I think human trafficking breaks my heart more than any other justice issue. It’s heart-wrenching that human beings (mostly women and children) are being traded, sold, abused, used, and tossed aside as trash. I can barely breathe when I think about it.
- Two children are sold into slavery every minute.
- Human trafficking is the second most lucrative crime in the world, generating 32 billion dollars annually.
- 27 million people are enslaved. 27,000,000 of God’s beloved have been stripped of their most basic freedoms.
- Some 600,000 to 800,000 people are trafficked across international borders each year.
- Over 100,000 children in the United States are forcibly engaged in prostitution or pornography each year. And that’s just here. In the land of the free. The numbers are much higher in other countries.
“We found ourselves standing shoulder to shoulder with predators in a small room, looking at little girls through a pane of glass. All of the girls wore red dresses with a number pinned to their dress for identification. They sat, blankly watching cartoons on TV. They were vacant, shells of what a child should be. There was no light in their eyes, no life left. Their light had been taken from them. These children…raped each night… seven, ten, fifteen times every night. They were so young. Thirteen, eleven… it was hard to tell. Sorrow covered their faces with nothingness. Except one girl. One girl who wouldn’t watch the cartoons. Her number was 146. She was looking beyond the glass. She was staring out at us, with a piercing gaze. There was still fight left in her eyes. There was still life left in this girl.”
I want to stand up and scream and shout and tell the world that this is not okay. I want to roam the planet rescuing these beautiful children. I want to hold them and let them know they are loved. I’m hoping that we, as a community, can somehow contribute to the cause of bringing an end to human trafficking.
Here are some sites to check out if you’d like to learn more….
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