National Human Trafficking Awareness Day

 

Today, January 11, 2015 is National Human Trafficking Awareness Day. 

Here are some facts about human trafficking in the United States of America: human trafficking in the USA

• Human trafficking generates $9.5 billion yearly in the United States. (United Nations)
• Approximately 300,000 children are at risk of being prostituted in the United States. (U.S. Department of Justice)
• The average age of entry into prostitution for a child victim in the United States is 13-14 years old. (U.S. Department of Justice)
• A pimp can make $150,000-$200,000 per child each year and the average pimp has 4 to 6 girls. (U.S. Justice Department, National Center for Missing and Exploited Children)
• The average victim may be forced to have sex up to 20-48 times a day. (Polaris Project)
• Fewer than 100 beds are available in the United States for underage victims. (Health and Human Services)
• Department Of Justice has identified the top twenty human trafficking jurisdictions in the country:” Houston
• El Paso
• Los Angeles
• Atlanta
• Chicago
• Charlotte
• Miami
• Las Vegas
• New York
• Long Island
• New Orleans
• Washington, D.C.
• Philadelphia
• Phoenix
• Richmond
• San Diego• San Francisco
• St Louis
• Seattle
• Tampa  (Department of Justice)
• A pimp can make $150,000-$200,000 per child each year and the average pimp has 4 to 6 girls. (U.S. Justice Department, National Center for Missing and Exploited Children)
• One in three teens on the street will be lured toward prostitution within 48 hours of leaving home. (National Runaway Hotline)

Human Trafficking is everywhere! Here are the top ten countries where human trafficking is the worst:

1. Bangladesh
2. Brazil
3. Haiti
4. Pakistan
5. India
6. Sri Lanka
7. Nepal
8. Uganda
9. Ghana
10. China

top 10 countries
 Websites that show you how you can help:
Hope for Justice
The A 21 Campaign
The Hope Soap Project
Kari Jobe's A 21 Campaign bracelet
Together and with God we can put an end to human  trafficking!

Voice for the Voiceless- Part 4

"It's estimated that there are more than 5,000 brothels disguised as massage parlors nationwide." - Polaris Project

"Sin causes a madness which makes sick souls dream that Fifty shades of... No Waythey are in sound health." - Charles Spurgeon

"50% of all Christian Men and 20% of all Christian women are addicted to pornography." -ChristiaNet Poll, 2006

I start off with these quotes from the 31 Days of Freedom Bible study because I want to talk about how our social media and our culture have fooled us into believing forms of Human Trafficking are okay. 

First, let's think about what clothes look like these days. As a young Christian woman I feel that every summer shorts are getting shorter and shorter and tops are getting lower and lower. There is also the whole legging issue. Now, I am a fan of leggings. They keep you warm when you wear a dress during the cold months. They also come in different patterns and colors that pants don't. However, leggings are NOT pants and when I see a girl who wears leggings as pants, I honestly think it just looks trashy. You can see underwear lines when you wear leggings and they leave nothing to the imagination. No wonder when we see a young girl on the street corner in a short, almost see through dress we just turn the other way! It's what we girls would put on or have seen our friends wear! Wake up people! We are making it harder to tell the difference between a girl in prostitution to a girl who is just out shopping!

Now for media. I have seen previews for a new TV show called Satisfaction. The preview shows that a man comes home one day to catch his wife cheating on him. He hunts the guy his wife was with down and learns that the wife has been paying, yes you read right PAYING, this man to sleep with her. So the husband, trying to save his marriage, starts selling himself for sex so it will keep their marriage interesting! Where do I even start on how wrong this show sounds and looks?! People are practically paying their TV bills to watch male prostitution! No wonder more brothels are popping up around the world and more people are disappearing into the life of prostitution!

Finally, let's talk about "50 Shades of Grey", the book and the movie. Now I have not read the book and I never will read the book. But, I did watch the movie trailer and right away a person can tell it is just going to be about sex and different things you can try. This has to do with Human Trafficking because in the documentary Whore's Glory that I watched the men would honestly admit the reason they would pay for a woman was because they would do and try anything they wanted. Sounds like what the book "50 Shades of Grey" is about to me.

"We can only end slavery by partnering together. It's too big of a problem for any one organization to handle alone." -Stacia Freeman, Abolition International

Meet Mr. Grey, NO WAY! Fifty shades of... No way

Voice for the Voiceless- Part 2

 

"The righteous care about justice for the poor, but the wicked have no such concern." ~Proverbs29:7

Last week I watched a documentary about prostitution called Whores' Glory. This documentary held nothing back as it explored the world of prostitution in three different countries. The first place had the girls put on buttons with numbers on them and sat around until someone bought their number. These people had no respect for the women and saw them as something to rent for the night, like booking a hotel room. These women were in this "business" because they wanted to be. The next place was a brothel and the girls looked as young as eleven or twelve! Some of these girls were bought by other women and brought into this "business". The last country showed "Hookers" waiting outside of rooms to pick up a man. Listening to how these so called men would talk about these women was too much for me and I could not finish the last fifteen minutes of the documentary!

Here is how the dictionary defines the word Prostitute: a woman who engages in sexual intercourse for money; whore; harlot. a man who engages in sexual acts for money. a person who willingly uses his or her talent or ability in a base and unworthy way, usually for money.

And the word Prostitution: the act or practice of engaging in sexual intercourse for money. base or unworthy use, as of talent or ability.

Let's be honest and call this what it really is, HUMAN TRAFFICKING! Some pimps, owners, whatever you want to call them, goes as far as to BRAND their "workers". Here is a clip from the movie Branded. I have not seen this movie, but the video was enough to make me want to cry.   

Finally, here are some facts about Child Sex Tourism:

 

Please pray for human trafficking to come to an end. Look up organizations that help put a stop to it. Together this horrible thing can be stopped!

Bring Back Our Girls!

"I urge you, first of all, to pray for all the people. Ask God to help them; intercede on their behalf, and give thanks for them." ~1 Timothy 2:1 (NLT)
Let me tell you a story. Today I took the advice of someone and wrote down every Bible verse from my Bible apps. You know, the ones that send you random verses everyday. I was going to look back on them tonight and write about what God did in my life today in my journal.
Well, I went to math class and then went to my volunteer job. While at my job, I got an email for the daily Air1 Radio Bible verse. The verse is the one quoted in bold. I didn't think anything to special was going to come out of this verse, but I wrote it down anyways. I came home and my mom told me the latest family drama. I thought of other verses I had wrote down this morning but not 1 Timothy 2:1. Next I got on Facebook and I saw that TobyMac had shared the picture that says "Nigeria, Let's lift them up." I shared this picture thinking that maybe a natural disaster had hit or something.
Scrolling on down through my newsfeed I came to a picture from the End It Movement page. It talked about girls being taken and had the hashtag "Bring Back Our Girls." Naturally I was curious so I did a little research. I found out that on April 14th, 234 young girls were kidnapped by terrorist from a Nigerian school and that they are being held hostage! I wanted to help! So, I shared the info on my Facebook. But I didn't feel like that was enough!
While I was thinking of what else I could do, I realized something. I'm a writer and a blogger! I truly believe God has given me a gift of writing, and it may be for this purpose right here. We use social media everyday! So the perfect way to get people's attention about this issue is to share it on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, anything! But bloggers can take it a step farther. We can WRITE about it and get it out  there to the people who read our blogs!
So that is what I am doing. I'm also going to bring the issue to my church tonight and ask everyone to pray. I have made a week long prayer schedule that can be repeated every week. I am a believer in prayer and all the Prayer Warriors need to get in our fighting positions (on our knees) and pray. I believe that alone can bring these girls home!
So, I know this is my second post in a week and I haven't even done my Saturday post yet. But this is close to my heart and we need to help anyway we can.
Info on the Nigerian kidnapping and how social media IS helping