give bread to the poor." (The Message)
Thank You!!
Love and Blessings,
Autumn Elizabeth
