Fight for Freedom

Hello Everyone!

Ok, I said I would share some information on sex trafficking in the US, so I am here to share what I have learned with you today.  I have gathered my information from various sources and will mention them as I go.  The one thing I can tell you at my first glance of these statistics and information I have in front of me is that it is a quickly growing crime here in the US as it is globally.  We are a country about FREEDOM which means there is no room for slavery here.  Let's stop it.

The NHTRC (National Human Trafficking Resource Center) has a HOTLINE (1-888-373-7888). The calls are typically CRISIS CALLS or TIPS. They are able to form some statistics from the information gathered at the HOTLINE.  The number of calls jumped from 7,637 in 2009 to 11,874 in 2010.  I have not found any #'s estimating this year's totals yet, but I will share them with you when I find out.

If you are like me, you are thinking 3 things about this happening here:

1.  Where could this be happening?

2.  What is the difference between trafficking and prostitution?

3. How can we stop it?

• One of the big answers to the "WHERE" question is TRUCK STOPS!  

The Polaris Project reports that the trafficking happens in 2 forms at truck stops across the US:

                 1. Many massage parlors in or near the truck stops are basically brothels.  This is where victims are forced to have sex 6 to 10 times per day.

                 2. Pimps moving the victims from city to city (stop to stop) is the other form.  These girls are sent to knock on truck doors.  The pimps get requests for business from the truckers by special light flashes from trucks, CB signals, and stickers on their trucks indicating they are interested in a girl.

I appreciate this quote:
"If you see a young person at a truck stop, think twice.  Children generally don't go to truck stops, if it seems wrong, it probably is.  Don't be afraid to speak up about what you see." ~ Krista Hoffman, Pennsylvania Coalition Against Rape

• To answer question #2..................It is trafficking and not prostitution when the victim is a minor, or when a controller uses force, fraud, and/or coercion to maintain control over the victim as it relates to commercial sex.  The controllers use things like debts owed, substance abuse, threats against family members, and many other forms of mental and physical abuse.  

• Let's stop it.  

          I think that awareness is the first step in stopping this from happening to these vulnerable women and children.  If you are reading this, you are beginning the process of stopping things. When we understand the problem, we watch for suspicious activity, educate others, and become a voice for the victims and those vulnerable and could become victims.

         

          Another key thing is to build a strong family yourself and be an advocate for the benefits of a God abiding family unit.  Creating strong, confident, educated, God-seeking children will help limit the number of victims these criminals can pull from, but it will also create fewer criminals (both pimps and johns).  With divorce and nontraditional lifestyles becoming so prevalent in our world and country, it is so easy for people to say, "whatever you want to do with your life and your children is OK as long as it makes you happy".  But the truth is, the way we live our lives has immediate and eternal ramifications!!!  Let's take raising our kids and creating our families seriously.    

        With all of that being said, the biggest way to stop trafficking is to stop the demand!!!  According to the ADVOCATE for HUMAN RIGHTS, "Demand fuels the purchase of human beings for sex. Demand is comprised of a culture that tolerates or promotes sexual exploitation; men who buy commercial sex; exploiters who make up the sex industry; and states that are complicit in providing safe haven for pimps and traffickers either as source or destination countries."

         I would just like to close this post by saying that I still view the United States as a country that values HUMAN LIFE. Our lives have value.  The biggest shock to me about Cambodia, after visiting there, is that there is little to no value for their own people ESPECIALLY children.  The first born daughter is expected to provide for her family.  Children are sold every day there.  We were even asked to buy children while there!  When a baby dies, he/she has no burial and is often thrown into the river.  As times get tougher here in America, we must hang onto what we should value most!  OUR GOD and OUR PEOPLE!

Here are some sites I used for sources:

www.polarisproject.org

www.theadvocatesforhumanrights.org

There is also a great website to check out called:

www.truckersagainsttrafficking.com

Homesick for Cambodia

Hi everyone.  I am so sorry it has taken me so long to post something new.  I guess I am out of my post-trip fog and have found my way back to wife and mommy life again.  I will never quite see things the same after meeting the RAPHA HOUSE girls and staff, but I can incorporate my experiences and changed heart into my daily life by being sensitive and in-tune with what is really happening in the world around us.

My heart literally ACHES when I think about Cambodia and the people I met there.  I do feel homesick for them which is something I never would have predicted.  I very much thought I would feel a sense of, "check, been there - done that, now what?".  That just hasn't been the case at all.  Cambodia has a lasting grip.
 
Chad and I really do hope to go back together within the coming years.  He needs to relate to this "grip" and see what it really has to do with us. When you visit such a dark place, you notice God's light even more.  It made me want to shine my light there.  It is distinct, effective, and noticeable there.  I haven't been able to figure out how to work that out here yet.  We will wait for God to guide us in the way we should go.

The truth is, the darkness is world wide.

I thought I would share some shocking facts about the modern day form of slavery called HUMAN TRAFFICKING:

1. Trafficking is the world's 3rd largest business.  It comes after DRUGS and GUNS.  It is currently a $7 BILLION dollar business.

2. The UN estimates that 700,000 to 4 million women and children are trafficked around the world for purposes of forced prostitution and labor.

3. Victims of trafficking are subject to gross human rights violations such as torture, rape, forced abortions, starvation, diseases, threat of murder and torture to their family members.


4. Currently Cambodia's illegal sex trade is a $500 million a year business.


5 There are statistics for the USA alone that are mind blowing.  I will save those for next time.


For more facts:
www.raphahouse.org