Yup. There you have it. That’s what Saturday night felt like during our JustOne Dallas Launch Party.
Much of the evening was educating ourselves about JustOne and that included watching “Fields of Mudan” – a 23 minute kick in the balls.
“You may choose to look the other way but you can never again say you did not know.” – William Willberforce
Let me offer up some stats to mull over…
- According to the United Nations Working Group on Contemporary Forms of Slavery, an estimated 20 million people were held in bonded slavery as of 1999.
- In 2004 there are more slaves than were seized from Africa during four centuries of trans-Atlantic slave trade. (Kevin Bales, Disposable People)
- In 1850 a slave in the Southern United States cost the equivalent of $40,000 today. According to Free the Slaves, a slave today costs an average of $90.
- Approximately two-thirds of today’s slaves are in South Asia. Human Rights Watch estimates that in India alone there are as many as 15 million children in bonded slavery.
- Human trafficking is the world’s third largest criminal enterprise, after drugs and weapons. (U.S. Department of State)
- Worldwide, there are nearly two million children in the commercial sex trade. (UNICEF)
- There are an estimated 600,000 to 800,000 children, women and men trafficked across international borders annually. (U.S. Department of State)
- Approximately 80 percent of human trafficking victims are women and girls, and up to 50 percent are minors. (U.S. Department of State)
- The total market value of illicit human trafficking is estimated to be in excess of $32 billion. (U.N.)
Sex trafficking is an engine of the global AIDS epidemic. (U.S. Department of State) - 126 million children work in the worst forms of child labour – one in every 12 of the world’s 5 to seventeen year-olds.
- There are an estimated 300,000 child soldiers involved in over 30 areas of conflict worldwide, some younger than 10 years old.
And this takes place on OUR WATCH. While we fight terrorists these children and women live in terror each and every day.
“You may choose to look the other way but you can never again say you did not know.” – William Willberforce
Saturday night Greg told of a 15 year old girl in California, who was kidnapped from her own driveway by “a friend.” She was blindfolded and held at gunpoint while “her friend” drove her to a nearby park. Once they arrived she was pulled from the car and and gang raped. They threw her in the trunk and drove her to another park where she was gang raped again. This happened several times over the next few hours. A total beat down of this girl to make her numb.
They then forced this girl to service men all hours of the day. When she wasn’t – they locked her in a dog kennel.
They pimped her out on Craigslist.
A cop finally tracked the 15 year old girl down, he found her stuffed in the drawer under a bed.
This isn’t India, or Africa, or some third world country — this is America. This is slavery in the 21st Century.
“You may choose to look the other way but you can never again say you did not know.” – William Willberforce
But while Saturday night was often a kick in the balls — it was also a rally, a moment of truth, a realization that something can be done, that there are people who care. There are people who want to make a difference.
It was a moment of celebration as people said, “We want to stand by the hurting, the oppressed. We want to preach good news to the poor. We want to proclaim freedom for the prisoners. We want to offer recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed and we want to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”
Since Saturday night I’ve started digging in more, reading more, listening to more. Trying to make myself aware of the issues and the problems – and what can be done.
I know many may suggest, “Well we can just go in with the army and police and take these guys and women out” (women are often the ones who do much of the recruiting and pimping because they’ve been their themselves). But I don’t see violence as the answer – and I don’t think those involved do either. I see transforming nonviolent alternatives as the answer.
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I listened to the audio version of “Not For Sale” yesterday and heard the story of one woman in India who found out about local boys being pimped out in sex bars. Rather than waiting for the police or someone else to get involved, she simply walked into the sex bars, walked over to the boys and said, “Come on. We’re leaving.” She then escorted six boys right out the front door, out of the bar and to a safe house.
Another story told of a group who found out about a woman being prostituted and walked in, paid the woman’s “nightly fee” and took her to a safe house in another town. They basically paid her “ransom note” for the equivalent of $15.
“You may choose to look the other way but you can never again say you did not know.” – William Willberforce
It’s been exciting to see people’s reports, thoughts and photos via Facebook and elsewhere. I only pray that each of us move to action. (After all, deciding too and doing it are two totally separate things. It’s the action that makes the difference.)
I’ll be working on some lists/ideas on how you can make a difference in the days to come – but for now, get educated. Learn more. Consider how your daily purchases affect the lives of those around the world.
And get ready for a “pieceful resistance.”
Here are some great sites fore more info ::
Just4One
One Voice to End Slavery
Not for Sale
Stop the Traffik
Human Trafficking
Stop Human Trafficking (Salvation Army)
Amnesty International
